WRITERS ON WRITING; Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points and Especially Hooptedoodle
These are rules I’ve picked up along the way to help me remain invisible when I’m writing a book, to help me show rather than tell what’s taking place…
Decided I really like Longmire. Was initially interested purely for Katee Sackhoff in a western setting, but stayed for Robert Taylor, Lou Diamond Phillips, the rest of the great cast and the quality storytelling. It’s not a show you fall in love with immediately, but whose charms and, indeed, great writing are undeniable if you stick with it. I especially like that the cases, the world, and the characters seem real. Real for TV, granted, but it’s not over the top serial killers on the prowl in Wyoming or ripped-from-theheadlines distortions. These feel like real cases that are unique to that part of the country. Dealing with cliche-breaking Native Americans (both good and bad), illegal hunting, the local sheriff’s election, people who move away from their troubles and try to restart. It’s slow and measured, but worth your time.
The train cars used in the 1914 Orient Express were made of teak, not metal, so most of them ended up as firewood in the course of two world wars. The “Last Express” team and I combed the continent pretty hard in 1993, seeking any data that might help us accurately reconstruct the original train, and found only three surviving cars. One was on display in a clearing in the middle of Compiègne forest, for an odd reason: It was in this dining car turned rolling military HQ that the Armistice of 1918 was signed, ending WWI.
Today, I biked there through the forest. The car is still there. And the gargoyle, I mean nice lady, at the front desk still won’t allow anyone to take photos. But it’s cool to touch the actual wood and brass the 1914 Orient Express was made of.
This awesome high-speed three minute story slam story by my old pal Curtis gives you a good idea of what it was like growing up in my hometown of Williamstown. I had nothing to do with this story - Curtis got less nerdy in high school while I got more nerdy, I don’t think he’d dispute that, but it did result in us being in different social circles by senior year. But it might as well have happened to me, because really, there were only so many things for a teenager to do in Western Massachusetts.
When an actor comes to me and wants to discuss his character, I say, ‘It’s in the script.’ If he says, ‘But what’s my motivation?, ’ I say, ‘Your salary.’
Alfred Hitchcock
