The Death of Story?
This weekend I went to Robert McKee's story seminar. For those of you who don't know, Robert McKee is the author of the screenwriter's book entitled, Story. Highly recommended for the intermediate to advanced writer who's looking for something a little more challenging.
First of all, the workshop was excellent, and if you're a writer, I can't rave enough. One of the things he discussed early in the weekend, was the current death of story in film. It was an interesting premise, and I do agree with several of his points: that movies are full of special effects, gee-whiz camera shots, and the obligatory man/woman/dog jumping just beyond the edge of an explosion.
You may wonder what he means by story? Very simply, (and these are my words, not here), it's the classic concept of following a character (or characters) on an up and down journey from an opening event to the final culmination where the character must dig deep within himself to overcome the very thing that he's been trying to overcome during the course of the journey.
According to McKee, there's a structure to story. An up and down pattern of building intensity, using surprise to keep the audience enthralled. As I was working through my current work in progress, I solved quite a few problems that had frustrated me. For me, that alone made the price of the workshop worthwhile. In the audience were screenwriters, script readers, novelists, and even one Harlequin editor, who I shall not name, but who was sent not because she's an aspiring novelists, but because Harlequin is showing an intense interest in craft. Harlequin, I salute you.
In other news, New Jersey has a resolution under consideration in the state Legislature encouraging residents to join "a campaign toward civility, kindness and respect to all." New Jersey has a reputation (and IMHO, it's deserved) of being rough and tumble and okay, they swear a lot, too.
In Diva's Guide, my character is from Jersey, and yes, she swears a lot. And it's not golly-gee-whiz-gosh-willikers, either. She's gritty, gutsy, and not afraid to piss off a lot of people. I'm stating this because I want to give everyone fair warning: she's got a real potty mouth on her, and if that offends you, don't buy the book, don't even pick it up and thumb through it, because I don't want to shock anyone. There, that's my Tipper Gore moment.
I'm in deep deadline doo-doo, so if you sense a slight air of desperation in my blogging, you'll know why. Here a post, there a post, etc, etc. If anyone would be interested in taking a shot, please let me know, because I'd like to have a free guest writers and readers get a chance to play.
So, here's today's questions:
That's it for today!
First of all, the workshop was excellent, and if you're a writer, I can't rave enough. One of the things he discussed early in the weekend, was the current death of story in film. It was an interesting premise, and I do agree with several of his points: that movies are full of special effects, gee-whiz camera shots, and the obligatory man/woman/dog jumping just beyond the edge of an explosion.
You may wonder what he means by story? Very simply, (and these are my words, not here), it's the classic concept of following a character (or characters) on an up and down journey from an opening event to the final culmination where the character must dig deep within himself to overcome the very thing that he's been trying to overcome during the course of the journey.
According to McKee, there's a structure to story. An up and down pattern of building intensity, using surprise to keep the audience enthralled. As I was working through my current work in progress, I solved quite a few problems that had frustrated me. For me, that alone made the price of the workshop worthwhile. In the audience were screenwriters, script readers, novelists, and even one Harlequin editor, who I shall not name, but who was sent not because she's an aspiring novelists, but because Harlequin is showing an intense interest in craft. Harlequin, I salute you.
In other news, New Jersey has a resolution under consideration in the state Legislature encouraging residents to join "a campaign toward civility, kindness and respect to all." New Jersey has a reputation (and IMHO, it's deserved) of being rough and tumble and okay, they swear a lot, too.
In Diva's Guide, my character is from Jersey, and yes, she swears a lot. And it's not golly-gee-whiz-gosh-willikers, either. She's gritty, gutsy, and not afraid to piss off a lot of people. I'm stating this because I want to give everyone fair warning: she's got a real potty mouth on her, and if that offends you, don't buy the book, don't even pick it up and thumb through it, because I don't want to shock anyone. There, that's my Tipper Gore moment.
I'm in deep deadline doo-doo, so if you sense a slight air of desperation in my blogging, you'll know why. Here a post, there a post, etc, etc. If anyone would be interested in taking a shot, please let me know, because I'd like to have a free guest writers and readers get a chance to play.
So, here's today's questions:
- Have you noticed a decline in story, both in film and books, maybe an emphasis on style over substance? Just curious about this, and trying to decide if I agree or not.
- Does swearing bother you? Be honest, I'm curious because it does bother me, which I think is why I gave her such a sewer-mouth because in my head, it's a huge taboo, and she needed taboos
- Has anybody read Friday Night Lights? I'm in progress now, and it's scary how closely they captured the Texas football mentality.
That's it for today!
posted by Kathleen at 9:04 AM
4 Comments:
1) Sometimes I'm not sure if it is a decline in story or just "catching up." When I think about it, there's always a bunch of mediocrity and goop around, and probably always has been...but just the good stuff really gets passed down. Is there a glut in the book/movie market on high-action/style, little story entertainment? I'd say, most definitely...but there are also films and books out there that still rely on good old characterization and storytelling.
So I'm a little leery of comparing older storytelling to contemporary, because it's hard to say what has been thrown out along the way. At the same time, yes, definitely, there is a lot out there that is style over substance.
2) I'm okay with swearing. I have such a potty-brain it never shocks me to read it (unless it is completely out of character, of course).
3) Nope, sorry :(
Interesting on the "catching up" theory. I buy that. We've got so many choices that it seems like storytelling has disappeared. Interesting side note: they say that the more choices the brain has, the more likely it is to be unsatisfied with its choice. Apparently if you have 30 choices, you won't be happy with anything, and if you have only 6 choices, you're more likely to be happy with your choice. Maybe that's what we're seeing....
As for swearing, I'm glad to hear it :)
re: Friday Night Lights -- I'm not sure if it's a book for everyone, but it's a great story.
let's try this again. blogger ate my last comment. I found you from a link on Alison's Blog. Interesting. Doesn't McKee give the best talks?
To answer your questions:
1) I stay away from style over story films and books, so I'm not the one to really answer this
2) I swear...except in front of little kids ; ) So swearing doesn't bother me unless it's used for shock value or it's out of character
3) haven't read it
I loved the talk. I've got a tape of his from RWA, and thought it was brilliant. Another write commented that he was very sure of his own way and denigrated the romance genre, but in our talk, he was pretty positive on all the genres, although he did denigrate
a) the current crop of foreign films
b) Stephen Spielberg
c) Titanic
d) The English Patient
and another potty-mouth!!! Woo-hoo! It's funny because in Texas, there was some swearing, but not from women (this may have changed with college women now, don't know). But here in New York, and in Jersey, everybody has a potty-mouth. Swear. :)
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