David Mamet Memo To The Writers

DAVID MAMET
MEMO
to
WRITERS
TO THE WRITERS OF THE UNIT
GREETINGS.
AS WE LEARN HOW TO WRITE THIS SHOW, A RECURRING PROBLEM BECOMES
CLEAR.
THE PROBLEM IS THIS: TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN DRAMA AND NON-DRAMA.
LET ME BREAK-IT-DOWN-NOW.
EVERYONE IN CREATION IS SCREAMING AT US TO MAKE THE SHOW CLEAR. WE
ARE TASKED WITH, IT SEEMS, CRAMMING A SHITLOAD OF INFORMATION INTO A
LITTLE BIT OF TIME.
OUR FRIENDS. THE PENGUINS, THINK THAT WE, THEREFORE, ARE EMPLOYED TO
COMMUNICATE INFORMATION AND, SO, AT TIMES, IT SEEMS TO US.
BUT NOTE:THE AUDIENCE WILL NOT TUNE IN TO WATCH INFORMATION. YOU
WOULDNT, I WOULDNT. NO ONE WOULD OR WILL. THE AUDIENCE WILL ONLY
TUNE IN AND STAY TUNED TO WATCH DRAMA.
QUESTION:WHAT IS DRAMA? DRAMA, AGAIN, IS THE QUEST OF THE HERO TO

OVERCOME THOSE THINGS WHICH PREVENT HIM FROM ACHIEVING A SPECIFIC,
ACUTE GOAL.
SO: WE, THE WRITERS, MUST ASK OURSELVES OF EVERY SCENE THESE THREE
QUESTIONS. Nosotros, los escritores, debemos preguntarnos ante cada escena:
Quin quiere qu
1) WHO WANTS WHAT?
2) WHAT HAPPENS IF HER DONT GET IT? Qu pasa si no lo consigue
3) WHY NOW?
Por qu ahora
THE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS ARE LITMUS PAPER. APPLY THEM, AND
THEIR ANSWER WILL TELL YOU IF THE SCENE IS DRAMATIC OR NOT.
IF THE SCENE IS NOT DRAMATICALLY WRITTEN, IT WILL NOT BE DRAMATICALLY
ACTED.
THERE IS NO MAGIC FAIRY DUST WHICH WILL MAKE A BORING, USELESS,
REDUNDANT, OR MERELY INFORMATIVE SCENE AFTER IT LEAVES YOUR
TYPEWRITER. YOU THE WRITERS, ARE IN CHARGE OF MAKING SURE EVERY
SCENE IS DRAMATIC.
THIS MEANS ALL THE LITTLE EXPOSITIONAL SCENES OF TWO PEOPLE TALKING
ABOUT A THIRD. THIS BUSHWAH (AND WE ALL TEND TO WRITE IT ON THE FIRST
DRAFT) IS LESS THAN USELESS, SHOULD IT FINALLY, GOD FORBID, GET FILMED.
IF THE SCENE BORES YOU WHEN YOU READ IT, REST ASSURED IT WILL BORE THE
ACTORS, AND WILL, THEN, BORE THE AUDIENCE, AND WERE ALL GOING TO BE
BACK IN THE BREADLINE.
SOMEONE HAS TO MAKE THE SCENE DRAMATIC. IT IS NOT THE ACTORS JOB (THE
ACTORS JOB IS TO BE TRUTHFUL). IT IS NOT THE DIRECTORS JOB. HIS OR HER JOB
IS TO FILM IT STRAIGHTFORWARDLY AND REMIND THE ACTORS TO TALK FAST. IT
IS YOUR JOB.
El personaje debe tener una necesidad que justifique su presencia en la escena.
EVERY SCENE MUST BE DRAMATIC. THAT MEANS: THE MAIN CHARACTER MUST
HAVE A SIMPLE, STRAIGHTFORWARD, PRESSING NEED WHICH IMPELS HIM OR
HER TO SHOW UP IN THE SCENE.
THIS NEED IS WHY THEY CAME. IT IS WHAT THE SCENE IS ABOUT. THEIR
ATTEMPT TO GET THIS NEED MET WILL LEAD, AT THE END OF THE SCENE,TO
FAILURE - THIS IS HOW THE SCENE IS OVER. IT, THIS FAILURE, WILL, THEN, OF
NECESSITY, PROPEL US INTO THE NEXT SCENE.
ALL THESE ATTEMPTS, TAKEN TOGETHER, WILL, OVER THE COURSE OF THE
EPISODE, CONSTITUTE THE PLOT.
Esa necesidad es su razn de ser, de por qu
est all. Es de lo que trata la escena. El
desespero en satisfacer su necesidad (lograr su
objetivo), lo conducir al final al fracaso. Este
fracaso, entonces, lo llevar a la siguiente
escena.
ANY SCENE, THUS, WHICH DOES NOT BOTH ADVANCE THE PLOT, AND
STANDALONE (THAT IS, DRAMATICALLY, BY ITSELF, ON ITS OWN MERITS) IS
EITHER SUPERFLUOUS, OR INCORRECTLY WRITTEN.
YES BUT YES BUT YES BUT, YOU SAY: WHAT ABOUT THE NECESSITY OF WRITING
IN ALL THAT INFORMATION?
AND I RESPOND FIGURE IT OUT ANY DICKHEAD WITH A BLUESUIT CAN BE
(AND IS) TAUGHT TO SAY MAKE IT CLEARER, AND I WANT TO KNOW MORE
ABOUT HIM.
WHEN YOUVE MADE IT SO CLEAR THAT EVEN THIS BLUESUITED PENGUIN IS
HAPPY, BOTH YOU AND HE OR SHE WILL BE OUT OF A JOB.
THE JOB OF THE DRAMATIST IS TO MAKE THE AUDIENCE WONDER WHAT
HAPPENS NEXT. NOT TO EXPLAIN TO THEM WHAT JUST HAPPENED, OR
TO*SUGGEST* TO THEM WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.
ANY DICKHEAD, AS ABOVE, CAN WRITE, BUT, JIM, IF WE DONT ASSASSINATE
THE PRIME MINISTER IN THE NEXT SCENE, ALL EUROPE WILL BE ENGULFED IN
FLAME Imagina primero cmo escribir la escena de manera que el pblico qued interesado
en saber qu ocurrir a continuacin.
WE ARE NOT GETTING PAID TO REALIZE THAT THE AUDIENCE NEEDS THIS
INFORMATION TO UNDERSTAND THE NEXT SCENE, BUT TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO
WRITE THE SCENE BEFORE US SUCH THAT THE AUDIENCE WILL BE INTERESTED
IN WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.
YES BUT, YES BUT YES BUT YOU REITERATE.
AND I RESPOND FIGURE IT OUT.
HOW DOES ONE STRIKE THE BALANCE BETWEEN WITHHOLDING AND
VOUCHSAFING INFORMATION? THAT IS THE ESSENTIAL TASK OF THE
DRAMATIST. AND THE ABILITY TO DO THAT IS WHAT SEPARATES YOU FROM THE
LESSER SPECIES IN THEIR BLUE SUITS.
FIGURE IT OUT.
Comienza siempre con esta regla inviolable: cada escena empieza porque el heroe TIENE UN PROBLEMA, y termina
cuando le encuentra solucin o descubre que hay otros obstculos.
START, EVERY TIME, WITH THIS INVIOLABLE RULE: THE SCENE MUST BE
DRAMATIC. it must start because the hero HAS A PROBLEM, AND IT MUST CULMINATE
WITH THE HERO FINDING HIM OR HERSELF EITHER THWARTED OR EDUCATED
THAT ANOTHER WAY EXISTS.
LOOK AT YOUR LOG LINES. ANY LOGLINE READING BOB AND SUE DISCUSS IS
NOT DESCRIBING A DRAMATIC SCENE.
PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR OUTLINES ARE, GENERALLY, SPECTACULAR. THE
DRAMA FLOWS OUT BETWEEN THE OUTLINE AND THE FIRST DRAFT.
EL OFICIO DEL DRAMATURGO ES HACER QUE EL PBLICO SE PREGUNTE "QU VA A PASAR",
NO EXPLICARLES QU PASO NI SUGERIRLES QU PUEDE PASAR.
Seales de
THINK LIKE A FILMMAKER RATHER THAN A FUNCTIONARY, BECAUSE, IN TRUTH, peligro: dos
personajes
YOU ARE MAKING THE FILM. WHAT YOU WRITE, THEY WILL SHOOT.
HERE ARE THE DANGER SIGNALS. ANY TIME TWO CHARACTERS ARE TALKING
ABOUT A THIRD, THE SCENE IS A CROCK OF SHIT.
hablando sobre
un tercero; un
personaje dice
"como sabes"
ANY TIME ANY CHARACTER IS SAYING TO ANOTHER AS YOU KNOW, THAT IS,
TELLING ANOTHER CHARACTER WHAT YOU, THE WRITER, NEED THE AUDIENCE
TO KNOW, THE SCENE IS A CROCK OF SHIT.
DO NOT WRITE A CROCK OF SHIT. WRITE A RIPPING THREE, FOUR, SEVEN MINUTE
SCENE WHICH MOVES THE STORY ALONG, AND YOU CAN, VERY SOON, BUY A
HOUSE IN BEL AIR AND HIRE SOMEONE TO LIVE THERE FOR YOU.
REMEMBER YOU ARE WRITING FOR A VISUAL MEDIUM. MOST TELEVISION
WRITING, OURS INCLUDED, SOUNDS LIKE RADIO. THE CAMERA CAN DO THE
EXPLAINING FOR YOU. LET IT. WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERS DOING *LITERALLY*. WHAT ARE THEY HANDLING, WHAT ARE THEY READING. WHAT
ARE THEY WATCHING ON TELEVISION, WHAT ARE THEY SEEING.
IF YOU PRETEND THE CHARACTERS CANT SPEAK, AND WRITE A SILENT MOVIE,
YOU WILL BE WRITING GREAT DRAMA.
IF YOU DEPRIVE YOURSELF OF THE CRUTCH OF NARRATION,
EXPOSITION,INDEED, OF SPEECH. YOU WILL BE FORGED TO WORK IN A NEW
MEDIUM - TELLING THE STORY IN PICTURES (ALSO KNOWN AS SCREENWRITING)
THIS IS A NEW SKILL. NO ONE DOES IT NATURALLY. YOU CAN TRAIN
YOURSELVES TO DO IT, BUT YOU NEED TO START.
I CLOSE WITH THE ONE THOUGHT: LOOK AT THE SCENE AND ASK YOURSELF IS
IT DRAMATIC? IS IT ESSENTIAL? DOES IT ADVANCE THE PLOT?
ANSWER TRUTHFULLY.
IF THE ANSWER IS NO WRITE IT AGAIN OR THROW IT OUT. IF YOUVE GOT ANY
QUESTIONS, CALL ME UP.
LOVE, DAVE MAMET
SANTA MONICA 19 OCTO 05
(IT IS NOT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO KNOW THE ANSWERS, BUT IT IS YOUR, AND
MY, RESPONSIBILITY TO KNOW AND TO ASK THE RIGHT Questions OVER AND
OVER. UNTIL IT BECOMES SECOND NATURE. I BELIEVE THEY ARE LISTED
ABOVE.)

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DAVID MAMET

QUESTION:WHAT IS DRAMA? DRAMA, AGAIN, IS THE QUEST OF THE HERO TO

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