Kurt Vonnegut's Rules for Short Stories

Sounds suspiciously like Syd Field's rules for screenplays:

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.

3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.

4. Every sentence must do one of two things -- reveal character or advance the action.*

5. Start as close to the end as possible.

6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them -- in order that the reader may see what they are made of.

7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

From this blog.

Freewrite #5

I realize that there is a build-up of writing for this class at the end of the semester, and I'd rather have you concentrate on your Kelly Link adaptation project than rush through that (it is a large portion of your final grade).

So what I've decided to do is make The Orchid Thief/Adaptation freewrite extra credit for those of you who need a boost to get a decent grade in this class. Some of you have been late more than four times (which is a grade reduction), some have handed in freewrites late quite frequently or have had not very good grades on them, some never talk in class (which won't hurt your grade that much at all if your writing and attendance has been good, but will if not), and some are missing assignments entirely.

So, if any of the above describes you, then I recommend you do the freewrite. It will be just like the freewrites earlier in the semester as described in the syllabus (see below).

This last freewrite will be due on Friday, the 20th.
The Kelly Link project (which I'll review in class on Monday) is due Friday, the 27th.

Final Papers

The story that I am having you base your final assignment on is "Survivor's Ball, or, The Donner Party." It's actually available online but I'd rather have you read the version that I will xerox from her book, Stranger Things Happen, which I highly recommend since I've greatly enjoyed reading it the past couple of days.

Some things you should consider in terms of research:

• look up what the "Donner Party" was
• look up some things about New Zealand geography
• after having read the book, try seeing a movie or two that it reminds you of, or at review the movie in your head and figure out what the two major plot points were
• keep notecards or a notebook of ideas you have for your movie in the next couple of weeks so that when you write your scene and summary, you can do it quickly

Kelly Link has a page on her website of reviews of her work which gives you an idea of her style:
http://www.kellylink.net/reviews/index.htm

This assignment is like the first assignment, but you don't have to do a movie pitch or a tagline. What I'd like is:

• a one page data sheet that tells me 1) who the protagonist is, 2) what his/her "dramatic need" is, 3) what the "plot" is, 4) what genre you think the movie is, 5) what transformation the main character experiences, and 6) the tone of the movie (use examples from other films to illustrate if you want, or even from music or painting).
• a detailed, but not too long, synopsis (make it 3-4 pages, spaced at 1.5 -- DO NOT SINGLE SPACE). The synopsis should be broken down into three acts, with the middle one being the longest. The middle act should list AT LEAST 3 SPECIFIC CONFLICTS the protagonist encounters. The final act is not just the resolution to the story, but the resolution to the hero's dramatic need.
• a short scene from the movie, roughly 5-7 pages in the format that we have discussed many times. Be clear when you write the scene how it moves the story forward and/or what it tells us about the characters.
• finally, for extra credit (some of you need this), map your story out as best you can according to the outline we have of the "The Story of the Hero," which is on the blog. To fit this, remember that you don't have to be literal (for instance, I think a combination of the pesky preacher and Wendy driving by in The Ice Storm was kind of like the visionary soothsayer Obi-Wan incident telling her her mission)

I want this to be a STRONG ADAPTATION, not a freewheeling one like we did with "The Nose." You should use the setting and as many of the incidents from the story as you can, but most importantly, convey the tone of the story.

Think about how information is revealed in the story, how the characters talk, etc. If you want to add material -- and you are going to have to, especially since the story kind of ends in a strange, unresolved way -- make sure it fits the mood and mechanics of the rest of the story.

By "mechanics" I mean the pace, how information is revealed, what is possible in this imaginary world, etc. If you put a car chase at the end, for example, make sure it's really integral to everything that has happened prior to that, and that it is "special" in the way the events prior to it are.

I think of this story as being set up fairly conventionally, and being not too unusual in structure for the early parts. But after that, it really turns in many different directions. Most likely, you will have to make the ending a bit more conventional to make it work, but then again, it's up to you.

Remember, this is due FRIDAY, THE 27th. (Seniors, please try to get it in a little earlier, but it's ok if you just get it in the 27th).

We don' thave class on the 23rd or the 30th, and will be watching a movie on the 25th and 27th and doing a little review of the semester. Maybe we'll do a food day on the 27th and have a little party.

Freewrite #4

I want to play with this idea of screenplay form creating a sort of censorship by the limitations of its content. We have only been studying the "Hollywood" screenplay, but there are other types of feature-length narrative movies made. These are usually considered "indpendent" films, but also many films from Europe and elsewhere will have different structures. (We talked about movies like "Elephant," "Boys Don't Cry," "Kids" and "Requiem for a Dream," though some of these use pretty standard screenplay form).

So, for this freewrite, I want you to concentrate on those parts of the book that would not be possible to include in a Hollywood film. These don't have to be the parts concerning sex, they can also include the intense negativity (regarding the family, for instance) or the use of alcohol or just an unhappy ending. It can even concern the types of information and context/setting that is in the book.

I want you to write a short scene (3-5 pages) that puts some of the excluded matter from the book into the movie, as well as write a brief analysis of the choices you made in getting it into film (2-3 pages). Be sure to use proper screenplay format when doing this.

The questions I want you to consider are:

• does the Hollywood screenplay form by nature exclude some types of content?
• does the fact of the movie being intended for "mainstream" audiences preclude the inclusion of some content?
• are there more freedoms for the novel than for the movie?
• are there ways to "sneak" certain content into a film?
• how would you film certain scenes without being too graphic?
• how would your scene transform the nature of how the actual movie was made - would it have to be "rawer"? more camara-shaky? use not-so-famous performers? etc.

This is due on Friday, the 6th (not this Monday, as it says on the syllabus).

We'll go over this in class on Monday if you are confused by it.