The Dietrich Theater in Tunkhannock is in the middle of its spring Film Festival. On Sunday, I saw Everlasting Moments, a Swedish film set in the early 1900s about a woman who enjoys taking photos. The main character in the movie was in a horrific marriage, and I kept thinking, "She should get out of there. She should use her photography skills to support herself, or at least to document what has happened to herself and her kids." But she never did, and the story didn't grab me as much as it might have, if only...
Then I had to laugh. From my seat in the audience, I was trying to rewrite the plot. I was figuring out how to make the story into what I wanted it to be.
I already have a story that's historical fiction and includes a female main character who loves photography. I don't have to sit through someone else's story line. I can make it what I want it to be. I want Sophie to be a heroine who uses whatever skills she has to address the world around her. And I can do that from my seat at my computer.
This Sunday is Defiance, based on a true story, so I guess I can't try to rewrite the plotline.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Getting help with my details
A couple of months ago, I bought a late 1930's Balda 61 German camera on ebay and I hope to use it as the model for the camera Sophie uses in my book. It's in great shape considering its age, but the bellows are a bit brittle and I'm unsure of some of the mechanisms. The camera didn't come with an instruction book and I haven't been able to find one online.
I am at the place in my story where Sophie uses the camera a bit more often, and I want to understand the details of its use so I can describe it to a reader. I need some expert help, some knowledgeable person willing to share info about the workings of a 70-year old foreign camera. My local yellow pages was not helpful in locating an expert, but a quick Google search for 'camera clubs' and 'Scranton' brought me to the Northeast Photography Club. An email to the club's president brought me a quick response and a name and email address for the camera enthusiast/expert I've been looking for. I plan to pick his brain, but not until next week, after Easter.
I am at the place in my story where Sophie uses the camera a bit more often, and I want to understand the details of its use so I can describe it to a reader. I need some expert help, some knowledgeable person willing to share info about the workings of a 70-year old foreign camera. My local yellow pages was not helpful in locating an expert, but a quick Google search for 'camera clubs' and 'Scranton' brought me to the Northeast Photography Club. An email to the club's president brought me a quick response and a name and email address for the camera enthusiast/expert I've been looking for. I plan to pick his brain, but not until next week, after Easter.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Filling in the gaps
I have a tendency to write a scene or two and then not write anything for days. The rest of my life interferes, you know? Then, when I get another block of time to write, I assume I'll pick up where I left off, so I reread 8 or 10 pages to get back into the flow. More often than not, I find gaps in the story that I need to fill in.
Sometimes it's minor stuff, places where someone starts to speak but I never told the reader they entered the room, that sort of thing. Other times, it's bigger stuff, like instant character development that should have taken 100 pages worth of trials and tribulations.
I guess that's why this writing process is taking me so long. I need the distance between write and rewrite to even see the gaps.
Sometimes it's minor stuff, places where someone starts to speak but I never told the reader they entered the room, that sort of thing. Other times, it's bigger stuff, like instant character development that should have taken 100 pages worth of trials and tribulations.
I guess that's why this writing process is taking me so long. I need the distance between write and rewrite to even see the gaps.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Being brave
This week at my writing critique group, it will be my turn to read. I'll bring copies for everyone in the group and they'll read silently while I read about 10 pages of my manuscript aloud. A few minutes are given for the critiquers to compose their thoughts. Then, in a sort of roundtable discussion, they offer constructive criticism on everything from punctuation to character development, from awkward phrases to slips in point of view.
My critique group is kind in delivering their ideas and criticisms to me, so it (usually) doesn't feel like a massacre by hungry wolves. But even gentle criticism can be hard to take, and I am learning to be brave. I try to listen to criticisms and think about them, let them roll around in my mind for a while and see whether or not they have merit. I don't make every change someone suggests; that would be writing a book by committee and that is not my intent. But my fellow readers and writers have shared with me wonderful ways to strengthen my work by pointing out inconsistencies and awkwardness that I was too close to see. I have learned to trust the path of struggling through critiques as much as I trust my own path of struggling through writing.
My critique group is kind in delivering their ideas and criticisms to me, so it (usually) doesn't feel like a massacre by hungry wolves. But even gentle criticism can be hard to take, and I am learning to be brave. I try to listen to criticisms and think about them, let them roll around in my mind for a while and see whether or not they have merit. I don't make every change someone suggests; that would be writing a book by committee and that is not my intent. But my fellow readers and writers have shared with me wonderful ways to strengthen my work by pointing out inconsistencies and awkwardness that I was too close to see. I have learned to trust the path of struggling through critiques as much as I trust my own path of struggling through writing.
Monday, March 23, 2009
What's it about?
This weekend, we visited some friends who knew nothing about my efforts to write a book. When I talked about it, they asked what everyone asks: "What's it about?" This time when I answered the question, I actually knew. I was able to tell them, and if I say so myself, it sounded pretty interesting. How cool is that?
It's taking me a long time to get the story out of my head and onto paper, and much of what I've written had to be tossed aside. (I have a entire folder in My Documents called Orphans and Early Versions). I've spent hours writing some threads of the story and then spent less than a minute deciding to cut that thread. But I must be doing something right since I now can articulate what my story is about.
The direction in which I'm taking the story is more focused. Through writing and rewriting, through outlines, index cards, and sticky notes, I have been able to tease the story away from the fluff. It's taking shape, and I'm learning so much in the process.
It's taking me a long time to get the story out of my head and onto paper, and much of what I've written had to be tossed aside. (I have a entire folder in My Documents called Orphans and Early Versions). I've spent hours writing some threads of the story and then spent less than a minute deciding to cut that thread. But I must be doing something right since I now can articulate what my story is about.
The direction in which I'm taking the story is more focused. Through writing and rewriting, through outlines, index cards, and sticky notes, I have been able to tease the story away from the fluff. It's taking shape, and I'm learning so much in the process.
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