Flashback 2020:

The fan response to Netflix’s The Witcher was very diverse. From love to hate and everything in between. The aspect that was discussed more than others among fans was the writing and various writing decisions. Showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich offers a look into her practise of hiring writers for the show.

“When writing an adaptation, are the best writers always the ones most familiar with the world?”, she started. “Yes. And equally importantly, no.”

She continued: “Let me back up. When you write an adaptation, you have to be familiar with the original work. Yes. Of course. The writers and staff on The Witcher had to read all of the books, and had to appreciate/enjoy the genre. But I specifically didn’t seek out ten Sapkowski scholars.”

Earlier, Lauren offered a look into her other criteria for hiring The Witcher‘s writing staff.

“When hiring writers for The Witcher, there were several factors I looked at to make sure we were getting the best possible team. In no particular order:

A spectrum of writing experience: people who’d been at it for 20 years and those who were brand new. It’s part of my job to mentor the next generation of writers, just as I was once trained. But I also need people who know television structure and production inside and out.

A spectrum of life experience. This is where diversity comes in. A POC has different experiences than a white person; men different than women; straight different than gay. Add in immigrants, adoptees, parents, the list goes on. Varied life experiences make the show richer.