Reading to write... what's involved? (Part Three)

I'll just get right into it today.  Try to keep it short and sweet for you since I'm aware you're probably reading this because you're a writer or are inspired to be one - there's probably not enough time in the day for you. On to...

Q4. So, why can't I just watch a movie, be inspired and start writing?

• The answer is not as simple as the question.  Have you seen Lord of the Rings?  How about Harry Potter? The action scenes in planet of the Apes?  Dances with Wolves?  Any action scene or even love scene in any movie that started as a book?  Can you write that scene out without having read the book? (I think this will be my next writers challenge ) This challenge has been completed click writer's challenge above to view and or complete the challenge. (-;

• I did this with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets movie. 
  

  1. I watched the scene where Harry and Ron are in the flying car in the beginning of the movie. I decided to write the beginning scene where Ron broke Harry out of his room to take him to school ➞Harry escapes the Dursley's scene
  2.  Once I was done with the scene, I compared it to what is written in the actual book. Horrible, horrible job I did! It didn't come close to the descriptive, thorough writing the author delivered. Mine was more a monologue of discourse😓😔😖.
  3. I decided to delve a little more into the written chapters, I studied the author's writing style; how she presented her characters, how she described the scenes and the characters. How the little nuances were presented. Then I tried it again with another scene from the same movie. It was so much better than the first time. Of course, my writing style is altogether different than J. K. Rowling, but I got a sense for her style and flow by reading her work! I was able to translate that style and flow in my own way and did a pretty good job of it the second time around.

In conclusion:

• Seeing a movie that's similar to your plot idea or just a movie for inspiration may motivate you or give you new ideas, but it will never give you good writing skills.

• Never think you know best or that your task is going to be easy just because it LOOKS cut and dried in a movie.
• Question yourself, could you be missing something in your writing? Others see what we miss, just like you'd notice if there was a plot hole in your favorite book or movie.

• Writing directly to the imagination doesn't take a lot of skill, but to keep the flow you've got to make sure you're descriptive enough to convey your story to the imagination. Just not so much that you're off on a tangent for no good reason (ie. adding additional detail that can be assumed or being overly descriptive of something that has little to do with your story-line, plot or character.

• Make sure you have a good plot. You have a story that starts in conflict and ends in resolution. Your characters (At least your MC's) must be conflicted somewhere along the line as well.  The tension should reach a high point or “climax” near the end of the story, then ease off into your happily ever after... or the cliffhanger for your next novel 😉.

This is the end of the "Reading to Write" series. 
We covered:

• Imaginative writing -  using empathy with your characters, conflict, dilemma and moral question
• Writing style - yours vs others, planning your outline, characters and timeline.
• You completed your cheat sheets for reading to write and planning your own novel.
•  What reading to write well looks like - you're not reading to fall into a magical world with dragons and romance - you're reading to discover writing style, how characters and scenes are described, what is too much information and why, etc.

 I hope you enjoyed my study on reading to write well. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them in the comments section. Or you can email me directly here:
inlifestory at g mail dot com. (Trying not to get bot spam there).
As always... Happy writing!


Myka Aka Butta 

XOXO - edit repost