Nic often incorporates his life experience into his novels and scripts. For instance, when writing the first season of the Netflix show Thirteen Reasons Why , Nic argued for Hannah's suicide to be shown in full detail because of his own past suicide attempt. "When it came time to discuss the portrayal of the protagonist’s suicide in 13 Reasons Why, I of course immediately flashed on my own [attempt]. It seemed to me the perfect opportunity to show what an actual suicide really looks like — to dispel the myth of the quiet drifting off, and to make viewers face the reality of what happens when you jump from a burning building into something much, much worse," Sheff wrote in a Vanity Fair op-ed . Sheff said the "most irresponsible thing" would have been to omit Hannah's death scene entirely, though some viewers vehemently disagreed