There are several warning signs of becoming a K-drama superfan, but I think one of the most telling is that you graduate from assessing dramas merely based on acting talent and story setup, and start anticipating them based on the screenwriter(s) involved.
This often happens without realizing it. You might watch a drama that just gets you, and then when you look it up, you realize the writer is responsible for another drama you really loved. In this way, we build almost a kindred spirithood with drama scriptwriters — one that seems only possible with storytellers, since they tend to dig inward into their vision (whereas actors are always trying to expand outward).
The script is the meat of the drama — and carries or crushes any production — so it’s fitting that when we become acquainted with any writer’s body of work, we appreciate their flavor, their perspective, and we come to know what to anticipate. Song Jae-jung, Park Hye-ryun, and Park Hae-young are three such writers for me. Each has the particular sort of story and storytelling they’re interested in, and watching their creativity unfold over the years is, for me, just as fun as pounding through all the works of a favorite novelist.
Who are some of your favorite screenwriters?* Do you follow them closely and look at their body of work as a whole, or are you less inclined to pay attention to the writer behind the drama?