Once upon a time you dressed so fine
You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?
People'd call, say, "Beware doll, you're bound to fall"
You thought they were all kiddin' you
You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hangin' out
Now you don't talk so loud
Now you don't seem so proud
About having to be scrounging for your next meal.
How does it feel
How does it feel
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?
~ Bob Dylan
I had a screenwriting teacher named Charlie Purpura who forced us, a group of aspiring screenwriters studying three-act structure, to watch a documentary about Bob Dylan as part of our class.
I thought it was the stupidest thing. Why were we wasting our time watching a documentary about a singer, not even a writer, when we were supposed to be learning how to write a blockbuster movie that would make us millions to pay off our outrageous NYU student loan debt?
It’s only now that I understand that Charlie was trying to introduce all of us to the most condensed form of storytelling available to a writer. The narrative song. And that Bob Dylan had perfected that particular form of storytelling and turned it into not only art but a political movement.
Take a look at http://www.bobdylan.com/songs and randomly pick three or four songs. Track the narrative progression and see how complicated and densely compacted each line is in its simplicity.
This is a discussion about the tremendous freedom that can be found within the smallest of boundaries. How limits and structure can actually enhance creativity. How the smallest stroke of a brush, the stitch of a hem, the fold of the clay creates a tidal wave of emotional resonance.
Learning to simplify. Boiling down to truth.
I thought it was the stupidest thing. Why were we wasting our time watching a documentary about a singer, not even a writer, when we were supposed to be learning how to write a blockbuster movie that would make us millions to pay off our outrageous NYU student loan debt?
It’s only now that I understand that Charlie was trying to introduce all of us to the most condensed form of storytelling available to a writer. The narrative song. And that Bob Dylan had perfected that particular form of storytelling and turned it into not only art but a political movement.
Take a look at http://www.bobdylan.com/songs and randomly pick three or four songs. Track the narrative progression and see how complicated and densely compacted each line is in its simplicity.
This is a discussion about the tremendous freedom that can be found within the smallest of boundaries. How limits and structure can actually enhance creativity. How the smallest stroke of a brush, the stitch of a hem, the fold of the clay creates a tidal wave of emotional resonance.
Learning to simplify. Boiling down to truth.
And by the way, Charlie - we miss you. RIP.
TODAY’S CREATIVITY CHALLENGE:
Write a story-telling/narrative poem to the melody of a familiar song.
This can be a song that already has lyrics but you want to write new lyrics or it can be a song that has no words and you’ve always hummed along with it, making up a little story in your head.
Try to finish at least one verse and one chorus.
Write a story-telling/narrative poem to the melody of a familiar song.
This can be a song that already has lyrics but you want to write new lyrics or it can be a song that has no words and you’ve always hummed along with it, making up a little story in your head.
Try to finish at least one verse and one chorus.
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