What makes a successful writer tick? How do they handle bad news? How have others changed their lives and how do they pay it forward? 

If you want to learn from the best, you’ve come to the right place. Read on below for a glorious dive into the mind of Liz Craft, host of the popular podcast ‘Happier in Hollywood’ whose writing credits include The Shield, Lie To Me, The Vampire Diaries, The 100, and Fantasy Island.

FD: Let’s dig in! Now, because you already have a flourishing Substack and popular podcast, you already share so much information and advice with writers. But for anybody who maybe hasn’t listened to your podcast yet, do you have a favorite episode to recommend? 

That’s a good question. The podcast is called Happier in Hollywood. I host it with my writing partner Sarah Fain. And we have a Substack with the same name. We actually put together a list of our favorite 20 episodes, the best ones for aspiring TV writers.

FD: In addition to the podcast, you and Sarah have also written some books. Do you have any advice for screenwriters interested in dipping their toes in the book-writing pool? Are there ways that the process of writing a book was similar or different than breaking a story for a studio? 

Yeah, definitely. I think it’s helpful to have the experience of breaking story from screenwriting. What’s odd is how much you can write with a book. It’s really hard to get used to a lot of description and interior monologue because of course we have almost none of that, certainly no interior monologue, in a script. So that is a muscle that we’re having to learn to flex over and over again. I also think that in novel writing, you leave more room for the story to unfold as you write than one does in screenwriting because, you know, we always break a story completely before writing an episode of something or a pilot, but writing a novel, I think many writers leave more room for finding out the story as they write.  

FD: When you came up with the ideas for the books, were they ideas that you had wanted to do as a feature or a TV show that you then adjusted? Or did you feel like you needed to come at the idea from a new direction in order to make it a bookish idea? 

Well, so for the books, so Sarah Fain my writing partner and I wrote two young adult books together. Bass Ackwards and Belly Up, and Footfree and Fancyloose. Those we really conceived as books. But we’re working on a novel now, about three moms who travel to the Amazon to take Ayahuasca, that we thought of as a limited series, and we just said let’s write this as a book because we’ll have a better chance of making it into a show if it’s already a book anyway. It’s a long process. 

FD: Speaking of books, do you have a favorite fiction book that you’ve read that’s stayed with you, or a favorite fiction book to give as a gift?

I’ve gotta think about that. It changes from time to time, but I can say this. I can tell you my favorite book right now to give people is ‘The Women’ by Kristen Hannah. It’s about nurses during Vietnam. And it’s just gripping and it’s something I know nothing about. I knew nothing about nurses in Vietnam. So it was really interesting. That’s my current favorite. 

FD: What are your favorite writing utensils when you’re working?

I used to write on the computer. Now I write everything on the iPad. So that would be my number one. And of course, we tell everyone they must have Final Draft. No other. I also still love to print things out and use a pen to make notes. And when I get notes from the studios or network, I always write them down as the person is talking. Somehow I feel like the pen captures the essence of the notes and I need that to go back and sort of understand what they were saying. I guess it’s superstitious. 

FD: There’s psychology behind that!  It’s called the “generation effect” which basically says that people demonstrate better memory for material they’ve handwritten themselves than for material they’ve read or typed. 

Speaking of writing habits — Do you have a favorite writing location? 

In bed, for sure. 

FD: And do you have any writing traditions or snacks? 

I always have Ice Breaker mints on me. I’m also a diet Coke person. Those are really the things I must have. Coke and Ice Breakers. 

FD: How many Ice Breaker mints would you say you go through on a first draft? 

Oh, boy, that’s a good question. Um, a lot. Too many. 70. 

FD: 70 tins?

No, no, individual mints. Not tins. 

FD: Is there a writer or a director in the industry that you would love to meet that or work with that you haven’t? 

Liz Feldman.

FD: Do you have a life motto of any kind? Or if you had to put something on a T-shirt, what would it say? 

I have in fact, a Lingua Franca sweater that says “It’s a fun job,” and that is the motto of our Happier in Hollywood podcast. It’s a fun job and we enjoy it. So that’s definitely a career motto. As for a life motto, my life motto probably would be “Step into the future,” because I can often get stuck in the past.

FD: I like that. It reminds me of the practice of doing things for your future self, like what would your future you thank you for?

We talk a lot about that actually on Happier with Gretchen Rubin, my other podcast, about doing something for your future self. Like, your future self will feel so good if you’ve written five pages before you go to bed. I find that very helpful. 

FD: And the Happier podcast is about happiness in general rather than happiness in Hollywood?

Yeah, it’s about happiness and good habits. We just had our 10th anniversary, and we talk about different strategies like coupling. That’s like, you can only watch the Real Housewives when you’re on the treadmill, or, you can only listen to your favorite podcast while you’re walking your dog. And then there’s the strategy of convenience, which is putting your book in front of your TV. We really talk about a lot of practical stuff. 

FD: I’m a sucker for good habits and practical things. This is a really good segue, actually, because my next question is about the opposite of good habits — How do you procrastinate?

Oh, interesting. Well, if I’m procrastinating, I’m usually either listening to a book. or watching a reality television show. 

FD: Are you up for sharing what reality show you might be watching?

I am a Real Housewives fanatic. I watch all of the real housewives, and I listen to probably four or five breakdown podcasts of the show every week. So I am a real fan. And I refuse to call it a guilty pleasure. I don’t feel guilty watching football. Why should I feel guilty watching this? 

Walton Goggins in 'The Shield'

FD: If you had to do a cross-country road trip with a fictional character that you’ve written before, who would it be, and why? 

Shane Vendrell from The Shield. He is just very intense and engaging. He’s played by Walton Goggins, so it could be more about the casting, but he’s just a very vivacious character. So it would be fun. It would be fun, and it wouldn’t be boring. 

FD: On a similar note, but probably a different answer, who is a fictional character that you identify with? 

I would say Angela from My So-Called Life. I just think that feeling of being in high school and, you know, having such big desires and yet also so much insecurity. That is one of the shows that really made me want to write television.

FD: Do you have a go-to for getting bad news?

Sarah and I, my writing partner, will have lunch at Benihana.  

FD: What are your thoughts on social media for writers? 

I think it’s essential. It goes back to that idea of “step into the future.” I think because everything is moving toward being able to reach your own audience. Anything you can do to connect and reach your own audience, you should do. Are my twenty thousand Instagram followers going to make the difference if the show goes or doesn’t? No. However, if I write a novel and I can reach people, those numbers start to really matter, and I feel like we don’t know what’s coming. So therefore, we need to prepare for any eventuality. It’s not like I love social media either, but it’s something that writers can do so they really need to be doing it. I don’t think there’s room to be too good for it. 

Daphne Zuniga, Josie Bissett, and Laura Leighton in 'Fantasy Island'

FD: Do you have a favorite show that you’ve written for and/or a favorite episode? 

The thing is when you’re writing a show, you forget what you’ve written versus what other people have written. But I do have one - Sarah and I did an episode of our remake of Fantasy Island, where it was three female friends celebrating their 50th birthday. It was very White Lotus season three. And they all had different fantasies related to being a 50-year-old woman and they were all played by actors from Melrose Place. So that one holds a special place in my heart.

FD: Is there anything that you know now that you wish you knew when you first started? 

I really wish I understood how political the job is. We could have avoided a lot of missteps, and I think we would have been more successful, had I realized when we started how much we needed to pay attention to the politics. 

FD: I hear that a lot. Is there a way of explaining the politics of it all?   

I would say what it is, is understanding that it does not take a lot to get on the bad side of an executive or a showrunner. I really haven’t had this personal problem with showrunners, but I know others who have. You think that you are having an intellectual discussion about a situation, whether that be the content of a script or some production element. But what you don’t know is that like there’s a power element that if you step on a toe, you are really putting yourself in danger. So you may have to let go of an argument or a desire or whatever in order to protect yourself.

FD: That’s really good advice. There’s an art especially to taking notes, I think. It’s almost like there’s this thing of making sure the energy in the room always feels like you’re building something together, because you could say no to a note and it could still be that building energy, or you could say yes to a note but somehow the vibe is off despite just because of how you approached your yes. So always be building.

That’s exactly right. That’s exactly what you want it to feel like. 

FD: Is there any bad writing advice or clear advice that you have seen going around that you would want to correct? 

Yes. For some reason, it feels like a lot of staff writers are given the advice to be quiet in the room. And I think that is terrible advice. We need your ideas. Now, that doesn’t mean you need to monopolize every conversation, but you need to be speaking up with ideas. We hired you to talk. We’re not paying you to warm a seat. I can only speak for myself, but rooms are getting smaller, so if you’re there, now more than ever, we need your voice.