Watching TV: Benefits for a writer

For writers, Inspiration can come from different sources. It could come from something as little as reading a book or something as big as traveling around a city. Watching a Tv show is not seen as a source of inspiration like reading and traveling. This is a wrong notion because watching movies affect you as a writer too.

There are times you read posts that talk about things that help boost the inspiration of writers. The most common advice you would get is “read books”. This advice is available everywhere and it makes you feel guilty when you watch movies. It makes you feel like you are wasting time. The way it affects you is dependent on if you are putting your time in front of the screen to good use or not.

Here are three ways watching Tv can affect you as a writer:

1) Sparks your imagination: Most people consider watching Tv as mere entertainment. To writers, it can be a perfect way to learn more about character profiling. Asides from entertaining yourself, you can take note of how some characters talk and walk. You can also note how they react to situations and other specific details. You can add this when making a profile for your characters. Taking special notes of twists and plot arcs can also be a great way to strike your inspiration cord.

 For nonfiction writers, this can be a great way to make your research interesting. You can watch programs dedicated to documentaries and historical works on Tv. This affects you as a writer by opening your eyes to new and better ideas on topics that interest you.

2) The Critic’s seat: As a creative person yourself, watching Tv gives you the chance to sit on the critic’s seat. On this seat, you can examine what worked and what didn't work in adaptations of literary works. This can be the dialogue, linguistic styles, plot, presentation, stereotypes, and so on. This is not to give you a chance to speak ill of every literary work that does not meet your standards of perfection. Instead, it is an avenue to learn so as not to make similar mistakes in your literary works. 

3) Relax your muscles: You are stuck on a writing project for several reasons. One of them is because you are not taking breaks. There is always a need to create a balance in your life. This is to avoid a case of work, stress, sleepless nights and repeat the day after. Watching a movie is a great way to relax your writing muscles so that you will feel refreshed. You will also be able to look at your work from a new perspective. 

In conclusion, they say that too much of a good thing might make it worse. As much as watching Tv can have a good effect on writers, it may also be a disadvantage too when it is in excess. Spending too much time on Tv will affect your writing negatively.