Yellowstone's Taylor Sheridan Completely Ignores This Rule on Writing

It's been five years since Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone premiered on Paramount Network. Though it had been previously rejected by many networks, Paramount scored gold with the Western drama, which quickly garnered a large and loyal fan base. Since then, Yellowstone has spanned five seasons and inspired numerous spin-offs, two of which — 6666 and Lawmen: Bass Reeves — hit the screens this year.

There's no doubt that the series' success can largely be attributed to the creator's steadfastness in executing his creative vision. As you certainly know, there's usually a whole team of writers working on one TV show. But for Taylor Sheridan, working as part of a team was never an option.

'My stories have a very simple plot that is driven by the characters as opposed to characters driven by a plot — the antithesis of the way television is normally modeled,' the showrunner explained to The Hollywood Reporter. 'But when you hire a room that may not be motivated by those same qualities — and a writer always wants to take ownership of something they're writing — and I give this directive and they're not feeling it, then they're going to come up with their own qualities. So for me, writers' rooms, they haven't worked.'

It's not hard to see why the showrunner can't collaborate with other writers on his projects. Working as a team requires actively listening to others and compromising every once in a while. But Sheridan is unwilling to give in to others' opinions.

'I spent the first 27 years of my life compromising,' the showrunner continued. 'When I quit acting, I decided that I am going to tell my stories my way, period. If you don't want me to tell them, fine. Give them back and I'll find someone who does — or I won't, and then I'll read them in some freaking dinner theater. But I won't compromise. There is no compromising.'

While Sheridan's words may sound too harsh and even seem to cast a shadow on his persona, there's no denial that his method has worked so far. The Yellowstone creator is also uncompromising in his writing — as Taylor himself admitted, he can't just do an 'okay' job.

Let's hope his finale for Yellowstone will live up to the high standards set by the previous installments. Season 5 Part 2 is to premiere in November this year.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter.