David Mamet: "Throw Out Stuff You Love"

I'm a long time fan of writer and playwright David Mamet. His films stand out for their stylized, pithy dialog and intricate plot twists. Glengarry Glen Ross (winner of the Pulitzer prize) is a classic. If you've never seen House of Games, Things Change, Heist, Wag the Dog, Oleanna, or The Spanish Prisoner, you should rent their DVDs.

Mamet was interviewed recently by Robert Hughes in the WSJ. Several of his answers dealt with his own creative process.

WSJ: How hard is plot for you?

Mamet: I once worked for a summer laying sod. This is the only thing I've ever done that was harder than that. You've got to get over your own cleverness. You have to become extraordinary analytical, and throw out all the stuff you love to get there. Sometimes it doesn't make sense. You stare at that sheet of paper for years and know there's something hiding in there.

WSJ: When you begin writing, do you have an idea where it's going to go?

Mamet: You've got to get in there and start mucking around. After a while the material is going to correct you. You have to listen to it, and extract the play that is hiding in your subconscious. If it can't trick you, it can't trick the audience. You have to follow your unconscious thoughts so that eventually you're encased in a structure that, as Aristotle says, is surprising and inevitable.

WSJ: Are you ruthless with your own rewriting?

Mamet: Oh yes. I don't care. I do it for a living. If something doesn't work, I'm going to throw it out. What pleasure is there in saying I'm right and the audience is wrong?

I'm no Mamet. But I will say that my writing experience (books and other products) is similar to his in this regard. Almost every time I've been stuck, it's usually because I've been in love with a particular idea, theme, metaphor, or quote. Only when I've "thrown out the stuff I love" (as Mamet would put it) do things begin to flow in a constructive way.

What can you "beloved ideas" can you throw away? What might that open up?

Comments

[patti digh]

Many thanks for this reminder to put down my clever, Roger. And if you haven't already, you must, must, must run and get David Mamet's book, On Directing Film. I think it is one of the best books I've ever read - about writing, about intention, about direction - Run, don't walk, to find it.... and thanks for this great post!

[Roger von Oech]

Patti: I'll check it out. Fortunately for Mamet, he's been able to direct a number of the films he's written, and that's given him more power in Hollywood than most writers have.

Here's a quick quote from the same interview about what it's like to be a Hollywood writer:

"[Hollywood] still doesn't treat the writers right. The whole idea is, 'We'll give you a whole bunch of money to write this television show. Then if you don't mind, take off your hat -- I want to defecate onto your head and rub it into your hair. And set your pants on fire.' It's really clear. That's the wonderful thing about Hollywood. There's nothing hidden."