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In the Writers’ Room Where It Happened: ‘Twin Peaks’
Harley Peyton, who wrote or co-wrote 13 of the original series’ 30 episodes, breaks down everything he learned from the experience
This week, I’ve asked my screenwriter Harley Peyton to serve as a guest contributor here. He got his start in Hollywood penning the adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s novel Less Than Zero (1987). He next joined the writers’ room of now-iconic television series “Twin Peaks” (1990); created by the late David Lynch and Mark Frost, it was a watershed moment in the medium and culture. Harley, also a producer on the series, wrote two of Season 1’s eight episodes and wrote or co-wrote eleven of Season 2’s 22 episodes — including the series finale. I became friends with him when he joined my TV series, “Dracula” (2013), as a co-executive producer; without him, the experience of working on that series might have driven me completely mad.
Late last year, I asked Harley to write a mini-lecture for me about a piece of art that he believed encapsulated everything he knew about storytelling. It was…not mini. So, I excerpted part of it and promised to publish the rest later, since I enjoyed what he wrote so much. There’s a lot to learn here about why “Twin Peaks” worked, but also why it was so revolutionary — lessons you can apply…
