One thing I love about being a media whore in my glutton of movie-watching, TV-watching, and game-playing is that I often find frames of reference for my own work. More often than not, examples I find of themes, characters, or settings I like are not useful to me because I want to copy their positive traits, but more because I want to avoid their negative ones.

It all goes back to Differentiate Or Die for me. Not just from a marketing standpoint, but a creative one as well. You do well to establish your creative properties not by figuring out how similar they should be to others in the same genre, but by figuring out how yours is going to be different.

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Dexter…

Can’t get enough. I figured out why it’s so addictive. I’m almost to the end of season 2 and they haven’t tread the same ground yet. I asked myself, “How did they do that?”

It didn’t take me long.

Dexter’s relationship with every other character on the show changes not just with each season, but often from episode to episode. Nothing stays the same. Whether it’s his girlfriend Rita, or the other crazy women in his life. The people he works with, his colleagues, and even those out to get him. Each episode brings a new dynamic. A shift in the conflicts & alliances.

If I could discern any one principle the writers follow in the show, it’s that change is inevitable — nothing stays the same.

I don’t know about you, but I’m taking notes.