So, I'm rewatching one of my all time favorite early 2000s TV shows, The Office, the American version. Look, I don't watch a lot of TV, but when I do, it's the good stuff, okay? Anyway, my husband hasn't watched them in order, and I don't know if you're like me, but when I find out that someone I love hasn't seen something that I really like, I feel an obligation to make sure they follow through. Also, I really enjoy seeing someone experience a story that I love for the first time. So we've spent the last week or more binge watching Season One, Two and now Three every evening after dinner. I think it was right before we started Season Two that my husband came home and said, "So, you know Pam and Angela in the show? They're best friends and have a podcast about The Office." Draw drop. "Really, really?" I asked. "Really. Really," he said. After thinking about it, I remembered someone telling me about it, but I'm not a big podcast listener. I'm trying to be better--- ever since I was a semi-guest on Story Chat Radio, which is also an excellent podcast, especially for writers looking for storytelling techniques from movie watching. Anyway, I really love The Office Ladies podcast, and I'm anxious to catch up. I'm literally two years behind in the podcast.
I won't tell the story as great as the Office Ladies, so check out the podcast episode on "Basketball," but they told their life stories on that bench and became best friends. Afterwards, they are going back to their cars or whatever, and they're skipping and singing. Steve Carell (Michael Scott) is behind them, and when Jenna and Angela see him, they're (I imagine) a little embarrassed that someone saw them being goofy, and the star of the show of all people, but Steve Carell smiles and tells them that no matter what happens with the show (because they didn't know how long The Office would be on the air), this, their friendship is what they will take away from the experience.
When I heard this story, I thought about the various writing experiences I've had, like #PitMad and writing workshops (in-person and virtual), and I want to take this advice from Steve Carell. It's nice to get picked up by an agent (I imagine!) because you did a Twitter Pitch or rocked the showcase at the end of a mentorship. It's great to get good constructive criticism that helps your work get to where it needs to be, but what if those things don't happen? What will you take from these workshops? For me, it's the connections and relationships. I have made some near and dear friends because I joined a writer-thing. Behind the scenes The more I listen to these behind the scenes podcast for The Office, the more I realize and the more I think about the "behind the scenes" to my favorite books. I've talked about this before in other blog posts, but too often as writers, we compare our works in progress to published books that we love, and it's not right. The truth is that the media we enjoy from The Office to Because of Winn-Dixie, has been through a process and there are often hundreds of people involved in making the final product what it is. The Office Ladies often talk about the backstage help, from prop supervisors to hair stylists, to directors and writers and editors to set designers. It's not a one-person show, folks! And that's true for writing and publishing books. We have critique parters, beta readers, sensitive readers, agents, editors, publishers, book designers and more! Collaboration The Office Ladies often talk about the collaboration they had on the set. They had writers acting with them: BJ Novak (Ryan/ the temp), Paul Lieberstein (Toby), Mindy Kaling (Kelly) among others, which allowed the actors to pitch ideas, but the writers also pitched ideas to each other and they had a "candy bag," which was a bag of unused ideas. This hits home to me as a writer because I often feel like my writing journey is a solo journey. It's an introvert activity, but it doesn't have to be lonely, and it's okay to ask for help. I can't tell you how much I love bouncing ideas off my husband and friends! Successful writing is collaborative. Have fun! Some of the best shots for The Office, based on what I've learned from the Office Ladies, come from when they were "seizing the moment," "asking the right question," or when they were simply "having fun!" Some of the best comedic moments (for example the exercise ball that Jim stabs with scissors while Dwight is on it) were accidents, improv, or simply an idea that they didn't know would work or not, but did! This is a huge takeaway for me as a writer because I often get stuck in my own head. Writing is meant to be fun and a discovery process, but that discovery and play doesn't happen unless you try something new, if you do something brave or experiment. If not, you won't know what you're missing. So these are my writer takeaways (so far!) from rewatching The Office and, more specifically, enjoying the Office Ladies podcast. Are you a fan of The Office? Do you like trivia or backstage stuff? Tell me about it in the comments!
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