David Mamet Tells It Like It Is

Two smart, funny friends forwarded this article to me recently. David Mamet (executive producer of The Unit, writer, director, smartguy) sent a memo to his writing staff with some seriously salient points about what makes good drama.

An excerpt (yes, written in all caps):

QUESTION:WHAT IS DRAMA? DRAMA, AGAIN, IS THE QUEST OF THE HERO TO OVERCOME THOSE THINGS WHICH PREVENT HIM FROM ACHIEVING A SPECIFIC, ACUTE GOAL.

SO: WE, THE WRITERS, MUST ASK OURSELVES OF EVERY SCENE THESE THREE QUESTIONS.

1) WHO WANTS WHAT?
2) WHAT HAPPENS IF HER[sic] DON’T GET IT?
3) WHY NOW?

THE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS ARE LITMUS PAPER. APPLY THEM, AND THEIR ANSWER WILL TELL YOU IF THE SCENE IS DRAMATIC OR NOT.

IF THE SCENE IS NOT DRAMATICALLY WRITTEN, IT WILL NOT BE DRAMATICALLY ACTED.

THERE IS NO MAGIC FAIRY DUST WHICH WILL MAKE A BORING, USELESS, REDUNDANT, OR MERELY INFORMATIVE SCENE AFTER IT LEAVES YOUR TYPEWRITER. YOU THE WRITERS, ARE IN CHARGE OF MAKING SURE EVERY SCENE IS DRAMATIC.

Read the rest

On Happiness

What makes us happy? How do we find satisfaction in this crazy world? Eve Ensler shares her thoughts about happiness and the power of narrative.

Fairy Tale Generator

Every once in a while it happens: You’re sick of all the old fairy tales, but you’re too tired to write a new one. So what do you do then?

You use the amazing Fairy Tale Generator, of course. Based on Vladimir Propp’s basic rules for fairy tales, this handy widget can sate your hunger for new stories without all the trouble of actually writing them.

Jim Henson’s “Storyteller” series

Fairy tale fan Lisa tipped me off to this amazing Jim Henson series a while back, and all I could think as I watched the videos was, “WHY have I never heard of this before? This is GENIUS.”

One of the most genius parts of the whole genius endeavor, in fact, is his version of one of my all-time favorites, “Hans My Hedgehog.”

Thanks, Lisa!

Summon Wolves with Your Mind

So maybe it’s a little bit of a stretch to say this is related to fairy tales. But you know what? Making connections between seemingly unrelated things = creativity calisthenics.

See if you can write a story outline about a man whose nagging wife drives him to desperate measures: a deal with the wolf king!

Fairy Tales Can Solve Serious Problems

If you think fairy tales can’t help you find real solutions to real problems, think again.

From the extravagantly talented Noise to Signal.

Education and Creativity

Please enjoy this funny, intelligent, and poignant talk by Sir Ken Robinson about creativity and learning.

Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child

One day, on a whim, I put the HBO series Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child in my Netflix queue. I wasn’t expecting much, honestly. I mean, if you’ve seen one cartoon adaptation of fairy tales, you’ve seen them all, right? Wrong! This series is awesome. If I had a kid, this would be required viewing. As it is, all my friends’ kids can expect to receive copies for birthdays and Christmases.

I love the art, the clever dialog, and the diversity of colors and cultures portrayed. All the stories are good (witness: Cinderella, above). If you can find it, I particularly recommend “The Pied Piper.”

See part two and part three of “Cinderella.”

Pictures from the December reading

I finally processed the photos from the December reading!

Vinny reads “The Tale of the Briny Demon.”

karen
Karen reads “The Bird Mother.”

Catherine reads the tale of two sisters who journey to the bottom of the sea.

Interview with Robert McKee

Robert McKee is as famous as a screenwriter/writing teacher can be. If you ever saw the film Adaptation, you’ve heard of McKee. In the following interview, he talks a little about what makes compelling characters and why unhappy endings can be great.