Every Writer Should Watch The Simpsons

During the week between Christmas and New Year, I took some time off and regressed a little to my childhood by spending the mornings watching The Simpsons and eating cereal (and pancakes, on one occasion). It was while watching one of these episodes that I came to realise something important.

The Simpsons is a masterclass for writers. No, seriously. If you're a new writer and you want to learn how to craft a functional story quickly, this is a better place than most to start in. If that statement provokes a derisive snort from you, I'll stop just short of accusing you of snobbery. Here's the thing, whether or not you like the show or think it's of any worth, it can teach new writers a lot about structure, characterization, and grasping the attention of readers/viewers.

Their plots may be a bit out there, and of course some of the characters have come under scrutiny for many good reasons. Nonetheless, there are three main things writers of any genre can learn from watching just a few episodes of The Simpsons; character consistency, concise storytelling, and effective viewer/reader engagement.

Characters: Consistency and Growth

One of the things that makes The Simpsons so popular amongst its fans is the consistent and distinct nature of their characters. It's easy to maintain suspension of disbelief in even the zaniest of plots because the actions characters take are in-keeping with their established nature. In fact, for all of the issues in many of the side characters, the main characters in the show have a distinct set of personality traits that guide their actions and reactions.

Of course, the catalyst for each plotline, no matter how ridiculous, is more often than not Homer and his madcap antics. Most of the shows revolve around Homer and the main family cast reacting to whatever damage he or they have done.

The wonderful thing about the way that these stories and characters work together is that despite the elastic and somewhat fuzzy timeline (really Bart should be in his 30s by now), the characters have managed to grow. This slow development has undoubtedly allowed for stories in later seasons that would have been implausible to begin with.

This show is a slightly extreme example of vivid and consistent characterization, but it can offer valuable lessons to those who pay attention. The characters in The Simpsons are vivid, distinct, and decidely human - they have and inspire empathy, and their problems are relatable, even when they are exaggerated. Keeping this human kernel, giving characters opinions and traits that go against the ideal plot resolution - these are the things which make a story a little more real.

Concise Storytelling: Getting to the Point

The success of huge, expansive stories like Game of Thrones has revitalized the popularity of books mammoth word and subplot counts. Certainly there's an appeal to sprawling, complex stories and subtly growing intrigues, but there are also limitations. For many new writers, in particular, this level of complexity may be out of reach. Likewise, not every reader wants to wade through a six book series at 200,000 words apiece (or a 7 season show at and hour and a half per episode). If The Simpsons and other shows like it do anything well, it's starting and finishing a story in a short period of time. With each episode coming in at an average of 22 minutes, the stories need to be compact, after all.

One of the main concerns that I hear time and time again from writers and aspiring authors that I know is that their stories are too short or too simple. The truth is that length and duration should be guidede by the complexity of the ideas and themes you are dealing with. Sometimes shorter is better - a simple idea is not without merit just because it is simple, after all.

Consider the set up of an average episode of The Simpsons - something happens, creating a problem, there is an acknowledgement of the problem followed by a display of its consequences, then there is a resolution. Now, this simplicity is aimed at children, of course, but that's not a downside. As the old adage goes - if you can't explain it to a child, you don't understand it.

Learning to fit a full story into its smallest possible form without sacrificing its relatability is an incredibly impressive skill. Once you can do this, its easy to understand how and where details can be expanded to make it more complex. This is why many people recommend that writers start with short stores.

Engagement: Hook and Pull

Above and beyond these things, however, the thing that caught my eye was the way that each episode is structured. If you haven't watched The Simpsons in a while, pick a few episodes at random and watch them. You'll see a pattern; each episode begins with a small action, problem, or blunder which directly leads to the issue which is central to the episode. This is the case even with The Simpsons Movie.

Homer buys a pig, has to get a silo for its droppings, and when it becomes full he discards it improperly. This is what causes the issue that makes up the bulk of the story. Its the same in every episode. For example, in one episode the family go to a pier amusement park and Lisa comes into possession of a yellow hat that she really love. In a fit of jealousy Bart throws it away, and this leads to the central issue - his guilt and search for redemption.

This may be simplistic and formulaic, but it works very well and it can be extrapolated for use on larger or smaller scales. What's more, it's a functional way to answer one of the issues that most often bothers writers - how to start a story.

So, while it's far from a masterpiece by anyone's standards, The Simpsons could be a masterclass for new writers who struggle with structuring their work and building consistent, empathetic and emotive characters. These small things are, of course, crucial to crafting a functional, engaging, and memorable story that appeals to a wide demographic.