Shonda Rhimes on Her Regimented Approach to Writing

Let's take a look at how the TV titan got to where she is

Shonda Rhimes is one of the most successful TV writers and producers of all time. She’s created, amongst others, “Grey’s Anatomy”, “Scandal”, and, most recently, “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story”. She’s executive produced or currently EPs “How to Get Away With Murder”, “Station 19”, and “Bridgerton”. She’s even written a book called Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person, which was published in 2015. In it, she described the challenge of writing and how she has trained herself to operate at the level she does. In the following passage, you’ll find a valuable lesson about what it means do develop your writerly muscle. I can’t spot an untrue word in it…can you?

---

Writing is the hum. Writing is laying track. Writing is the high. Now imagine that hum, that high, that track to be laid is behind a door. And that door is five miles away. Those five miles are just … writing crap and doodling and trying to have an idea and surfing the internet and hoping like hell not to get so distracted that you give up. Worse? Those five miles are lined with brownies and cupcakes and episodes of “Game of Thrones” and Idris Elba waiting to talk to only you and really good novels to read. Every time I sit down to write, I have to mentally run those five miles past all of that to get to that door. It’s a long, hard five-mile run. Sometimes I am almost dead by the time I reach the door. That’s why I have to keep doing it. The more often I run the five miles, the fitter I become. And the fitter I become, the easier the run begins to feel and the less fresh and exciting all that stuff on the side of the road seems. I mean, how long has it been there? More important, as I get fitter, I can run faster. And the faster I can run, the faster I can get to that door. The faster you can too, writers out there. When you sit down to write every day, it becomes easier and easier to tap into that creative space inside your mind. The faster I can get to that door, the quicker I can get to the good stuff.

---

If this article added anything to your life but you’re not up for a paid subscription, consider buying me a “coffee” so I can keep as much of this newsletter free as possible for the dreamers who couldn’t afford it otherwise.

---

If you enjoyed this particular article, these other three might also prove of interest to you: