Just over a week ago we posted Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling – a list first shared by Emma Coats, a Pixar Story Artist, on Twitter in 2012. To say the response to the post has been huge would be an understatement. We’ve received thousands of comments and shares and the interest in the list continues to grow. On Wednesday The New Yorker’s Richard Brody responded to the story with an article titled ‘The Problem with Processed Storytelling’. Brody says that Pixar films make him feel as if he ‘were watching the cinematic equivalent of irresistibly processed food, with a ramped-up and carefully calibrated dosing of the emotional versions of salt, sugar, and fat.’ What do you think of Brody’s article? Add your thoughts in the comments below.
Also on the site this week, film critic Catherine Bray kindly gave us permission to republish a story from UK movie magazine Hotdog featuring Joss Whedon’s Top 10 Tips for Writing. This collection of tips was first published in 2006 and features Whedon’s thoughts on structure, editing and listening to the advice of others.
In other news, the 2013 longlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction was announced this week. The prize, formerly known as the Orange Prize, was established in 1996 and is awarded to the best novel of the year written by a woman in English. Early favourites for this year’s prize include Booker Prize winner Hilary Mantel, past Orange Prize winners Zadie Smith and Barbara Kingsolver, and Gone Girl’s bestselling author Gillian Flynn.
More prize news – the shortlist for The Carnegie Medal has also been announced. The Carnegie Medal is the oldest and most prestigious accolade for children’s writing in the UK. Previous winners include Neil Gaiman, Meg Rosoff, Terry Pratchett and C.S. Lewis. The titles in the running for the 2013 award are:
- The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan
- A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle
- Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner
- In Darkness by Nick Lake
- Wonder by R.J. Palacio
- Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick
- A Boy and a Bear in a Boat by Dave Shelton
It was announced this week that Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby will open the Cannes Film Festival this year in May. Luhrmann told Fairfax Media that being selected to open the legendary festival was one of the highest of honours in the world of cinema. In case you’ve missed it, YouTube has a two and a half minute trailer for the new film.
In news first thought to be a spoof by some readers, it’s been announced that Fifty Shades of Grey author E.L. James will be publishing a writing guide. The new book entitled Fifty Shades of Grey: Inner Goddess: A Journal will feature writing tips alongside memorable excerpts from the novel, a writing playlist and fully lined pages throughout in which ‘aspiring writers are encouraged to express their own Inner Goddess.’
Finally, some Friday fun: it seems that not even the last bastion of peace and quiet, the library, can avoid the Harlem Shake craze. Here are the students at Eagan High taking over their school library.
Related post: Waterstones Children’s Book Prize Shortlist Announced
Letterbox image courtesy of Upon A Fold. Reproduced with permission.