Tips for Writers – Stephen Tobolowsky: “What makes a story compelling?”
It’s not enough to be weird
“What is it that makes a story compelling? It’s enough to grab our interest that something weird happens. But what we really want is to be transformed by what we hear.
“We want something wonderful to happen. A lot of people just stop at the weird and don’t quite know how to get to the wonderful.
A tip from the bard
“You read Shakespeare, he was always able to see what was wonderful in something little.
“Look at Juliet talking about Romeo: ‘And when he dies, I will take him and cut him out into little stars, and he shall make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night, and pay no worship to the garish sun.’
“How wonderful is that?”
Stephen Tobolowsky [Los Angeles Times June 25, 2006 / photo by Anne Cusack] – as an actor he has appeared in roughly 175 roles since the mid-’80s. He is also a playwright and screenwriter, and just released “Stephen Tobolowsky’s Birthday Party” – a dvd collection of favorite anecdotes.
> related pages:
The Inner Actor
filmmaking
screenwriting/playwriting
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