tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post216055602816663291..comments2024-03-28T22:40:10.893-04:00Comments on Cockeyed Caravan: Storyteller’s Rulebook #87: Realistic Emotions, Outlandish Situations (And Not Vice Versa)Matt Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-42811165481937385222011-07-01T15:14:46.055-04:002011-07-01T15:14:46.055-04:00What Crystal said.
As Matt's father, I usual...What Crystal said. <br /><br />As Matt's father, I usually refrain from commenting because of my close relationship and bias. But I must say that Matt's blog makes me very proud. I'm so glad others agree with me on the high quality of thought, writing, and effort Matt puts into Cockeyed Caravan.Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00643507469805785219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-53582723870105168622011-07-01T12:55:52.111-04:002011-07-01T12:55:52.111-04:00Thinking more about this today and wondering if a ...Thinking more about this today and wondering if a key to the right fit between one's realistic emotional truth and outlandish dramatic situation is the choice of an appropriate genre.<br /><br />Different genres are better at dramatizing different truths. The Western, for instance, is an excellent arena for stories about justice. While the psychological thriller is about the nature of reality and identity.<br /><br />A big reason for the enduring worldwide popularity of the mystery story could be the near perfect alignment of the reader/viewer's realistic emotion (I must find out why all this has happened...) with the detective's outlandish situation (...because if I don't, someone else will die!).j.s.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-39634580682107435372011-07-01T10:00:32.169-04:002011-07-01T10:00:32.169-04:00Your blog is hands-down the best one I've ever...Your blog is hands-down the best one I've ever encountered, and I read your posts before anyone else's - the editors', the agents', the writers'. I don't comment because what you say is so consistently terrific (and I've used it so many times in my own writing) that I just don't want to say anything dumb. Also, I usually need to let things sink in, like j.s. said, and there's really not too much to add.<br /><br />Keep on keeping on!Crystalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08533455377143071136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-69325756004759296532011-07-01T02:34:17.885-04:002011-07-01T02:34:17.885-04:00When we don't comment, sometimes it's beca...When we don't comment, sometimes it's because you've simply said it so well that there's not much to add. Or maybe you've given us a lot to think about so we need to digest it for a while and then comment on a later post.<br /><br />Anyway, if anything I wrote sparked an idea, that's awesome, because I've learned more from this blog than I have from most other writing teachers, books and peers. And really, I was mostly just paraphrasing you back to yourself anyhow. <br /><br />A slight tweak for TRUE GRIT that brings it more in line with the others:<br /><br />"I'm outraged at my father's death...so I will avenge him by hiring a federal marshal and chasing his killer onto Indian land."<br /><br />I've been thinking about this new rule for a couple hours and it really does seem like a useful way to go about analyzing and/or constructing great stories: to pair a universally relatable emotion with the right outlandish dramatic premise.<br /><br />Part of the key to the proportionate bigness of any given premise, I think, is that it allows conflicts related to these universal emotions to be acted out in ways that they wouldn't be otherwise, certainly not in real life, which is usually over too fast or never goes in the right order and where most of the conflicts between us and inside us remain invisible.<br /><br />An outlandish situation seems necessary to externalize emotional truth in a medium -- film and TV -- where stories are primarily about what people do, not what they feel.<br /><br />When there's a particularly organic fit between the emotions and the story premise/metaphor, then you know you're on to something good.<br /><br />A few off the top of my head:<br /><br />CORALINE: Every young child has fantasies that their parents may not be their "real" parents...but only Coraline goes into a parallel world where this becomes literally true.<br /><br />MADMEN: In corporate America and especially in the image conscious world of advertising, you have to fake it till you make it...but only Don Draper's entire life is a sham.<br /><br />THE SOPRANOS: Many middle-aged men in management positions struggle with work problems and feel put-upon by coworkers and families that take them for granted...but only Tony Soprano experiences this in the cut-throat world of the Mafia.j.s.noreply@blogger.com