Mindy Kaling’s Rules for Writing in a “Voice Checklist.”

Gretchen Rubin
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mindy-kaling-mindy-project

I'm a huge fan of Mindy Kaling. She is one of the geniuses behind one of my very favorite TV shows, The Office-and also played the great character, Kelly Kapoor. I love her book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns). And I'm looking forward to binge-watching her newish TV show, The Mindy Project. (Added bonus: I love anything that's an "___ Project.")

Mindy Kaling also gave one of my favorite happiness interviews here. One great passage: "When I was 18 years old, I took a semester off from college and was an intern at Late Night With Conan O'Brien. It was the most glamorous job I ever had, and I idolized the writers there. I remember lying in bed every night telling myself that if I ever got a job as a comedy writer, I would be so happy and all my dreams would have come true. Six years later I got that job, working on The Office. I felt incredibly happy and grateful for a about a week, and then a whole new set of complaints set in. This would've shocked and disgusted my 18-year-old self. It's helpful to remember the younger version of me because it reminds me to feel grateful when I want to be snotty."

Mindy Kaling was on the cover of Entertainment Weekly this week, and the accompanying article included "Mindy's Rules for Writing," which is the "voice checklist" that hangs in her writers' room. "The truth is," she explained, "it's much easier to write a bunch of mean zingers."

Characters are helpful and kind.

No one is a moron.

Characters are polite.

Conflict should never come from a desire to be cruel or mean.

Do not fear nuance. Comedy from avoiding conflict, not instigating it.

Characters don't have to be maxed out to be funny.

To me, this list also suggests how TV writers can avoid cliche. We're also so familiar with the tired stock characters, the broad insults, the unrealistically extreme behavior that falls into the same patterns. These kinds of rules make it fresh.

What do you think of these rules?

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Also ...

  • Are you reading Happier at Home or The Happiness Project in a book group? Email me if you'd like the one-page discussion guide. Or if you're reading it in a spirituality book club, a Bible study group, or the like, email me for the spirituality one-page discussion guide.