How Writers’ Rooms Make Better Writers
Spoiler: It’s about revision through collaboration.
There’s a dirty secret in Hollywood: collaboration makes better writers. The mythology of the lone genius sitting in his room, crafting the next great film or TV show… isn’t how things actually work. Or how you can learn the craft of writing. Working with others, understanding how their ideas can improve yours, and learning to incorporate feedback into your writing is essential to getting better. It’s also what makes Writers’ Rooms special.
Working with others, understanding how their ideas can improve yours, and learning to incorporate feedback into your writing is something essential to getting better.
It’s also what makes Writers’ Rooms special.
My first boss in Hollywood was John Wirth. He’s been in the business for decades, coming up with a notable class of future showrunners on Nash Bridges and later running Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Hell on Wheels, Hap and Leonard, Wu Assassins, and now Dark Winds.
He also could not love collaborating with his writers—from seasoned vets to newbies with fresh perspectives—more.
Everyone gets to share ideas, and the best idea wins. That doesn’t mean it’s a free-for-all, and I won’t pretend there aren’t hierarchies and politics to working in a writers’ room. Ultimately, he made the call on what went forward and what didn’t. But it did teach me how good writing can be when it’s a team sport.
In a writers’ room, “pitching” is throwing out an idea for a character or a plot point, and seeing if it inspires the other writers in the room enough to become part of the story. But it’s not a yes or no game.
Often, a writer will pitch an idea that has something to it, but also conflicts with an existing idea or doesn’t quite work for the showrunner. Someone may even give feedback on the idea, explaining what they like and don’t like. It’s a real-time notes session. And being able to incorporate that note and use it to improve or pivot is an invaluable skill. Rather than being a referendum on your skill or talent, or even your very pitch, someone pointing to a flaw in your idea or execution of that idea can be an opportunity to come up with something better.
Rather than being a referendum on your skill or talent, or even your very pitch, someone pointing to a flaw in your idea or execution of that idea can be an opportunity to come up with something better.
There are, sadly, plenty of writers’ room where the dynamic doesn’t encourage writers to re-pitch or work through what’s exciting about an idea. But in most well-run spaces, it’s this process—painful at first—that expands your horizons and teaches you that there’s more than one way to save a cat.
This is the founding philosophy of Plot & Page. Even if you’re not in a writers’ room, you can refine your writing and use feedback to fuel your storytelling, not stymie it, especially when the person offering feedback knows what they’re doing.
But even when you get notes from an inexperienced reader, you can still learn to uncover what’s really not working in your script. For example, when your Aunt Sue read your latest screenplay and told that your lead shouldn’t win the lottery on page 15, you thought, “That’s absurd! The rest of the movie is about what happens when the hero spends his winnings! She’s just plain wrong!”
Take a breath. Ask yourself what Sue really reacting to. Maybe Sue doesn’t like the lotto win because it lead you to write an inactive protagonist. Did your hero come into his money by dumb luck? Fixing his journey could fix what Sue felt but couldn’t articulate in her note. Perhaps, instead of randomly winning the lotto, your hero finds a way to steal a winning lotto ticket. Suddenly, he’s making big choices with big consequences. Ultimately, that’s your job as a writer: to figure out why something isn’t working for people — not to defend your initial idea.
Your job is to figure out why something isn’t working for people — not to defend your initial idea.
And that’s our job as consultants: We’re here to engage with your ideas, challenge your perspective, and help you unlock the potential in your storytelling. We bring the spirit of the writers’ room—where the best ideas rise to the top and collaboration drives creativity—into every consultation. Whether you’re refining a pitch, strengthening a character arc, or tackling a tricky plot point, our goal is to guide you toward solutions that elevate your work while preserving your unique voice.
Lone genius be damned! Writing is more fun with more brains.