This time around in The NY Times’ ongoing Writers on Writing series, David Mamet connects lessons learned from music with his own craft. If you are familiar with his sparse, minimalist style, often with twists, you will feel no surprise that he found inspiration from the musical philosophy “leave out the third — we hear it anyway.” How much can you leave out while keeping it intelligible, he asks? This minimal formula is an elegance, he claims, that separates those who can write from those who can really write. But the truly inspired will discover the creative way to get from point A to point B, or, the note A to note B, in a way that can surprise, delight, and refresh.