THE ART OF STORY
Science is on the Storyteller’s Side
May 6, 2012
via jonathangottschall.com
Literary scholar Jonathan Gottschall gives us a peek into the ways that scientific inquiry is beginning to validate our innate connection to stories.
In his new book, The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human, Gottschall offers what he dubs “the first unified theory of storytelling”: validated proof from neuroscience, psychology, and evolutionary biology that the more absorbed we readers are in a story, the more the story changes us.
We writers know this intrinsically but it’s nice to have the skeptics on board every now and again.
“Why Storytelling Is The Ultimate Weapon” at Fast Company’s Co.Create.com
The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human by Jonathan Gottschall on Amazon.com
Sleeping Beauty — Storytelling Through Imagery
April 27, 2012
Image Source: IMDB
In 2011, writer/director Julia Leigh offered us a look at visual storytelling at its best in her Australian film Sleeping Beauty. Through careful, photographic composition and thoughtful connection of images, a story unfolds that is cinematic, beautiful, and haunting. All with minimal use of dialogue.
In this project, Leigh frequently trades exposition for visual interpretation which can be a difficult choice given (as evidenced by the body of critical and casual reviews) that the majority of viewers are more comfortable with a film that explicitly explains its every moment. Such a technique can be valuable not only in filmmaking but in all forms of storytelling; we may choose to paint our images and allow our audience the pleasure of interpretation rather than verbalizing our characters’ attitudes, and choices.
For a study in less-dialogue-is-more, have a look at the following:
Read on
James Cameron Talks Story on Charlie Rose
March 29, 2010
Author Christina Baker Kline (Bird in Hand, The Way Life Should Be) did us the great favour of transcribing a recent interview with director James Cameron (Avatar, Titanic) in which he offers storytelling wisdom that is simple but oh so true:
It’s always about the characters and about how those characters express something that the audience is feeling. So it has to have some universality to it, having to do with relationships, whether it’s male-female, parent-child, whatever it is. And then you have to take them on a journey. And then you have to make it excruciating somehow.
Like that? Sounds so simple, no? Need a hand getting started? Try this: Is Your Hero Sympathetic and What the Heck Does That Mean?
And by the way, you can catch up on Ms. Kline’s latest right here on THE STORY SPOT: she’s now part of our Literati (updated live as bloggers post–if you don’t see her now, try again later.) Click through to read more and subscribe.
Read “The Essential Elements of Storytelling … according to James Cameron” on Christina Baker Kline’s blog, “A Writing Life”
Watch James Cameron interviewed by Charlie Rose
Don’t Miss: Beat Sheet Central
March 22, 2010
Pardon us for saying but this is bloody brilliant. Beat Sheet Central is author, screenwriter, and director Nicholas Jarecki‘s site where he collects breakdowns — *beat sheets* — of movies and tv episodes for your free learning pleasure.
Often when I’m writing a film or teleplay, I like to go back and look at movies and TV shows in similar genres and see how they are constructed. The point of this site is to collect beat sheets for every movie and TV episode, generated by you, the users, by watching the pieces and writing down exactly what happens.
An excellent companion site to one of our most popular posts: “Breaking It Down: Improving Your Scripts.” So get to work and when you’ve finished, why not contribute your own beat sheet?
(Novelists and memoirists, don’t go thinking you have a Get Out of Jail Free card. Nope. Learning to “beat out” your lengthier stories is every bit as beneficial. Bonus: if you can do it for a film, you can do it for a book.)
Know Your Story
March 5, 2010
If you haven’t heard, ScriptFrenzy month is nigh: April 1-30, 2010.
Whether you’re playing along or not, here’s a bit of sage advice for all writers from Greg Marcks–as posted on the ScriptFrenzy site.
I don’t have ten tips, or five tips, or even three tips. I can only give you one tip: Please, for the love of all that is holy, know your story before you start writing.
This is so much more difficult than it sounds. I always thought writing was exploratory, an attempt to exorcise a subconscious theme I was wrestling with. While this approach can work for short stories or short film scripts, it becomes unwieldy and time-consuming when tackling feature screenplays or novels.
BEFORE you type FADE IN:, plan the beginning, the middle, and the end.
Don’t know where to start? Try these on for size:
- The Logline: Your New Best Friend – A good start when you have an idea but don’t know what to do next.
- New Writers! Be Unafraid! 10 Tips for Diving In – For a bit of inspiration as you begin.
- Endings Make the Best Beginnings – Finding your story, all of your story.
Don’t take our word for it, take Greg’s. Read the full post, “KNOW YOUR STORY by Greg Marcks” at ScriptFrenzy.org. And while you’re at it, pony up for the privilege. Donations to the wonder that is ScriptFrenzy can be made through The Office of Letters and Light.