But First: What Random Memories of You Are Floating around in Stranger’s Minds?
I read an interesting article this week by Jason Schwartzman (no, not that one, I double checked). It’s basically about how he has all these memories of strangers and they’d probably be shocked if they knew they were occupying a memory in his mind. Then he flipped it around.
You might never get to know what little moments of your life have gotten catalogued by others. . . .
Maybe your name is in the story. Or maybe you’re just Bearded Dude or Kind Stranger or Train Lady. Maybe the story is an “accurate” representation of you. Or maybe it’s more a representation of the mood you happened to be in or a stressful day or the wildest night of your life. Maybe you’d recognize yourself if you (somehow) overheard the telling of the tale. Maybe you wouldn’t.
Anyway, it made me think about how much of the stories we create are actually experienced and remembered in the ways we intend.
Give the Audience Credit
We like to think that all the effort we put into crafting stories will result in an outcome we create. Greg Daniels, executive producer of The Office, basically says that’s crap. And we have John Krasinsky (yes, that one) to thank for this revelation. He shared the following on Conan O’Brien’s pod:
He [Greg Daniels] also recalibrated all of our level of storytelling. For me, the truth is I would never have done A Quiet Place if it wasn’t for advice that Greg gave me years ago . . . I was very nervous and he said, “You look weird. Is something going on?” I said, “oh, no, this is just my favorite joke in the script. I want to make sure I deliver it funny.” He went, “Woah, woah, woah. You don’t deliver anything funny. You deliver it truthfully. And it’s up to them out there in TV land if they think it’s funny or not—if they think that a moment with you and Jenna is emotional or not. Don’t play emotion. Don’t play funny.”
When I sat down to rewrite the first script of A Quiet Place, I said I don’t know how to do a scary movie. I don’t know how to do scares. I just thought, write what you know. Write characters that people fall in love with . . . . And so as soon as I started writing this family and made it a family drama, all the scares just laid themselves down. It wasn’t about trying to scare people. Fall in love with these characters, and you’ll be terrified to see anything bad happen to them.
So, like the second act of a cheesy rom com where the guy realizes he should just focus on being himself instead of who he thinks the girl wants him to be, we’re better off just creating good stories and letting the audience decide what they feel and when.
*cough* news media *cough*
Sentence of the Week
This week’s sentence is from a nice article about an intriguing alternative to meditation.
Coping with life’s challenges can be hard and sure, you can face them sitting down in your room listening to Harry Styles on an app say calming things at you, but wouldn’t you rather give into your secret arsonist yearnings?
Thanks for reading,
Braden
Don't Tell People How to Experience Your Stories
“ *cough* news media *cough*” is my favorite!!