236 | Liz Feldman (Dead To Me, No Good Deed): Writing is Self-Destruction, Self-Reflection, and Self-Correction
Feb 6, 2025
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Liz Feldman shares the hard truths about TV writing, emphasizing the struggle with self-doubt and perfectionism. The conversation dives into how personal experiences shape storytelling and the importance of authenticity in character development. Feldman reflects on the challenges of collaboration and the emotional complexities of creating morally ambiguous characters. The journey of navigating creativity is intertwined with the lessons learned from failures, urging writers to embrace their uniqueness and persist in their craft.
01:04:31
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Quick takeaways
Writing is an emotionally challenging process where self-doubt and the fear of feedback are universal struggles faced by all writers.
Personal life events profoundly influence creative output, emphasizing the importance of emotional honesty for effective storytelling.
Outlining is a crucial step in the writing process that helps maintain story direction and avoid creative dead-ends.
Deep dives
Navigating the Writing Process
The podcast delves into the complexities of the writing process, highlighting the pressures and challenges that writers face, particularly regarding drafts and revisions. There is a shared anecdote about the anxiety of receiving feedback on scripts, emphasizing the emotional toll of typos and self-doubt that can accompany the creative journey. Writers often grapple with the feeling of inadequacy, questioning their potential to generate new ideas or concepts. The conversation underscores that these experiences are common, regardless of a writer's level of success, revealing the universal struggles in the creative community.
Personal Experiences Informing Creativity
Personal life events significantly impact creative output, as discussed in the podcast. The speakers note how external stresses, such as global crises or domestic issues, can influence and often complicate writing processes. They share how confronting difficult personal situations helps to clear emotional clutter and enables a clearer focus on creative endeavors. This recognition of the inextricable link between personal life and creative expression serves as a reminder of the importance of emotional honesty in storytelling.
Importance of Outlining
The necessity of outlining before diving into the writing process is emphasized as key to maintaining direction and coherence in storytelling. One speaker reflects on past experiences of getting stuck due to a lack of structure, recognizing that outlining can clarify the narrative's central theme and character motivations. The dialogue points out that the outlining phase is essential for ensuring that the story remains engaging and has a clear trajectory. There is a consensus that outlining, although not always enjoyable, is a critical step to avoid creative dead-ends and ensure a compelling narrative.
Character Development and Authenticity
Character development is explored extensively, with a focus on creating authentic, multifaceted characters that reflect real human experiences. One speaker discusses how emotional truths from their own life inspire character traits, making them relatable to audiences. By using personal experiences to inform character motivations, writers can craft more nuanced stories that resonate with viewers. This episode highlights the need for writers to dig deep into their emotional fabric to create characters that feel genuine and compelling.
The Value of Collaboration
The role of collaboration in writing, particularly within a writers' room, is discussed as a vital component of the creative process. Writers share insights on how bouncing ideas off each other leads to richer storytelling and prevents stagnation. The importance of constructive feedback and the value of diverse perspectives are underscored, as they contribute to the evolution of the narrative. The conversation illustrates that while individual creativity is essential, collaboration can elevate the work and enhance the writing experience.
What sounds harder? Writing a pilot alone at your desk, or running your own TV show with 300 folks trying to execute your vision? For Liz Feldman, it's the former, which affirms what we often say on this show: writing is really, really hard. Despite that, Liz has almost 30 years of TV writing experience under her belt, including two hits for Netflix that she created and showran: Dead To Me and No Good Deed. Join us as she unpacks her creative process.