The Writers Guild of America is on strike. 

What does this mean? 

For viewers at home it means no tonight shows for a while. It also means you’re going to start seeing a lot of news covering how this or that show is delayed because of writers. But for the most part, you're probably not going to feel the effects of the strike for a long time.

So why should you care? Honestly, I don’t really feel like wasting my time trying to convince people to care about what the writers are fighting for. Instead I’m just going to tell you why I do and you can take whatever you want from it.

I think in a way this fight will determine the quality of the content we see. Most TV shows nowadays are picked up for around 10 episodes instead of the traditional 22. Writers are less involved in production as a whole and they spend a lot less time working in a show. And the quality of shows suffers.

I don’t know about you, but I personally feel like I haven’t gotten really invested in a show in years. I remember being in middle school and watching shows that had six seasons of 22 episodes each. I was so invested in the world and the characters that to this day, I still remember them very clearly. But I feel like this has changed. 

Don’t get me wrong, I still very much enjoy watching TV shows, but more and more I find myself forgetting what I watched. It’s not because the writing is worse, but because I spend significantly less time with the characters and the story. And usually once the third season comes around, I find myself expecting the news that the show was canceled. 

This new model of television is the one the streaming services use, and it’s fundamentally changing the way the industry works making it difficult for writers to make a living.

Even though I have my own selfish reasoning, at its core, my reasons to support the strike are simple: the writers who spend hours of hard work putting their life experiences and emotions into scripts so that you can get some entertainment deserve to have a living wage.

So when one of my professors invited me to join her on the picket line one day, I did not hesitate and I joined her and a few other students on a small trip down to Universal Studios. We were specifically joining the WGA West’s Latinx Writers Committee, which means I got to see my community in action. 

I saw so many Latinx writers on the picket line that day. All of them were fighting, not just for fair wages or assurances on artificial intelligence, but for a chance to get their stories heard. They were fighting for the representation we rarely get to see on television of our community. It was inspiring.

I wish I could’ve stayed there all day. This is a fight I believe in, and I want to support the writers who are fighting for the future of the craft. So whenever I have another chance of going to the picket line I will take it. 

I understand that not everyone feels as deeply as I do about this cause, but if you made it to this point in my piece, I’m guessing that you care about this in one way or another. 

I’m not gonna ask you to go to the picket line or stop watching shows on streaming services. But take 15 minutes of your time and look up some of your favorite screenwriters on social media. Listen to what they’re saying. Take a moment to see what they’re asking for. Remember the part the studios are playing in this strike. 

Next time you see a news article announcing that your favorite TV show is delayed because of the writers, keep in mind that negotiations are a two-way street.