Once in your childhood, a nefarious thought of printing the currency from your computer’s printer must had crossed in your mind. I bet, many of us had even attempted it, and eventually realized the printer we had was incapable for the task. Deep down we craved for only one wish, what if we had succeeded. Unfortunately, like many other bitter truths of life, we accepted it and compromised with our life.
But some people don’t compromise.
Somewhere in Spain, a man gathered a group of miserable
at a mansion in the countryside, divulged a master plan – which went astray at
many points during execution – and somehow managed to pull it off. Yes, they
accomplished what we could not as a child. And that was not the only exciting
thing about the global phenomena – The Money Heist.
From the first episode, this series grappled my
attention with its hooks. With a notepad on the couch and a pen twirling
between my fingers, I started taking notes.
So here are the best five writing lessons I’ve learned
from this series.
1. The Perfect Beginning
Tell your readers what the story is all about as early
as possible. Set rules of the game, set pieces on the board and start playing.
Assume you are reading a book. Its language is
exemplary, its characters are splendid, its dialogues are worth quoting on
social media, but you have no clue what is the objective of the story. Somehow,
you steel your determination and keep reading it, and somewhere in the middle
of the story, you find the main ambition of the book. Things start getting
exciting, conflicts start building, and quickly things escalate to climax,
wrapping up the loose ends. The story leaves you unsatisfied.
Why?
Because the story failed to explore the deeper
dimension of the characters as the conflicts were very limited.
In Money Heist, the main objective of the story was
established at the very beginning, providing a large room for conflicts to unfold,
for characters to develop. And that’s why I believe it has the perfect
beginning.
2. Crescendo of Conflicts
Conflict is the crux of the story. The more your
characters face challenges, the more opportunities you have to develop them.
The basic elements of any story are characters, plot
and settings. And what keeps them glued dramatically is conflict.
Money Heist is all about conflicts. The characters are in conflict with themselves. Each one of them is battling their own personal battles. They are in conflict with the gang members. They are in conflict with Spain’s Police and Intelligence. Each problem they face was greater than the past one, and that’s what exactly made things exciting to watch.
What separates Money Heist from other shows is not
only the crescendo of conflicts, but
what fills the gap between each conflict.
Masterfully, the writers wedged the gap with anecdotes from the training days
or an important conversation between characters, and since these scenes are
fresh in our mind, they use the next precise moment to smite us with The
Professor’s strategic mind or make our hearts skip a beat by putting a gang
member in the critical condition. It has succeeded on keeping us on edge with
it.
This lesson can be used as a check while plotting the
storyline. We can always ask the question, is the gravity of the current
conflict is bigger than the last one? If yes, that’s good. If not, whack your
brain, think about something that can fulfill these criteria and keep writing.
3. Flow of The Flaws
Gone are the days of white and black. Grey is real.
All characters are flawed in the show, even The Professor
is scared of failure. Misogynist, narcissist, impulsive, egoist, self-centered
etc. are the types of persons we met during the entire length of the show. Pick
any character of the show, each had a past or a dark secret that influences in
their behavior. But there is kindness and wickedness in each of them, and
that’s what makes them relatable.
Of course, it is the common knowledge to keep your
characters flawed to give a touch of reality while writing the fiction, but
what makes the characters of Money Heist so relatable are their personal
moments. And that’s the beauty of the show. When the idea of the robbery fails
to impress the audience or The Professor’s intelligence, it is these moments of
happiness, pranks and stupidity, that connects with us.
Lesson learned, keep the characters flawed and
empathetic.
4. Tokyo – The Savior
In the show, when things sway out of control, everyone look upon Tokyo to keep things moving. Even the writers of the show look upon her for writing ahead.
At some point while building conflicts, things start
feeling repetitive. You simply can’t put blow after blow. If you don’t provide
sufficient time for reaction, the storyline will start losing the touch of
reality.
In the show, when Spain’s Police or Intelligence takes
some action against the gang, and The Professor’s strategy brilliantly counters
it, there is sufficient time for the former team to react and recover.
Meanwhile, the hostages plan something and then again, the gang stabilizes
things. Again, there is time for reaction and recover.
Now what? To keep things “on-edge” you simply can’t
let the story to go dull. Conflict is necessary.
It all comes down on the shoulders of one character.
Tokyo!
She is impulsive. She is a ticking time-bomb. No one
knows how she will react to certain situation, and that’s what saves the show. Her reaction leads to series of events which
eventually helps the show to remove the curse of dull moments. Till then,
either Police/Intelligence or hostages get the required time for another
attack, and bang, we are back in action.
Season 3 onward is all about the second heist. And
it began because of the impulsive decisions of Tokyo.
Lesson learned here, to create an unpredictable
character or an element that aids you to keep things moving when nothing works.
5. Symbols and Significance
The core theme of the show is the resistance, the skepticism
towards the society. Obviously, The Professor explicitly speaks about the resistance,
and his heists are blows to the system. But apart from his words, three main aspects
of the show represent the idea related to the resistance. The Salavador Dali Mask,
the red-jumper and Bella Caio.
Symbols work in a powerful way on audience. It condenses
a larger idea into something finite. It’s a physical representation of the
theme. If we start peeling the layers of the story, what we find underneath the
structure of the plot is the theme.
And that’s where Money Heist had scored well.
Lesson learned, always keep theme in check while writing.
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