Both Aarron and I are official Stranger Things nerds. We watched the show ourselves when they came out, and again when our kids were old enough. As children of the 80s, the way it captured that particular feeling of freedom — biking with friends through the neighborhood, the movies and music of the era — struck exactly the right balance of nostalgia: present enough to feel real, but never forced. For that, much of the credit goes to the writers. So, we were thrilled to get a chance to talk to one of the head writers for Stranger Things, Paul Dichter.
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We’d always wondered what actually happens in a writers’ room for a show like this. Heated debates? Storyboards and character maps to keep a sprawling plot straight? As we learned in this interview: yes to all of it. And in many ways, the writers’ room isn’t so different from the design studio — a place where creative ideas collide and combine, and when it’s working well, produce something greater than the sum of its parts.
Paul wrote co-wrote key episodes in every season of Stranger Things, including Season 4, Episode 4: “Chapter Four: Dear Billy.”
Paul discusses the dynamics of the Stranger Things writers’ room, describing the diverse roles—from enthusiasts to skeptics—that drive creative teams. He explores the discipline of restraint in using 80s nostalgia and the balance between following systemic logic and knowing when to break the rules for a great idea.
There’s also a lot here about how story structure maps onto design work — the idea that every scene needs an engine, that meaningful change has to register at every level, and that the best creative decisions often come not from defending what you already know, but from sitting with a note you hate long enough to find what’s really underneath it.
Bio
Paul Dichter is a television writer and producer best known for his decade-long tenure on Stranger Things. He joined the show in its first season as a writer's assistant — with no agent, no credits, and a background waiting tables — and rose to co-executive producer by the series finale. Over five seasons, he became a central creative voice in the writers' room, co-writing some of the show's most pivotal episodes. He also served as the liaison between the creative team and the show's expansive licensing universe, overseeing the canon across comics, novels, and other extensions of the Stranger Things world.
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