Off Track

Well am in London!!!! Had wonderful dinner with fellow writer Biddy and woke up early but not too early after a good night's sleep.

Yesterday I wrote on the flight (pat on back as was lucky enough to be in business and not too distracted by films - more later). I realized after 1600 words yesterday that I was losing the plot....yes, the key conflict of the book was wandering away - not wandering almost galloping. Demi and Victoria were leading totally separate lives and interesting though they were I needed them back under one roof to really make the sparks fly. So I stopped mid scene and today I cut to the second half of the book where the battle begins. However I have never left a scene hanging and moved on before. This is a dark new territory. But I know that it is necessary to put the story back on track and true to its heart.

Now this brings me to films. I have heard writers and me included bemoan the fact that reading is not the same once you have begun the process of pulling apart your own work. You do it instinctively with all and are rarely swept away. What I didn't realize is that I would do this with films now too. On the flight I watched Australia. It was good but certainly not brilliant. Why? Well for me it was too long and it lost its way. There wasn't enough chemistry begin the hero and heroine and its turning point although dramatic well could have been better. So it clearly showed me how crucial it is to cast your leads - they carry the story. In this film the hero was perfect, dare I say flawless but the heroine was cardboard. The same can happen in a book and I know even if their are other things about a book that I don't care for I will read on if I like the characters.

In contrast, I watched the film Easy Virtue again. Now this is an although different kettle of fish or film as the case may be. I found it flawless in its casting and also in the twists in the plot and it ends before the viewer tires. Thinking along the Donald Maass Writing the Break Novel route - giving your characters killer lines - well the film is filled with them which lights it up.

Do you watch films differently than you did before writing took over your soul and have you abadoned your characters mid scene to and jump else where to put the book back on track?

UPDATE: An interesting post by Caren Johnson, Literary Agent, on films and plot holes that speaks in more detail here