I recently finished reading Blake Snyder's Save the Cat!: The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need. It's the first screenplay writing how-to book I've read, and going in I felt a mixture of eagerness and scepticism. Having already written a first draft of my first feature-length screenplay I was looking forward to learning more about the craft from an industry professional, although I knew I had to take the advice with a pinch of salt. That was the right mindset; it's an incredibly interesting and useful book as long as its word isn't taken as gospel. It would be better used to enrich and enhance screenplays already written or being written, or to learn from and put away when it comes to writing, rather than to use as a rigid base for your writing. Snyder presents this book as the comprehensive tome of screenwriting knowledge, which it is not, because there is no such thing. Every screenplay is different and is written differently, and there are both "good" and "bad" screenplays with conventional and unconventional structures. Save the Cat! is not designed to simply make good screenplays, it's designed to make marketable screenplays, which it makes clear, and this inevitably creates a certain conventionality. That said, it does what it aims to. It's all useful stuff, especially his screenwriting 'rules'. Some seem obvious once they're spelled out, but they're very insightful: for example 'The Pope in the Pool', which basically means dealing with exposition by distracting the audience with something else so they don't even realise they're being told a lot of information. Another idea I liked was his 'emotional colour wheel', about making sure your scenes provoke different emotions to create a 'roller coaster ride' of a screenplay. His beat sheet template was perhaps overly specific with its page numbers, but very useful in terms of pacing. I will definitely be taking Snyder's advice to fix problems in my current and future screenplays, and I do recommend this book. Just leave room for your own ideas- don't stick to the template.
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Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (1847) is one of my favourite books. Because of this, I've watched quite a few adaptations of it (although there are many I've missed!) This week I'd like to talk about four I have watched: what they take from the novel, what I like, what I don't like, etc.
There have been quite a few more adaptations of this novel, so who knows, maybe I'll watch another four and do a post on those! Let me know if you have any recommendations.
The first three are my top three, but other than that there's no particular order here: The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle ZevinThis book centres on A.J., an isolated bookstore owner from the fictional Alice Island who ends up taking in a toddler named Maya who is mysteriously left in his shop. At the start of the novel, A.J. is dreary and has cut himself off from the world a bit after the death of his wife Nic, who had been the social face of the bookshop, but over the course of the novel (thanks to Maya and other characters) learns to open up and enjoy life again. It's a novel that celebrates books and reading; each chapter is named after a well-known novella or short story, and the delight that the characters take in reading is infectious. The turns in the plot and the personalities of the characters are really compelling. It's very emotional, too, and makes you care so much about all of the characters. Wicked by Gregory MaguireThis is the book that I usually cite as my favourite, and I think it's brilliant. It tells Maguire's imagining of the backstory of the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz, and was the basis for the hit musical. Though make no mistake, the book and musical are very different- I love them both, but the tone and plot of each are extremely dissimilar because of the form and the potential audience. Maguire's world-building is thoroughly impressive- his Oz is complex and layered and political and feels real, and I love the complexity of the characters and how far reaching the plot is in terms of time and place- it covers Elphaba the Witch's life from before her birth to the immediate aftermath of her death, and cleverly weaves in other well-known characters from its source material. It's definitely one for adults and mature teenagers though- I first read this book aged 15, and I think I was only just ready for it. Radio Silence by Alice OsemanOseman is an author I hugely admire. Her first novel, Solitaire, was published when she was only 19, and in the very few years since then she has published Radio Silence, written two Solitaire-character-based e-novellas and created her webcomic Heartstopper. I'm a big fan of all of her work. But I love Radio Silence in particular because of how funny and heartfelt it is. It's the most realistic novel about teenagers I've ever read, as well as the most diverse in terms of both sexuality and ethnicity, and tackles the issue of pressure on teenagers to go to university even though it may not be right for them. There's always aspects I forget about and then remember and go 'oh yeah, that was cute/funny/clever!' I highly recommend it, whether you're thinking of going to university, definitely not going, already there, or just living adult life. Oseman is incredibly talented at creating developed characters, and it's a joy to read. Little Women by Louisa May AlcottI can't remember reading this book for the first time. I think I must have been 9 or 10, but to be honest I don't know. But since then I've read it over and over again- I've read its sequels too, but nowhere near as much- and although I haven't read it in years it holds a special place in my heart because of how comforting I found it throughout my childhood. It (I'm referring to the first volume) was first published in 1868, and centres on a group of four sisters- Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth- as they deal with growing up and morality. Landline by Rainbow RowellAs with Oseman, I'm a big fan of Rainbow Rowell, and love all her books, which include Attachments and Fangirl, but if I'm pushed to choose I think Landline is my favourite (possibly because it's the most recent one I read). You can click here to read my full post on Landline. Read it if you want a book that's funny, contains just a hint of magic, explores different kinds of relationships from friendship to siblinghood, and takes a realistic look at long-term love. Jane Eyre by Charlotte BronteI read this for A Level English Literature, and since then I've come back many times to it not to fully reread, but to read my favourite chapters over again- those chapters being those featuring the relationship between Jane and Mr Rochester. I can't really explain why I love those two so much simply because it's hard to defend Rochester having read Jean Rhys' counter-novel Wide Sargasso Sea, which acts as a prequel to Jane Eyre looking at it from a critical postcolonial perspective. The truth is I think Rochester is an interesting and complex character, and Jane is more than a match for him. I've watched several adaptations of the novel, my favourites of which are the 1983 BBC miniseries with Timothy Dalton as Rochester and the webseries The Autobiography of Jane Eyre, which transports the story to modern day Canada, and poses Jane as a vlogger who is a fan of Lizzie Bennet (of the Pride and Prejudice-based webseries The Lizzie Bennet Diaries). In The Autobiography I do have a favourite episode, and it just consists of Jane and Rochester being cute with each other. Sue me, I like this couple. They're both really compelling characters. The Name of the Star by Maureen JohnsonThis is the first book in the Shades of London series, which is currently awaiting a fourth novel, and centres on Rory, an American teenager who comes to London to go to boarding school and do her A levels. As a mysterious killer emulates the murders of Jack the Ripper, she becomes caught up in the investigation after being the only person to witness the prime suspect at the scene of the crime. It's a supernatural thriller that also has a lot of humour and character development, dealing well with serious topics, and across the series the psychological impact of events on Rory isn't ignored, which is interesting. It's a clever, suspense-filled book, and I can't wait to reread the series and then devour the next book.
Have you read any of these books? If you have, what did you think? Or have I convinced you to pick them up... I'm writing this blog post for a number of reasons. One, I'm losing steam with reading a bit- I've returned to university, although term doesn't start until next week, and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with my reading list. Two, you reading this may find some recommendations in a few different genres here. Three, I want to hold myself accountable and return to this list in a couple of months, so I can finish these books before the end of the year. It's yet another reminder to myself to prioritise reading for fun, not just for my course. So let's dive in- I'm only including five books here, although I aim to read more for fun and will need to read even more for university. 1) Turtles All The Way Down by John GreenIf you're a John Green fan or even just a Young Adult Fiction fan you're probably aware of this book. Green's new novel has been highly anticipated in the five years since his last, the wildly popular The Fault In Our Stars, and it will be released into the world next Tuesday 10/10/17. It centres on teenage protagonist Aza Holmes and her search for a fugitive billionaire, as well as her obsessive compulsive disorder. This is an illness Green himself deals with, so I'm looking forward to seeing an 'own voices' portrayal of this. I'm a big fan of Green's from both his previous novels and his YouTube channel vlogbrothers which he created with his brother Hank, so I've preordered Turtles to pick up at my local Waterstones, and will be reading it in probably very few sittings over a couple of days. 2) Life Moves Pretty Fast by Hadley FreemanI've actually already started this book, but because of its nature I've been dipping in and out of it. The tagline of this book is 'The lessons we learned from eighties movies (& why we don't learn them from movies any more)', and it's structured with an introduction, an epilogue, and in between many different chapters focusing on different eighties movies and different themes, from Dirty Dancing and abortion to Ghostbusters and masculinity to Ferris Bueller's Day Off and social class. The vast majority of my favourite films were made in the eighties: Back to the Future, Ferris Bueller..., The Blues Brothers, The Princess Bride and more, with my all-time favourite film Pride and old favourite The History Boys also set in the decade. My approach to this book has been watch the film/s, read the chapter, in order, which is why it's been taking me a while. The tone of this book is delightfully enthusiastic and friendly. I'm learning to further appreciate films I already love, and I'm hopefully going to discover some great eighties classics I haven't seen and will love. 3) As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes and Joe LaydenSpeaking of eighties films I love, The Princess Bride is one of my favourite films. I recently had to 'pitch' it to a couple of friends for us to watch, and had a really hard time because it's difficult to explain why exactly it's so good without going on a massive rant. My pitch ended up being simply 'romance, sword-fights, funny', which sold them (and they loved the film.) So when I found out there was a book written by Westley himself about the making of the cult classic, I knew I had to read it. I've read that it describes an unusually harmonious filmmaking experience- whether that was the case or not remains to be seen- so I won't be basing my perception of the film industry off it too much, but I'm excited to read it. I think it'll be interesting. 4) Heart of Darkness by Joseph ConradI will hold my hands up and admit that I should have read this already. It was a text on my university course last year, but for a number of reasons (got bored, didn't see the need to finish it after the lecture, overwhelmed by reading list) only read half of it. However, it has cropped up on one of my modules this year (my favourite one) in comparison with the film based on it, Apocalypse Now. So I figured the universe was telling me I needed to give it another shot. Heart of Darkness was written in 1899, and features a frame narrative around the story of a journey up the Congo River. It's discussed a lot in terms of race and postcolonialism. 5) Save the Cat!I've just finished the first draft of my first feature-length screenplay. Now it's time to breathe and completely ignore it for a month, after which I'll go back to it and edit with a fresh mind. During this month, however, I want to learn as much as I can about the craft of screenwriting, which means reading as many screenplays as I can, reading online articles, and reading this book. Snyder knows the industry well, is a successful spec screenwriter, and focuses not just on how to make your work good but how to make it marketable. I've read a chapter and I've already learned so much! Really looking forward to this one, I've read great things about it online. Have you read any of these? Are you looking forward to Turtles All The Way Down? Let me know.
I've been struggling with how much I read for about a year now, I would say? University has definitely had an impact on this- an English Literature degree means reading a lot of books you wouldn't necessarily pick for yourself, or just plain don't want to read in addition to the ones you're excited to read and learn about, and the surprise gems. It's a bit of a pick 'n' mix. Over the year at uni I stopped reading for fun because I just didn't have time, and then when the year was over I was out of the habit of reading because I didn't have any course books to read. So while I was on holiday I read a couple of old favourites (one of which I wrote about last week) to remind myself how much I enjoyed reading, and seem to be getting back on track a little bit. I've realised that most of 'reading more' is just convincing yourself that you do have the time to read, and then actually making that time. Here's a few tricks you can use to get back into reading, read more, or regain your enthusiasm for reading. Read old favourites, short books and graphic novelsPick a book that will ease you back into reading, whether it's because you've read it 60 times before, because it's a children's book, because it's ridiculously short, or because it has pictures. Whatever you think will boost your enthusiasm and entertain you! Diving in with War and Peace or Les Miserables might be bad for your morale, so start easy and fun. Be precious about itIf you've been out of the habit of reading for a while, make a treat of it. Celebrate your return to books! When you've got a good space of free time, get yourself a drink (tea is always a relaxing reading classic), find a comfy chair or settle in bed, put on some music if that's what you like, and get reading. Obviously you can't always read in perfect conditions like this, but it helps every now and then to remind you of your enjoyment of reading, or to immerse yourself in that 500 page fantasy you've been meaning to tackle. Don't be precious about itThis seems to contradict the last point, I know, but it's just a slightly different tactic. Read anywhere and any time you can- if you have a train, tram or bus journey to go on, take a book, Kindle or e-reading app on your phone. If you have 15 free minutes in the kitchen while you wait for the oven to warm up, use them to read. Many people (me included) put off reading because we feel like we need to dedicate huge amounts of time to it, but small amounts of time add up too. And trains are usually nice, peaceful places to read! Read book reviews, watch YouTube videos about books, wander round a bookshopMuch like the first couple of points, this is about building your enthusiasm for reading. Go to the internet and do your research! Reviews and videos like book hauls do a lot for me in this respect, making me add a lot of books to my want-to-read list on GoodReads. Similarly, wandering round a Waterstones and drooling over the books makes me want to read more. Make a pile of the books you plan to read next , in orderEven make a list if you want to! Having something visual that tells you what you're going to read next makes it easier to get excited about reading them, and drives you to finish your current book. This is especially helpful if what you're reading is not your own choice- the next book on my list is for uni, and I wouldn't necessarily choose to read it, but seeing the two books under it in the pile, both of which I'm excited to read, is going to help me get though it. Set yourself deadlinesI am a big fan of lists (see previous point), and so I make a lot of to-do lists of what I need to achieve in a day. What I've started doing now is putting reading on the list- for example today underneath 'write blog post' there is 'read 100 pages of Son of a Witch', which is what I'm currently reading. As I said earlier, mostly the goal of reading more just means finding the time, which means prioritising reading. By making it a task, I am ensuring that it gets done, which a) means I have the time for it, and b) means I don't feel guilty for spending time on it because it's on my to-do list! I also like to set deadlines for when I want to finish books. Saying 'I want to have finished this book by x day' makes reading no longer just fun, it's also part of a challenge, and encourages you to spend time on it. It's also practice for if you have to read a lot of books by deadlines or in a short amount of time (for example, if you're a literature student.) Hope some of these helped! Happy reading.
I first read this book a couple of years ago, and I picked it up again recently while I was on holiday. Rainbow Rowell is one of my favourite writers, and it was easy to remember why as soon as I started reading; her characters are so unique and solid, and she writes with incredible emotional wisdom. This particular book of hers follows Georgie McCool, a TV writer with two kids and some slight marital issues. When she turns down Christmas with her kids, her husband and his family in order to work, she discovers a magical connection to the past through a yellow rotary phone in her mother's house. One of the many reasons I love this book is that I love the complexity of its portrayal of love and relationships. The protagonist's sister at one point asks her how she knew that her husband was the one, and although I won't spoil it for you I will tell you that the response is extremely well-put, realistic, and romantic without being romanticised. So many romance stories- and despite the couple being established from the start, this is a romance- are overly sentimental and rosy, with simple and perfect happily-ever-afters, or tragic endings despite overwhelming love. In reality, no relationship is perfect, and there is no such thing as a completely easy relationship- just easier-than-others. Rowell admits this, and isn't afraid to reassure you that although that is the case, it's always worth it. Another thing about this book is its sense of humour. As a TV writer, Georgie McCool makes lots of references, many of which I personally didn't understand due to the age difference between myself and Georgie, but which did not detract from my enjoyment of the book. Her reaction to having a magic phone is completely realistic and funny- it's frankly a ridiculous plotline, and one which is acknowledged as ridiculous. But because of this, we're in on the joke, laughing with Rowell, and thus able to enjoy the story without obsessing over thoughts of 'this makes no sense'. The supporting characters always serve to provide both comedy and emotional weight, and it's the balance between these two elements that provides the captivating tone of this book. Despite the use of the magical realism genre, this book is one of the most honest accounts of love I've come across. Its protagonist isn't perfect, she's a full, complex human being who it's easy to root for. All its characters, in fact, seem like fully-fleshed people, and it's easy to get absorbed into the story. The LGBTQ+ representation is welcome, too. Key Words: Funny, Romantic, Realistic, Magical Special Prescription*: When you need reminding that all romantic relationships are complex and difficult, but worth it. Or when you need to be informed that writing for TV is a real career that people have. *A time when this is the perfect book to read for your situation/mood. Image from Good Reads.
This is the one we're all familiar with. The Clueless Newbie- the character that enters a world completely unfamiliar to them, and we are introduced to it along with them. Harry Potter is the clearest example of this. In the first book/film, Harry finds out about wizards, witches and Hogwarts, and has everything explained to him by Hagrid and other characters. This gives us all the exposition that we need without feeling like it's forced in for our benefit, because it's information that Harry needs. This audience surrogate is also important emotionally- we as the readers or audience experience a sense of awe and wonder at the wizarding world that we see reflected in Harry, making us empathise with him and feel included and welcome in the world. The Mockumentary CrewThis is for mockumentaries like the brilliant and hilarious vampire film What We Do In The Shadows. In this genre of film/TV, the characters introduce themselves, their world and the other characters to the camera crew and audience, giving it the illusion of reality even when we know it's completely fictional (particularly if the characters are vampires and werewolves). In this situation, the camera itself is the audience surrogate, and it's as if we ourselves are being directly addressed by the characters and invited into the world. This means that everything is explained to us to give us proper introductions to the characters and exposition. Unlike with the Clueless Newbie, the exposition is explicitly for us, but isn't forced, as it is when implausible-dialogue-between-characters-who-should-already-know-everything-that-they're-conveniently-repeating-for-the-camera is used for exposition. The exposition is natural, and is part of the storytelling of the mockumentary form through character interviews and introductions. The Rational Central CharacterThe Rational Central Character, for example Jane the Virgin's Jane, provides a focus of calmness and rationality when everyone else around them is being ridiculous and everything that happens is crazy. Because of this character, the plot can get as wild as it wants to and the audience accepts it because they see their own confusion mirrored in the rational character. Most of the characters can take actions that seem wildly emotional/irrational/crazy, but as long as we see that someone in the story is aware of how crazy it is (so we know the writers are also aware of it), we go with it. Implausible, wildly far-fetched plots are hard to relate to and enjoy on more than a shallow level (soap operas, 'reality' TV- not that these formats don't have value, but they're certainly not as emotionally affecting as something more plausible). Grounding the plot in a point of rationality makes it more real, plausible, and relatable. The narrator in Jane the Virgin also serves a similar purpose- at one point when a plot twist occurs, he says 'wow, I did not see that coming!', reflecting our own reactions and heightening the drama by highlighting how unexpected the event was. Or it makes us feel clever if we did actually see it coming. So to summarise, audience surrogates are important for making us feel included in the world, for giving us required exposition, and for reflecting our reactions to the story so we can identify with a character. Are there any types I've missed, or reasons they're important? Let me know! Image from http://www.thewrap.com/15-harry-potter-magical-facts-sorcerers-stone-15th-anniversary-photos/ |
"After nourishment, shelter, and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world."- Philip Pullman Archives
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