Guest Blog: Going to the Movies

Our esteemed guest blogger and Do the Right Thing for Nashville winner, Melissa Hill, has another awesome post for us.

I used to think movie adaptations ruined the book. In fact, if there was a book I really enjoyed, I avoided the movie because I was sure I would hate it. That changed about six years ago. I was flipping through the channels and came across this movie about a boy who found out he was a wizard. It was called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (maybe you’ve heard of it???).

Anyway, I was so impressed with the movie; it inspired me to buy the book. Not only the first book, but all five that were out at the time. Every time another Harry Potter movie comes out, it inspires me to go back and read the book.

When the movie version is done well, it can enhance the experience of the book bringing to life the characters we love. How perfect is Alan Rickman as Severus Snape? Our imaginations can only go so far with setting and scenery. But on the screen, it is taken to another level. The eye of Sauron was truly frightening. And it is nice to have someone pronounce all of the crazy names that Tolkien wrote (which I no doubt butchered while reading The Lord of the Rings).

I think the key to being done well, is remaining true to the story. Don’t cut key scenes or change the ending. This is why The Firm didn’t work for me. The most exciting part of the book was left out and then ending changed. Don’t alter dialog too much. Writers spend time getting the dialog right. Why change it? When key scenes or dialog are not used, it makes the movie feel like a cheap, knock-off of the real thing. Sorry to all of you Twilight fans, but that is how the movie felt to me (New Moon was much better). Bella finds out the truth about Edward by reading a book instead of Jacob telling her the story. And the whole scene where Edward is essentially screaming at Bella to call him a vampire didn’t work for me. I enjoyed the car ride scene in the book much better.

One of the best film adaptations I have seen is the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice (the one with Colin Firth). It is long (300 minutes), but totally worth every minute.

You guys tell me—best/worst movie adaptations?

Let me say it again, kill redundancy.

On a line-edit, few things bug me more than misused homophones. Redundant words are one of them.

Let me put it out there that I like repetition - when used right, the emphasis is fantastic. In dialog, it reveals a lot about a character, depending on context.

I love arguments where one person stubbornly repeats their position. Or conversation where Bob reiterates a point that Andrew just made thus revealing that he wasn't listening to Andrew in the first place.

"The line's going to be long, so we should go early."
"I don't really know what time we should show up, but the last time I went, there was a long line."

Doesn't that make you want to smack Bob and bless poor, patient Andrew for putting up with Bob?

Redundancy is different.

"He opened the hand painted door he was so proud of, and I walked into the apartment, sidling past the painted naked lady on the door, mentally promising myself to be quick, and hoping that he left the door open behind me."

Grrrrr. Sure, there are details, important details...because really? Never enter the apartment of someone who's painted a naked lady on their front door. But there's got to be a better way to say that.

I'm as guilty as the next person. It's actually pretty embarrassing. My two favorite tools for combating this are:
1) Find/Replace - I do searches on "thought that" and tell it to replace it with "thought" - It's faster than searching all the thats and looking at them one by one. "said that" "told me that" "assumed that" "grateful that" It's still a long list.
2) Beta Readers. - Some of the words I repeat are specific to one scene, betas can catch this - especially if I've done #1 already before they read it.

Lastly, if it's an action you keep repeating, say, rolling eyes, or cracking knuckles, you may want to head over to The Bookshelf Muse's Emotion Thesaurus. They have emotions listed followed by the many different ways people express them.

- Holen

P.S. Congrats to Mel who won our awesome auction package and helped a great cause at the same time!


So tell us, what actions do you overuse?

Do the Write Thing for Nashville

What has more sparkles than Edward Cullen? Could it be the fantabulous auction package we've put together for Do the Write Thing for Nashville?

Highest bid will receive:

A summer guest spot on this blog consisting of blog posts in June, July, and August (posts must be YA or writing related and must be appropriate for a YA audience).

From agent Emmanuelle Alspaugh of Judith Ehrlich Literary Agency: A critique of your query letter and the first 15 pages of your manuscript.

From agent Taylor Martindale of Sandra Dijsktra Literary Agency: A full manuscript read and notes on your ms.

Manuscript critiques from at least 3 of our blog members.

A Query critique from at least 3 of our blog members.

Copy editing of mss from a former Sourcebooks proofreader.

One signature banner (for use on forums like Absolute Write or blogs) and coordinating bookmark design from one of our resident graphic designers (sorry guys, you're stuck with Kath). Winner has option of providing photographs which they would like used. If winner does not have photos, we will select stock photography (iStockphoto, excluding Vetta collection) for them based on a summery or query for their ms and using our own discretion and judgment.

And a YA-themed "I read banned books" bracelet.



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About Emmanuelle:

Emmanuelle Alspaugh is a literary agent with Judith Ehrlich Literary Management LLC. She represents upmarket fiction, historical fiction, women's fiction and romance, urban fantasy, thrillers, young adult fiction, and select memoir, narrative nonfiction, and how-to projects. She also represents GotYA's Kathleen. For more information about Emmanuelle, please visit her agent profile at JELM (http://www.judithehrlichliterary.com/agents.html).

About Taylor:

Taylor Martindale is a literary agent with the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. is interested in Young Adult fiction -- specifically contemporary, paranormal, urban fantasy, and any story with a captivating voice. Taylor is also interested in commercial fiction, women’s fiction, and multi-cultural fiction. She represents GotYA's Debra. For more information about Taylor, please visit her agent profile at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency (http://www.dijkstraagency.com/meet-the-agents.html).

HUGE HUGE thanks to both Taylor and Emmanuelle!

Go forth and bid! Run to the auction site like a band of werewolves are nipping at your heels!

AND A HUGE THANKS TO ANY AND ALL BIDDERS (we'll put in a good word for you when the zombie apocalypse comes).