Persuaded to like Persuasion

In an effort to read a dozen classic novels this year, I have been working my way through Persuasion by Jane Austen. It’s not the first of her books I’ve read. When I went to England, before moving to Seattle, I took along a copy of Pride & Prejudice, and read the lion’s share of it while staying at an adorable B&B in Bath. Maybe it was the setting (being so near one of Austen’s homes), or the time in my life, but I was able to easily and happily fall in love with the book.

I’m not having such a facile experience with Persuasion.

I chose this particular work by Austen because of it’s unusualness. The heroine, Anne, is older than most of Austen’s heroines, clocking in at 27 (just like me!) compared to Elizabeth Bennet’s 20, or Catherine Morland’s 17. Due to her ‘advanced’ age (there are several passages where Anne laments the fact that she may end up unloved and unmarried, a spinster companion for Lady Russell), Anne also has more of a past to work with than is the norm for Austen’s heroines. She was on the verge of getting married, well before the book takes place. And we all know what kind of baggage that brings, especially in the era in which the book takes place. In short, I wanted something that pushed Austen’s boundaries a bit.

And for the first half of the book I felt like I was weighted down in mud every time I switched on my Kindle.

I think primarily I struggled with the language. There are a lot of words used to illustrate small things! And they don’t always seem to make sense sitting next to one another. Things seem overexplained, but in such a way that I wasn’t grasping them, despite two paragraphs leading to, say, a character leaving the room. For context, I am a big fan of the pared down prose of Rowling, Butcher, etc. Say what you mean, and say it with clarity. Sure, beautiful language is a plus, but those first two things are imperatives for me.

Then, perhaps because I’ve been soaking up urban fantasy and romance like they’re air, I found the conflicts to be difficult to give a damn about. I know this is a complaint a fair number of people have about not just Austen, but a great number of books written during that time, and those written later trying to emulate that setting. The stakes are love, the hurdles are society, and a lot of the time that’s just not interesting. Not interesting enough, at any rate. Because I want to sit the characters down and say to them: Say what you mean, and say it with clarity.

Hunh.

But–and there is a big but here (teehee)–I found a way in. I found myself truly enjoying Persuasion, and even eager to get back to reading it. The moment I realized my attitude had shifted, I wanted to know why. What changed? I think I found the answer, in Mary.

For those who haven’t read Persuasion, Mary is Anne’s perpetually put upon younger sister. She’s continually complaining about being left out, ignored, slighted and abused in some fashion or another. Always seeking attention and praise, when she really, really doesn’t deserve it. Quick to insult, quick to take insult. She goes on these long drags about how terrible everyone is to her, how ill she is and how no one cares. She writes a letter to Anne which starts off: I make no apology for my silence, because I know how little people think of letters in such a place as Bath. This, after six weeks of silence, in which Anne has been waiting for news of an injured sister.

So, why did this pretty terrible character shift my perception of Persuasion? Because she is fucking hilarious and I recognize her. I know people like her. I’ve spent agonizing hours with these sad, sorry souls. Happening upon her in the safety of a book gives me the ability to laugh out loud at that ridiculousness, without fear of offending anyone. And, if I’m being honest, I’ve even been her once or twice.

Seeing Mary, finally understanding her, has helped to bring the other characters–Anne and Wentworth and Mrs. Smith–into sharper relief. She’s given me something I’m familiar with to illuminate other characters, and help me tease out the parts of their personalities that I recognize as well.

I’m about 3/4 of the way through the novel now. I know what’s going to happen. Anne and Wentworth hook up, after some wrenching scene beforehand. That’s the way Austen’s books work, and it’s part of why they work. Happily Ever After is a concept that has kept the romance industry afloat in a way other genres can only aspire to.

But I’m pretty sure, once I reach the ending, I won’t turn my thoughts to the hero, I won’t lounge in the happiness of the heroine. Instead, I’ll think of Mary, in all her awful hilarity.

Do you have any secondary characters you love (or love to hate) more than the stars of the story?

photo used under creative commons license from Rich007

What My Second Novel Looks Like On the Silver Screen

Every time a novel adaptation is slated for becoming a movie a website pops up where fans weigh in on who they would cast as their favorite characters. When the movie for the first Hunger Games was proposed I got really excited, thinking about what faces I would put into the roles of Katniss Everdeen, Haymitch Abernathy and Effie trinket, for example. I wanted to see Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) slip into Katniss’ skin and kick some ass. I though Jack Black would make an amazing Haymitch and if Kristin Chenowith had been chosen to be Effie I would have be very, very happy.

Alas, as you all probably know, none of those roles were given to the actors I envisioned. Didn’t stop me from fantasizing.

The other day I was thinking about who I would cast in the novel I’m currently revising. Here’s a hint: Jeremy Renner is a ghost. I like the idea of putting a face to a character, on a wholly personal, subjective level. I had the urge to cast my whole novel, then! Only problem is, because I am in the middle of revisions the characters might change–possibly in significant ways–before the final version of the book.

But the idea wouldn’t leave me alone. What’s a girl to do!?

Answer: Cast another book!

A few of you out there have read the second novel I wrote, a pseudo romance novel by the name of Struck By Chocolate. I will never publish this book, either through traditional means or self publishing. Essentially it is a story of a chocolate maker and the organizer of a world-renowned chocolate competition. And they fall in love. And complications ensue. As they do.

So, without further ado, my dream cast!

Farley Dunaway: Heroine, Organizer of the Cocoa Cabaret, a world-renowned chocolate competition put on by Sweetness, Inc.

Elisabeth Moss is probably best known for her role as Peggy in Mad Men, where she plays an awkward girl coming into her self and her sexuality. Farley is taking a similar path through the course of Struck By Chocolate, learning to love her quirks and, in time, Alex.

Alex Valeri: Hero, apprentice to Leo Gotard of Lionceau Chocolat

Alex Valeri is a headstrong, selfmade man, who has enough masculine energy to power a small city. Oh wait, that’s Gerard Butler. Perfect match!

Stephanie: Farley’s best friend, a freelance travel writer

Stephanie is a bit of a sarcastic, worldly kind of girl, while still being sweet and super thoughtful. A combination of Amy Adams‘ characters in Sunshine Cleaning and Julie & Julia could strike that balance.

Leo Gotard: Owner of Lionceau Chocolat and mentor to Alex

Sure, Christoph Waltz played a Nazi scumbag in Inglourious Basterds, but he did it damn well.

Odette Auchard: Leo’s personal assistant

Julianne Moore can play hard nosed as well as sensitive, which would be perfect for the role of Odette. Odette keeps the admin side of Lionceau Chocolat in line, but she has a deep-seated platonic love for Leo, as well.

Emily Vogler: Farley’s coworker, angling to take her position in Sweetness, Inc.

Amanda Seyfried played the dead girl on Veronica Mars. Her performance of Lilly Kane makes me think she would do a great job as the conniving–if slightly inept–coworker.

Robin: Farley’s personal assistant, a bright young girl with a nautical obsession

Say what you will about Zooey Deschanel, she does pull off cute and quirky well. Robin is both of these things, in spades.

Norah Dunaway: Farley’s mother

Frances Sternhagen has won my heart through her portrayal of Brenda’s mother in The Closer. I think she would do great, adorable justice to Farley’s overbearing, possibly alcoholic, always well-meaning mother.

Well, that was a great way to procrastinate actually working on revisions! Do you have any actors or actresses you would have loved to see in a movie adaptation of your favorite novel? Or maybe you have an actor or actress pegged as perfect for a role in your book? Let me know!

Tuesday Review: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

By now you’ve all heard about this book. Soon to be a major motion picture from the hands of Peter Jackson (oh, he of Dead Alive fame. What’s that? Lord of the Rings? Sound vaguely familiar…). I must admit, it is the release of this movie that prompted me to read this book. Netflix threw it up every few minutes in the middle of The Office. And with a line like “My name is Susie Salmon. I was fourteen years old when I was murdered.” I was hooked.

So, for those of you living under a rock the past month, The Lovely Bones is a story about, you guessed it, a fourteen year old girl who was murdered. But here’s the odd, possibly off-putting part. The story is told as a first person narrative. By Susie. From Heaven.

Oi, gag me with a spoon, right?

Well…no, actually. I’m very glad I didn’t know the premise of the book before reading it, because I probably would have let this one slip through my ink-stained fingers. What a sadness that would have been.

Let me elaborate on the plot setup a bit. Susie is fourteen. She’s been kissed, once, by the incredibly endearing Ray Singh. She has a younger sister, a much younger brother, and two loving parents. She lives in a mid-sized town in the mid-west. She’s your standard, sweet fourteen year old. Everyone knows someone like Susie. A lot of us are someone like Susie. Which makes it all the more horrible when, intrigued by a neighbor man’s ingenuity, she’s brutally murdered and broken into pieces.

Ah, a case where curiosity most certainly killed the brat.

Ooh…a little bit tasteless, no?

So Susie gets yanked out of her body, brushing the cheek of a school acquaintance on her way, and changing the lives of everyone around her forever. The book chronicles not only how Susie deals with the changes of being dead, but how people back on earth deal with her death, and the manner of it.

Sebold managed to make Susie pretty much omniscient, without the method feeling forced. We catch thoughts and feelings of various characters in the scenes, snatches of memories or urges that illuminate the situation, or deepen characterization. For this alone, the book is worth reading. A wholly unconventional take on the little dead girl novel.

If you’re all about characters, though, she’s got you covered. Every single person that gets any amount of text time is layered and fully realized. I mentioned my favorite character in the book earlier- Ray Singh. He’s in love with Susie at school, writes her a love note that he slips into her book the day she gets murdered, and is ultimately accused of her death. The official accusations go away, but the mistrust of him lingers through the next years of his life. And his love for Susie never really goes away.

Ray is smart, driven, compassionate and lonely. And we know all these things not because Sebold tells us, but because she shows us, brilliantly.

The only place this novel gets docked by me is in relation to plot. The writing is beautiful and fluid while maintaining crystal clarity. The characters are all fantastic. The setting is rich and so easy to visualize. But ultimately, what we see is the progression of lives. There are moments of excitement, moments of extreme tenderness and wrenching sadness. And that’s all well and good (very good in this case) but if you are looking for a wild ride, this is not your book. It’s slow. It’s meticulous. It’s bordering on meditative.

And the ending, my friends, is the epitome of an anti-climax.

Once in a while, I enjoy a book like that. This. Whatever. But it won’t be my go-to genre anytime soon.

That being said, I highly recommend this book if you are looking for something rich to curl up with, next to a good cup of tea. Leave it at home if you’re just going to dip your toes in during your fifteen minute subway ride. This is a book to be savored in long draughts.

The Good Stuff

This weekend, on Saturday to be precise, I participated in Write Your @ss Off Day, a day dedicated to working on the story. This couldn’t have come at a better time, since I decided, on Friday, to start over.

From the beginning. Pretty much.

You see, I have a problem with creating boring main characters with an interesting supporting cast. Instead of plugging through with my lackluster MC (sorry Amber) I put on the breaks and threw the kids out of the damn car. No warnings, no threats.

Not only did I replace my main character, though, I replaced her best friend, and the concept of my…erm…third person, whose details I will not divulge here. And all this required some major thought processing.

And, as it turns out, a set of Moleskines. Red ones. Yum.

Thusly, I spent Saturday morning brainstorming in my pretty new book, and Saturday afternoon/evening writing my pretty new book. I’m so happy I’ve made the change. It was a difficult decision to make, though. I didn’t want to give up on Book A, just to chase some shiny rabbit down it’s hole, for no other reason than it being shiny. That kind of thing might fly for a short story, but for a novel? I can’t afford to waste the time.

So I had to ask myself a few questions. Why would I change so many key elements? What would this accomplish? Would this really make it better, or is this just another form of procrastination? Most importantly, though, I asked myself: Will this make me happy? Will NOT doing this make me unhappy? The answer to both of those was a resounding YES. I was already bored with poor, defunct Amber, and enthralled with Hester, she of new MC fame. I wanted to hang out with her. I was making excuses for her to be in scenes where she didn’t really belong. I thought about her all the time. I sent her a note: Will you go to prom with me, mark yes/no…and she sent me back a wicked paper airplane that said Let’s Do This!

So here we are.

And having the permission/expectancy of WY@O Day helped kick me in the…well, you know where, to get this writing moving!

Now, as the weekend draws to a close, I find myself nearing 7,000 words of actual novel content, not counting notes at all. And I keep going back, because I know where I’m going with this story, and I want to see it get there because Efran is going to be so cool!

Oh, shoot. Did I say that out loud?

Character Inspiration

*Moving from LiveJournal to Blogger. Older posts can be found at PortraysDeath*

One problem that a lot of beginning writers (and probably a fair amount of experienced writers) run in to is creating characters that aren’t just cleverly tweaked copies of themselves. Or not so cleverly tweaked, depending on the circumstances.Imagine a world peopled entirely by yourself, only one has an eyepatch, one chews bubblegum all the time, and one speaks in a Southern accent. Scary, huh? Well, that’s the world too many people end up in.

The key is to create unique, believable characters that are as different from yourself as your crazy brother is. And how do we do that? Character worksheets, character interviews, character templates…all of these are great tools for discovering motivations, back story, etc. But let’s face it, without material, these things are worthless.

I think the best thing a writer can do for their characters is to go out and meet some. Observe people. Set up post in the mall or a park or on a bench downtown and just watch. Yeah, it may seem a little creepy at first, but get over it. Being a fiction writer is a little creepy. We create entire worlds in our heads and spend hundred of hours transcribing them onto paper. We meet people, fall in love, fall in hate, commit murders, have sex, pet dragons, get pregnant, dye our hair, and on and on…all in our imagination. And then we expect people to give a damn about any of it.

I, personally, revel in the slightly creepy. And the slightly more than slightly creepy, too, if we’re being honest, here.

Anyway, have a seat, pull out your notebook, and start writing things down.

I think of these things as ‘bright spots’. I’ll give you a couple examples, straight from my own tiny notebook.

–A wall made of boulders- half as tall as a man, and twice as wide. What’s hiding in there? Great big gaps, big enough for a newborn.

--Japanese assassin- sent to the shrine to off a man thought to have buried stolen treasure at the abandoned shrine. Finds something else instead.

–Angry girl behind the wheel of a yellow sports car, driving nowhere, fast.

And on and on it goes. I’ve got half a dozen of these little books filled up with things I will likely never look at again. The point of them was to internalize that moment, that idea, that character trait. By internalizing it, making it a part of me, I will have that at the ready when it is time to create a new character or story or setting or scene.

Experience is vitally important to a writer. Not necessarily experiencing all sorts of craziness like bungee jumping or riding in a spaceship. Just getting out there and soaking yourself in the bright, amazingness that is mankind, getting to know how people work and think, is crucial. Without that context, everything else is moot.

Creating awesome characters

One problem that a lot of beginning writers (and probably a fair amount of experienced writers) run in to is creating characters that aren’t just cleverly tweaked copies of themselves. Or not so cleverly tweaked, depending on the circumstances. 

Imagine a world peopled entirely by yourself, only one has an eyepatch, one chews bubblegum all the time, and one speaks in a Southern accent. Scary, huh? Well, that’s the world too many people end up in.

The key is to create unique, believable characters that are as different from yourself as your crazy brother is. And how do we do that? Character worksheets, character interviews, character templates…all of these are great tools for discovering motivations, back story, etc. But let’s face it, without material, these things are worthless.

I think the best thing a writer can do for their characters is to go out and meet some. Observe people. Set up post in the mall or a park or on a bench downtown and just watch. Yeah, it may seem a little creepy at first, but get over it. Being a fiction writer is a little creepy. We create entire worlds in our heads and spend hundred of hours transcribing them onto paper. We meet people, fall in love, fall in hate, commit murders, have sex, pet dragons, get pregnant, dye our hair, and on and on…all in our imagination. And then we expect people to give a damn about any of it.

I, personally, revel in the slightly creepy. And the slightly more than slightly creepy, too, if we’re being honest, here.

Anyway, have a seat, pull out your notebook, and start writing things down.

I think of these things as ‘bright spots’. I’ll give you a couple examples, straight from my own tiny notebook.

–A wall made of boulders- half as tall as a man, and twice as wide. What’s hiding in there? Great big gaps, big enough for a newborn.

–-Japanese assassin- sent to the shrine to off a man thought to have buried stolen treasure at the abandoned shrine. Finds something else instead.

–Angry girl behind the wheel of a yellow sports car, driving nowhere, fast.

And on and on it goes. I’ve got half a dozen of these little books filled up with things I will likely never look at again. The point of them was to internalize that moment, that idea, that character trait. By internalizing it, making it a part of me, I will have that at the ready when it is time to create a new character or story or setting or scene.

Experience is vitally important to a writer. Not necessarily experiencing all sorts of craziness like bungee jumping or riding in a spaceship. Just getting out there and soaking yourself in the bright, amazingness that is mankind, getting to know how people work and think, is crucial. Without that context, everything else is moot.