Drivel drivel, dreck dreck
Yesterday, I finished a manuscript for THE REVENGE OF LORD EBERLIN, which follows THE YEAR OF LIVING SCANDALOUSLY. This book too me much longer to write than normal. Not because it was so complex or deep in thought, but because my life intervened too often. Inevitably, every time I came back to the manuscript, I had trouble liking what I was reading. So the upshot of this is, if you are me, and you take too much time, you end up rewriting the whole damn book. However, if you have a strict deadline, you get ‘er down and get ‘er done. Lesson learned.
Nevertheless, you can see by the screen shot that the thing was a big fat mess. My storytelling skills go through an evolution with each book. What sounded great in theory often turns out to be just dumb on the page. So the story evolves, and I evolve with it. I find myself thinking about certain scenes and thinking, wouldn’t it be better if this happened? But if this happened, don’t I have to change the front of the book? And the back? And all the stuff in between? Discovering your process is the hard part of storytelling. Mine is pretty messy, but it seems to work.
I am happy the book is done. It always feels like a cause for celebration when I finish one. I want to do something FABULOUS. I want to buy things, eat things, drink things. I want to fly somewhere, drive somewhere, skate somewhere. I feel euphoric…but then I will notice that the laundry needs doing or the kitchen needs to be cleaned, and voila, euphoria disappears and the chore list rears its ugly head.
Yesterday, however, I took in a movie. It was a rainy day and I haven’t seen one in a while. So I went to see:
Well, here’s another hard part of story-telling. No matter the story, you have to give your characters some redeeming qualities so readers will root for them. There has been some controversy among readers about the book this movie was based on (Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin), because the lead characters behave badly in ways that none of us would behave. I read the book, I knew the challenges, and while I can think of how I might have done it, the movie kept me engaged, just as the book did. It’s a salacious little tale, and if you don’t mind that sort of thing, I thought it was pretty good. But then again, my standards are not high. I thought the previews for Kung-Fu Panda II looked pretty good.
Have you read the book? Have you read a book with a difficult conflict where you were still able to root for the characters? What is your story-telling process? Is it as ugly as mine?
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
oops—meant YofLScandalously! Year of living dangerously was a great film. But I think i’ll pass on the hand puppet movie with Mel. What’s up with him?
Yeah, the hand puppet movie holds zero appeal for me.
Met you at Dreamin’ in Dallas and just loved your workshop. I think your candor is refreshing and humorous. Just the thing for a beginning writer like me! Can’t wait to read anything that follows up on YofLD.
Thank you, Angelyn! I am glad you enjoyed it.
The Revenge of Lord Eberlin and The Seduction of Lady X follow The Year of Living Scandalously.
Read the book and enjoyed it. But agree it was hard to root for the characters. Still think Giffin has a way of incorportating backstory in her writing that makes it interesting to read. However, can’t say the same for the movie. I thought it was bland. Except for the guy who played Ethan, who I thought rocked, everyone else was just ‘eh’. Kate Hudson’s character, Darcy, was so awful it was hard to love her and so i felt like Kate was miscast. And Dex in the movie was even worse than in the book. I really hated him and wanted the heroine to get another life. And mostly I just kept wondering why these two women were even friend? Did you stay to the very end? There’s a “trailer” and it’s hysterical. Darcy arrives in England at Ethan’s.
CONGRATS on finishing the book…
NO, I didn’t see that!
Darcy didn’t bother me. She seemed more oblivious party girl than anything else. Rachel is the one who got to me. Come on, grow a pair! I thought Dex’s dilemma could have been better scripted, to be honest.
Dex was a big wuss. I hated him by the end of the book. No spoilers, but he needed to grow a pair, too. Very immature behavior. Darcy, at least, might have been some fun. It is hard for me to picture a happily ever after for any of the characters. A happy for now, yes. But not a long term HEA.
Agree re Rachel and growing a pair. Those are the exact words my daugher used actually! And Dex was just ick… moreso than even in the book. Wanted to slap him up side of the head. But the Ethan moment at the end was a hoot. Sorry you missed it. We only saw it because we were sitting there debating the characterrs. LOL.
Aha, that makes sense, setting up the Something Blue sequel. Not that I want to see that one. Do John Krasinski and Kate Hudson have any chemistry? I can’t imagine it.
Ok, so I found the Kung Fo Panda II comment most interesting… I have a hard time rooting for people who seem to make nonsensical decisions about their life..
Interesting in a, “how old is she anyway?” way? Or interesting in a “I have a kid who might like that” way?
First of all, way to go on the book! Best. Feeling. Ever!
My storytelling process is as ugly as yours. I use the patented “my gut wants to hurl at this” method, which means writing until your gut wants to hurl at your words and/or scene, at which time I rewrite (usually gut is still at hurl stage), at which time I call Julie Kenner (sometimes really late at night) and figure out something better, at which time it’s rinse and repeat.
As for Something Borrowed, I actually really liked the book, but it didn’t zoom Giffen into my ‘must read now’ author category. She’s a great writer, but as VB mentioned, the secret to characters doing bad things is to have them against someone worse, but the problem with these stories is that it made the hero look like a doofus for wanting to marry b*&tchy girl. I never bought into him as hero material in the book, was more interested in the two friend’s friendship. I probably won’t see the movie, want to see Thor instead. I’m very ‘meh’ on people of questionable character stories at the moment.
I’m trying to think of a book with difficult conflict, and the only one that pops into my mind is My Sister’s Keeper. In spite of my hatred for the ending, I thought Picoult did a great job with keeping the characters sympathetic and people you wanted to root for.
I really like Jodi Piccoult. I liked Sister’s Keeper. I am reading Sing You Home now, which I got at a closing Border’s for almost nothing, but its hardback and I think, MAN this book is big. It’s good tho.
I’ve only read one of hers, the one with autism, and I found it uneven. I loved her writing, it just didn’t seem to all come together well in that book. I would read her again, though. Jennifer Wiener, too. I’ve read some of Jennifer’s that I’ve loved, and some that were just meh for me or had some plot issues that niggled. Overall though, good writing keeps me coming back for more.
And yes, congratulations on finishing!
Major congrats on the finished manuscript, Julia! Go ahead and buy, eat, drink. The chores will still be there.
I haven’t read that book, but I have read several books and seen several movies that had one or more characters that were hard to root for. For me, there has to be something to balance it out. Either the character is battling someone that is even more reprehensible (Clancy & Grisham are good at that), or the author gives good background on what led to the current behavior. Or, sometimes the character has a great sense of humor, or a soft spot for one particular character. Just give me a glimpse of something that offsets or explains the ugly.
Exactly
My process is a mess. I am all over the place! But it gets done. And thank goodness for wise and helpful editors! I did enjoy Something Borrowed, the book, when I could forget about the characters actions. I had to give them some license to behave badly and think of it as an alternate universe, but I found it entertaining enough. Curious about the movie.