On Writing ~ Story is everything | Martin McDonagh, 1970-
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin, 2022
“Though it may not seem like it, I never try to write about a place, per se; it’s always, first and last, about story. Story is everything. Story and a bit of attitude.”
“There have to be moments when you glimpse something decent, something life-affirming even in the most twisted character. That’s where the real art lies. See, I always suspect characters who are painted as lovely, decent human beings. I would always question where the darkness lies.”
“It’s the periods and the commas that you have to forget about. The words never change, but the intonations change.”
“I suppose I walk that line between comedy and cruelty because I think one illuminates the other. We’re all cruel, aren’t we? We are all extreme in one way or another at times and that’s what drama, since the Greeks, has dealt with. I hope the overall view isn’t just that though, or I’ve failed in my writing. There have to be moments when you glimpse something decent, something life-affirming even in the most twisted character. That’s where the real art lies.”
“People say you should only write what you know. But you only write what you know because you are too fucking stupid to make anything up.”
“I hope there’s some kind of morality in all my work.”
