The Crown on Netflix is a beautiful, poignant, and raw depiction of the British monarchy and the curtains they use to hide behind. The show’s success for 4 seasons is an indicator of the public interest in understanding what makes a monarch. Creators can use the show as an inspiration and feel motivated to create something relevant and successful.

Here are 5 Things Creators can learn from The Crown.

Focus

Every single episode of The Crown has a particular element, a topic or subject they cover. Using cross-character stories, they blend elements to finally reveal what the entire episode was about. Creators can use this kind of focus to write blogs, chapters, or stories. Understand what your AIM/FOCUS/GOAL is and utilize as many tools as you need to help you achieve that purpose. Is your blog about Christmas gift guides? Then inculcate elements of holidays, gifts, and Christmas to suggest what it is about. Is your book about fitness? Include meals, habits, and exercises that provide assistance with your goal and focus.

Research

The audience is extremely aware of the copious amounts of research that has gone into producing, directing, and creating The Crown. From costumes to locations, to factual research, and to portraying relationships, the creators have ensured their research is authentic, honest, and accurate. Bloggers, creators, writers, directors, and artists should follow this habit diligently. Whether you are writing a blog, a book, an article, or a film, research will help you lend that authenticity to fact and fiction. Fiction writers tend to make the mistake of not investing time in research and preparation. Audiences are shrewd enough to notice inaccuracies in fiction too. For example, if you want to write a book about an American girl falling in love with a South Asian boy in Singapore, you would need to do research about your protagonists, the location, their culture, their jobs, and their personalities. The better your research is, the better audiences will be able to accept and approve your work.

Three-Dimensional Characters

In Season 1, we see clearly the two roles Elizabeth struggles to play- the woman and the Queen. She is new, fresh, and yet to discover the heady combination of power, hierarchy, and status. Writing a layered, multi-dimensional, and complex character like Queen Elizabeth is one of the reasons The Crown is so popular. As the series progresses, all characters undergo changes, growth, and a personality seems to develop that connects them to each other. Creators and writers should definitely pay special attention to the way these characters are written and use it as inspiration for character sketches and personalities. What motivates them? What drives them? Why does Prince Philip feel the angst and envy that he does? How does Princess Margaret feel living in the shadow of her sister?

Interpersonal Relationships

As characters progress, so do relationships. Audiences can vividly notice how relationships between particular characters deteriorate or develop with times, interactions, and changes in hierarchy. When Elizabeth and Philip are in Malta, they are in a cocoon of domestic bliss, playing the roles of a doting wife and masculine husband. With her coronation, Queen Elizabeth is thrust into a limelight she isn’t prepared for and that marks the beginning of the end of her marital peace and harmony. Power demarcates the relationships between sisters, husband and wife, friends, and even family as they learn to their own peril. Creators and writers can learn some beautiful and sensible lessons emphasizing emotions, connections, and the links between family and friends. How do you display the bond between sisters? How can writers show the fraying of the relationship between a husband and a wife?

Balance

The show tackles sensitive subjects like the monarchy, the bureaucracy, the government, and the reality behind the glossy veneer of protocol and royalty. Yet it does so deftly and balances brutal honesty with tact and using strong, vivid imagery and photography. Creators, writers, directors, and filmmakers will find each episode a lesson in film studies to understand how to balance visual imagery with prose story-telling and a solid narrative. It does get too staid in certain episodes, focusing too much on building images and relying a lot on the actors to emote and act without accessing dialogue or even words. Depending on the medium you create in, this could be a blessing or a mistake. Creators can’t deny the balance, the tact it employs, and refer to it when necessary for their projects and future works.