Lost is one of those shows that intimidates me as an aspiring writer. I don't think I'm a bad writer by any means, but when I see something that is so well plotted, so intricate, and so entertaining week after week, I can't help but get a little nervous. I'm just not sure I'd ever be able to do something like that.
But who knows. Part of the appeal of Lost is the myth that it's all perfectly constructed and planned out (much the way George Lucas insists on claiming Star Wars was all perfectly constructed and planned out). It's part of what makes the show fun. What we don't see, though, is the team of writers banging their head against the wall every week, tossing idea after idea into the trash, and generally despairing of ever coming up with a satisfying moment. The pressure these guys are under must be enormous.
Writing, thank God, is not like landing a plane. You get a lot of chances to get it right, and in the case of TV writing, a lot of colleagues to bounce ideas off of. What seems brilliant now came from a lot of false starts, dead ends, and bad ideas. One of the real tricks in writing is knowing when you're done, when you've finally got something as good as you can make it. This is where the Lost writers excel. Writing is a process--just because we're lucky enough to see the end result doesn't mean the road to get us there wasn't bumpy, chaotic, and filled with mediocre ideas.
I was actually going to post my thoughts on this season's finale, but the internet is already awash with plenty of opinions and theories. This article goes into more depth than I would ever have time to. Suffice to say, the series will once again keep me interested all through the summer.
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