The Latest: Standing and Turning Away in ‘Twelve Angry Men’
It’s hard to imagine more drama coming out of a small room with 12 impatient, imperfect men than the 1957 directorial debut of Sidney Lumet.
Short Takes, Updated: Random thoughts on writing, storytelling, ideas, new and old media, and the lit’ry life.
Characters
- The Moment of Truth in ‘Twelve Angry Men’
- Broken and Whole
- Kate Daloz on the Process of Researching and Writing
- Kate Daloz on Exploring a Bygone Era and Research as Me-Search
- Naming Right: A Chance to Fix a Mistake by the Lake
- Will Storr on Storytelling, Writing, and the Brain
- The Quietest Hero: Remembering Bob Moses
- The Dangerous Stoicism of Lou Gehrig
- How Donald Trump’s Rhetoric Jazzes His Base … And Splits the Nation
- Tommy Tomlinson on the Craft of Writing
- Edwin Wong on Risk and Tragedy: The Literary Power of High-Stakes Gambles, One-in-a-Million Chances, and Extreme Losses
- Daniel Menaker on Tragedy, Checking Facts, Writing, and the State of Publishing
- Seven Essential Skills for Storytelling
- The Arc: How ‘Mad Men’ Tracked the Emotions of Life in Its Campaigns
- The Two Yous
- The Story of Bill Nack’s Classic Farewell to Secretariat
- That Pixar Storytelling List
- Laura Zigman on Make-Believe and True Stories, Writing Routines, Story Structures, and Adaptation
- Avery Chenoweth on Telling Stories for Business
- Howard Bryant on Tricks of the Trade
- John McPhee’s Step-By-Step Approach to Narrative Nonfiction
- Tim Ferriss and the Titans (4): On Divergent Thinking, Storytelling, and Integrity
- Beyond the Character Dossier: Fifty Questions for Donald Trump
- Shut Up and Listen: Brian Lamb’s Approach to Interviewing
- The Storytelling Secrets of Matthew Weiner
- How to Create Cliffhangers and Surprise
- The Power of Status Details
- Use the Character Dossier To Create a Memorable Character
- Presidents and Metaphors
- Dennis Littky Writes the Story of School Reform
Details
- Can We Dispense the Myth about King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ Passage?
- Haskell Wexler’s Lesson for Writers: Gather Lots and Lots of Materials … And Only Then, Organize and Write Your Piece
- The Power of Artifacts in Storytelling: Put Something in Your Character’s Hands
- Seven Essential Skills for Storytelling
- The Power of Patterns
Writers on Writing
- Let Us Now Praise Robert McKee
- ‘What If?’ Angus Fletcher on the Brain and Storythinking
- Kate Daloz on the Process of Researching and Writing
- Kate Daloz on Exploring a Bygone Era and Research as Me-Search
- John Truby’s Story Beats for 14 Genres
- John Truby on the New Rules of Genre Writing (Part 2)
- John Truby on the New Rules of Genre Writing (Part 1)
- Will Storr on Storytelling, Writing, and the Brain
- How To Draw Readers into the Story – Right Away
- How Donald Trump’s Rhetoric Jazzes His Base … And Splits the Nation
- Tommy Tomlinson on the Craft of Writing
- Tommy Tomlinson on Writing a Memoir About Obesity
- Haskell Wexler’s Lesson for Writers: Gather Lots and Lots of Materials … And Only Then, Organize and Write Your Piece
- Edwin Wong on Risk and Tragedy: The Literary Power of High-Stakes Gambles, One-in-a-Million Chances, and Extreme Losses
- Daniel Menaker on Tragedy, Checking Facts, Writing, and the State of Publishing
- How He Does It: Robert Caro Explains His Research and Writing Process
- Tina Cassidy on Beats, Book Topics, Foils, and Plotting
- The Story of Bill Nack’s Classic Farewell to Secretariat
- That Pixar Storytelling List
- Laura Zigman on Make-Believe and True Stories, Writing Routines, Story Structures, and Adaptation
- Avery Chenoweth on Telling Stories for Business
- Howard Bryant on Tricks of the Trade
- John McPhee’s Step-By-Step Approach to Narrative Nonfiction
- Tim Ferriss and the Titans (4): On Divergent Thinking, Storytelling, and Integrity
- The Enduring (And Sometimes Creepy) Power of Fairy Tales
Narrative Arc
- Whatever Happened to TED Talks?
- Genre, Simplified
- Broken and Whole
- The Lucrative Drama of Super Bowl Ads
- Eric R. Williams on the Machinery of Genre and Storytelling
- Let Us Now Praise Robert McKee
- ‘What If?’ Angus Fletcher on the Brain and Storythinking
- Why the Hidden Architecture Matters
- John Truby’s Story Beats for 14 Genres
- John Truby on the New Rules of Genre Writing (Part 2)
- John Truby on the New Rules of Genre Writing (Part 1)
- Will Storr on Storytelling, Writing, and the Brain
- Finding Focus and Organizing Ideas with Architect Christopher Alexander
- How To Draw Readers into the Story – Right Away
- The Broken House of Race in America
- Use Plotto. It Was Good Enough for Hitch …
- Tommy Tomlinson on the Craft of Writing
- Daniel Menaker on Tragedy, Checking Facts, Writing, and the State of Publishing
- How He Does It: Robert Caro Explains His Research and Writing Process
- Tina Cassidy on Beats, Book Topics, Foils, and Plotting
- The One Idea: Success and Failure
- Always Write About Just One Idea. Here’s How.
- Seven Essential Skills for Storytelling
- The Arc: How ‘Mad Men’ Tracked the Emotions of Life in Its Campaigns
- The Story of Bill Nack’s Classic Farewell to Secretariat
- Storytelling and Branding
- That Pixar Storytelling List
- Laura Zigman on Make-Believe and True Stories, Writing Routines, Story Structures, and Adaptation
- Howard Bryant on Tricks of the Trade
- John McPhee’s Step-By-Step Approach to Narrative Nonfiction
- Follow This Day-by-Day Guide To Write Your Book (Not Just During NaNoWriMo)
- The Storytelling Secrets of Matthew Weiner
- How to Create Cliffhangers and Surprise
- The Power of Parables and Fairy Tales
- The Enduring (And Sometimes Creepy) Power of Fairy Tales
- Writing Tips from the Pros
Action and Scenes
- The Moment of Truth in ‘Twelve Angry Men’
- How To Draw Readers into the Story – Right Away
- Edwin Wong on Risk and Tragedy: The Literary Power of High-Stakes Gambles, One-in-a-Million Chances, and Extreme Losses
- Seven Essential Skills for Storytelling
- The Story of Bill Nack’s Classic Farewell to Secretariat
- Laura Zigman on Make-Believe and True Stories, Writing Routines, Story Structures, and Adaptation
- John McPhee’s Step-By-Step Approach to Narrative Nonfiction
- How to Create Cliffhangers and Surprise
- Hitchcock on the Element of Time
- The Power of Beats
Mechanics
- Kate Daloz on the Process of Researching and Writing
- Kate Daloz on Exploring a Bygone Era and Research as Me-Search
- Why the Hidden Architecture Matters
- Finding Focus and Organizing Ideas with Architect Christopher Alexander
- Slot Man: The Battle Over Truth and Ethics Between Seth Abramson and Lyz Lenz
- How Donald Trump’s Rhetoric Jazzes His Base … And Splits the Nation
- Beware the Gaslighters: Some Simple Questions to Ask To Avoid Getting Manipulated
- The Broken House of Race in America
- Writing in the Time of Coronavirus
- Haskell Wexler’s Lesson for Writers: Gather Lots and Lots of Materials … And Only Then, Organize and Write Your Piece
- How He Does It: Robert Caro Explains His Research and Writing Process
- The One Idea: Success and Failure
- Always Write About Just One Idea. Here’s How.
- Avery Chenoweth on Telling Stories for Business
- Howard Bryant on Tricks of the Trade
- How to Be Creative, One Step at a Time
- Why We Must Cultivate a ‘Beginner’s Mind’ … And How To Do It
- Follow This Day-by-Day Guide To Write Your Book (Not Just During NaNoWriMo)
- The Clue Where You Sit
- Shut Up and Listen: Brian Lamb’s Approach to Interviewing
- The Storytelling Secrets of Matthew Weiner
- The Power of Status Details
- Use the 1-2-3 Code to Give Your Writing Clarity and Power
- Writing Tips from the Pros
- The Power of Patterns
- Halberstamitis
- Presidents and Metaphors