I spent the Christmas break pondering what makes for good writing – and indeed good storytelling – across all genres and all platforms. Then, on New Year’s Eve, I streamed one of my favourite movies, Heat (1995).
And all the unanswered questions tossing around in my mind fell into place.
What makes Heat an enduring piece of storytelling is that it has the same elements as all great storytelling – whether it be Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Ian McEwan’s contemporary novel Atonement or ABC TV’s hit children’s cartoon Bluey.
If you haven’t seen Heat, do. Written and directed by Michael Mann, it features Al Pacino as a hard-boiled detective chasing a criminal gang led by a steely Robert De Niro. It also features stellar supporting performances by Val Kilmer, Ashley Judd and Jon Voight.
Read: Book review: Sonny Boy, Al Pacino
One of the essential elements of all great storytelling is language. Yes, of course, storytelling is about language. But great storytelling exploits language – celebrates its beauty, bemoans its inadequacies and has fun with it through repetition and motif, and by pushing language to its limits and beyond.
How does Michael Mann do that in Heat? De Niro’s character repeats the memorable line: “Don’t let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner.” His concept of ‘the heat’ is a recurring motif in the film, and indeed becomes its title.
Pacino’s best scene is an encounter with a recalcitrant informant who is not giving up the goods. Three times, he yells and bangs the table: “Gimme all you got.” It’s breathtaking – every time I watch it.
So how can you push language to its limits in your writing? How can you pursue writing excellence, no matter the genre in which you are working, through the use of excellent language?
Below are three tips to get you started.
- Get rid of your adjectives and your adverbs. Gabriel Garcia Marquez famously hated adverbs or ‘ly’ words. Like adjectives (describing words), adverbs should be seldom used. Review your writing and cut them all out, or at least 90% of them.
- Strengthen your verbs. The verbs do the heavy lifting in writing. In Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice he talks about nature “trembling” and how much he “longs” to be in the presence of his love object, Tadzio. Review your writing and see which verbs you can replace for stronger ones.
- Mix up your sentences. Most sentences are constructed ‘subject verb object’. And so they should be. Unless you are a great stylist like Vladimir Nabokov, you should keep it simple stupid. But vary the pace and style and length from time to time. Start your sentence with a phrase. Juxtapose a short sentence with a long one. Ask a question. Paint a scene. Add a short quote.
Read: Self-publishing in Australia: everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask
Whether you are working in academia, in the law, in government or in the creative arts, consider how you use language in your writing and how you can strengthen your writing to make your communication and storytelling more memorable.
