I have always watched TV shows and movies and admired some of them. For a long time, when I watched something good, I would think, "This is such an interesting plot!" or "This is so funny!". But in the recent time, I've instead started to think, "There are people out there creating these things!".

I don't think that out of envy. Sure, people that create good shows and movies are very successful. But more importantly, they are among the best in the world when it comes to telling a story. And as a writer of fiction, my aspiration is undoubtedly to be among the best in the world when it comes to telling a story.

I have the same reaction when I read good books as well.

And when I follow that line of thought a little deeper, the remark turns into interesting questions - What prompted them to create such a plot? How did they realise that introducing this particular scene or dialogue enhances the story so much? Why did they paint the character with these mannerisms and behaviours? How do they get the character traits to be so consistent throughout the story?

Of course, there is no way for me to answer these questions correctly. Nonetheless, it leads me to try and reconstruct their thought processes that lead to these depictions in the story.

In doing so, I notice areas where the writers have been unable to form strong connections and have introduced flimsy transitions in their plots, I notice areas that leave me amazed at the foresight of a complex plot line. Most importantly, it is what I expect homework to be like if I were in a school studying how to create compelling stories.

And every time I do this, I always end up learning something new. Even if it isn't a learning that is proven to work effectively, it is at least a hypothesis of my own that I can put to work in the stories that I tell (write).

And this, to me, is the essence of learning something. It is the ability to deconstruct why something is designed the way it is and how that knowledge can be used to design our own things. This is how nearly all Science works.

And this is a great way to learn.