Details from upcoming episodes of What We Do in the Shadowsseason 4 have been teased during a presentation at Comic-Con. The series, which premiered on FX in early 2019, is a spin-off of the 2015 vampire mockumentary film of the same name, co-directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi. The What We Do in the Shadows series, instead of staying in the original setting of New Zealand, follows four vampires – Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), Laszlo (Matt Berry), Nandor (Kayvan Novak), and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) – who live in a crumbling manor on Staten Island with Nandor’s human familiar Guillermo (Harvey Guillén).
What We Do in the Shadows season 4 premiered on FX on July 12, and so far only three episodes of a planned ten have aired. The overarching plot lines of the season have seemed to focus on two major desires. The first is Nandor’s desire for a wife, which leads him to embark on an epic search both in the mundane realm of the Tri-state area and through the use of supernatural methods including a genie summoned from an ancient lamp. The other storyline results from Nadja’s desire to open a vampire nightclub inspired by the film Blade, much to the consternation of the Vampire Council’s caretaker, known as The Guide (Kristen Schaal).
Sunday is the closing day of San Diego Comic-Con 2022, and it has been dominated by panels hosted by FX. In addition to announcing the renewal of Mayans M.C. forseason 5, there was a screening of the upcoming What We Do in the Shadows episode “The Night Market” that was followed by a Q&A. During the Q&A, several details for upcoming storylines were officially revealed, including the first appearance of Guillermo’s family, a romantic arc for the character, and a full vampire wedding. Check out the breakdown of what was teased below, via the official What We Do in the Shadows account:
Guillermo’s romantic arc is one element that has already been teased for What We Do in the Shadows season 4. In episode 2, it was revealed that he has a mysterious, offscreen partner who hasn’t been discussed before. While the tease of a full vampire wedding would certainly seem to imply that Nandor indeed succeeds in finding a bride, it may very well prove to be Guillermo’s wedding, if that partner happens to be another member of the undead community.
It certainly wouldn’t be above the creators behind What We Do in the Shadowsto pull a switcheroo like that. While Guillermo has nursed a longtime crush on Nandor, to the point that it has been speculated that the pair will end up together this season, it would certainly be freeing for him to find love outside of his small vampiric circle. However, given the fact that these characters have an inherent inability to change, his burgeoning love could inevitably be squashed at some point soon.
My last Prep: From Concept to Outline workshop of 2020 begins August 10.
As I say: There is no right way to write. Each writer is different. Each story is different. There is no single universal approach that works for everyone.
However in my view, it is impossible to overstate the importance of prep-writing. Brainstorming. Character development. Research. Plotting. Index cards. Outline. However you do whatever you do leading up to FADE IN, do it and do it an immersive, thoughtful way.
In other words, break your story in prep.
As far as I can tell, this is the origin for the idea of “breaking” a story, as in breaking a wild horse.
I understand writers have an itch to get into the page-writing, which is great because that can help overcome the single greatest challenge of writing: depositing one’s ass onto one’s chair to actually write.
However we have to balance that out with finding the story.
Prep-writing is essential to the success of page-writing.
Some writers absolutely loathe and can’t handle any sort of prep. They simply have to type FADE IN (or if a novel, crack open that file) and have a go at it. Nothing wrong with that… if it works.
Repeat: You may be a writer who either cannot abide the process of prep-writing or find it actually inhibits your creativity. Whatever approach you discover that works for you, even if it involves little or not prep work, good luck and go with God.
First, in my experience a writer is much less likely to finish a script if they haven’t figured out at least the major plot points before they type FADE IN. If they get lost, confusion sets in. If they are not finding the story, their enthusiasm wanes. At some point, frustration enters, then bitterness, then rejection. Another script on the Died On The Vine pile.
Second, even if they do manage to get to FADE OUT — and acknowledging that a first draft is always going to be rough — unless they do 10–15 drafts, I doubt they will ever find the story they could have discovered if they had fully immersed themselves in it in prep. That is one of the big values of brainstorming and character development especially, giving yourself the freedom to explore and test out a wide variety of narrative options as opposed to narrowing the field of choices before surfacing other possibilities.
Third, if a writer wants to have a realistic chance at succeeding as a professional writer, they have to be able to turn around stories in an efficient manner. You sign a contract on a writing assignment giving you ten weeks to deliver, you’d better be prepared to do precisely that. Having figured out whatever sort of approach to prep you use is a big plus in that regard rather than watching the ink dry on your contract, then going, “Uh, what do I do now?”
On a side note, if you have any interest in writing TV, whether you like prep-writing or not, you are simply going to have to embrace it. For example in one-hour dramas with narrative arcs that extend over the course of one or more seasons, they break all or almost all of that out before divvying out scripts to individual writers. In fact, I think it’s safe to say a majority of time in the writers room is devoted to breaking stories (after shooting the shit and eating snacks, of course).
So different strokes for different folks and all that. And yes, we all want and need to leave room for the mysteries and surprises of stories to reveal themselves. If a full outline stifles your creativity, don’t do a full outline.
Paul Schrader’s beat sheet for the movie “Raging Bull”
However, for writers not of that ilk, my point is you need to figure out the story somehow. Why not do it in prep? Then you can concern yourself in page-writing with all the fun stuff of writing — scene description, character interaction, scene construction, transitions, atmospherics — rather than desperately attempting to sort out what goes where, does this work, oh my God, I’m lost.
Finally, let me say this. I have seen writers get ‘converted’ on this point. Many who had never done much in the way of prep, some who said they knew it wouldn’t work for them. After I got done working with them, it was like the heavens opened and the light of revelation shone down upon them. I’m not kidding. I have dozens of testimonials to that effect.
The essence of prep-writing is really quite simple: Get curious about your characters. Engage them, get to know them, interact with them, listen to them, ponder their personal histories, delve into their personalities, dig, dig, and dig some more. If you do that in a thoughtful way, the story, indeed the plot itself will emerge as a natural part of the prep process.
I’ve seen it happen over and over and over and over again, which is why I say to most writers…
Break your story in prep.
If you are interested in learning a proven, professional approach to story prep, consider taking my Prep: From Concept to Outline workshop. I’m only offering one more online session in 2020, beginning August 10.
The beauty of this approach is three-fold:
You can go into the page-writing part of the process with confidence because you’ve already broken the story.
Since you won’t be overwhelmed with finding the story when writing pages, you can focus your creativity where it should be — characters, dialogue, themes, mood, pace, etc.
By devoting six weeks to prep, you will almost assuredly cut the overall amount of time you spend writing your script and increase the odds you will finish your draft.
“‘From Concept to Outline’ is a course I wish I had known about a couple of years ago. I would recommend this whole-heartedly for anyone who is about to embark on their first script or ANY script. This lays the foundation stone to your story.” — Camilla Castree
“This has been an outstanding class. I’ve taken a few from other sources and most don’t live up to their promises (they shall remain nameless). But here, I’ve learned so much and gotten way more than my money’s worth.” — Daniel O’Donahue
“I went into Scott’s Prep class doubting I’d ever finish a script; I came out with the tools, confidence and inspiration to power through a complete first draft in just a few months. Amazing!” — Jessica Sada
Hurry. I’m limiting the number of roster spots to ensure I have enough time to provide the extensive feedback in I do for each writer’s weekly assignments and overall story development.
Break your story in prep was originally published in Go Into The Story on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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