We have been living in her head for more than a decade now.
We’ve gripped the edges of our seats as we watched Meredith Gray save lives in
the bleakest of circumstances and Olivia Pope handle situations that seemed
impossible. In her years creating entertainment, Shonda Rhimes has given us
some of TV’s strongest, most complicated
female characters. And in doing so, she has transformed the world of
television.
About Shonda Rhimes
Shonda Rhimes is the writer, producer, and show-runner for notable shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with
Murder. Shonda grew up in a middle class home in the suburbs of Chicago where she spent her days imagining
different worlds from the comfort of her food pantry. Today, Shonda’s company,
Shondaland, produces six shows and serves as an empowering media platform. Shonda
strives to bring diversity to the screen and compassionate work conditions
to those she employs, and has recently been honored for her efforts with
membership in the Television Academy's Hall of Fame.Shonda's Creative Process
For Shonda Rhimes, writing has always been like breathing. It’s
a vital part of herself, something that she needs to do every day. Once she
sits down to write, the words simply pour out of her. But that’s not how her
creative process starts. Shonda’s ideas start off as just a small seed of an idea in her
mind. This small seed could be a character description or even just part of a scene. Initially,
she doesn’t share these ideas with anyone becasue she doesn’t want their criticisms to shape her vision. When describing the kinds of stories she wants to tell, Shonda stresses the importance of not shying away from hard stories, saying that those are usually some of the most interesting stories to tell. For Shonda, the longest part of creating these stories happens in
her mind. She nourishes and cultivates her ideas and watches as they take form behind her eyes. She keeps cultivating these ideas in her mind until she has an
absolutely clear idea of how she wants to tell her story. She says that she knows her story is ready when she can no longer keep it inside anymore. She has to let it out into the world. Then the magic happens: she starts writing. Once
the writing starts, it goes fast and smoothly and the ideas she spent so much time
developing are on the page in a matter of hours.
Smith and Ward describe incubation effect by saying that “key ideas for difficult problems sometimes occur when one takes a break from the problem, rather than working on it uninterrupted”. This is a key part of Shonda’s creative process, particularly during the long periods of time that she takes to simply think through her ideas. During some of this time, she is actively thinking of her storylines. However, much of her storylines, as well as those initial flashes of inspiration, occur subconsciously. Another component of Shonda's creative process is collaboration. While Shonda likes to wait until she is ready to share her stories, when the time comes, she carefully chooses who she wants listening in the room. Shonda discusses this, saying “I like to hire people who argue with me. It’s important to have someone around who can say, ‘This is dumb—you’re being silly’”. It is this combination of incubation and collaboration- mixed with a dash of Shondaland magic- that has brought some of our favorite TV characters and episodes to life.
Smith and Ward describe incubation effect by saying that “key ideas for difficult problems sometimes occur when one takes a break from the problem, rather than working on it uninterrupted”. This is a key part of Shonda’s creative process, particularly during the long periods of time that she takes to simply think through her ideas. During some of this time, she is actively thinking of her storylines. However, much of her storylines, as well as those initial flashes of inspiration, occur subconsciously. Another component of Shonda's creative process is collaboration. While Shonda likes to wait until she is ready to share her stories, when the time comes, she carefully chooses who she wants listening in the room. Shonda discusses this, saying “I like to hire people who argue with me. It’s important to have someone around who can say, ‘This is dumb—you’re being silly’”. It is this combination of incubation and collaboration- mixed with a dash of Shondaland magic- that has brought some of our favorite TV characters and episodes to life.
I love all of the series Shonda and her team produce! The fact that she has had a handful of series on-air constantly for over a decade is a true testament to her creative mind and process. Her ability to create such intricate plot lines and characters is something truly inspiring.
ReplyDeleteIt's wild to me how all the shows she creates have such complex character connections and the actual process for writing them is so quick. LOVE that she is so confident in her ideas that she let's them develop on their own before having her colleagues assist her. I wonder if collaboration between shows is something she would eveer explore?
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