David Mamet Discusses Drama

...and apparently loves writing in all caps. This morning I was fishing in my blog list and came across Dan Abnett's blog (if you have any interest in military sci-fi, or just sci-fi in general, Abnett is someone to check out). He's posted a link to a memo sent out by David Mamet (I hope I don't have to tell you who he is...) to the writers of that TV series The Unit. I saw much of this show's first season, and while the operational parts of the show were very cool, the "stateside drama" made me yawn and somewhat nauseated.

Regardless, the show had good potential (and Ex-Delta Operator Eric L. Haney was it's technical consultant - go Haney), and after re-watching the beyond awesome Mamet film Spartan this past weekend, I'm in the mood for Mamet. So this link came as a delightful surprise to me, and I figure I would pass it along to you good folks.

The link in question.

And although I've linked to it before, I'll put up another link to Dan Abnett's blog here.

I will beg Mr. Mamet's forgiveness and reproduce what I think is the crux of his argument (and yes, he wrote it in all caps...):

SO: WE, THE WRITERS, MUST ASK OURSELVES OF EVERY SCENE THESE THREE QUESTIONS.

1) WHO WANTS WHAT?
2) WHAT HAPPENS IF HER DON’T GET IT?
3) WHY NOW?

THE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS ARE LITMUS PAPER. APPLY THEM, AND THEIR ANSWER WILL TELL YOU IF THE SCENE IS DRAMATIC OR NOT.

Happy reading.