Do you want to own a bookstore?

Being an avid reader, my dream job has long been to own an independent bookstore. That was until I met the real owner of a new indie bookstore. I decided it was not the life of sipping tea and reading all the New York Times best sellers that I envisioned. In May 2014, Melissa Demotte opened The Well~Read Moose, a delightful, well-stocked bookstore in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Running a successful small bookstore has many more facets than appear on the surface and not all of them have readily available answers. The following questions and answers are paraphrased but the recall is true.

ROVA: What is your background?

            Melissa has a background in business administration and is a CPA. She earned her living as an accountant before taking on the exciting task of running her own bookstore. She has had a long passion for books, travel and the outdoors.

ROVA: How did you learn what to do?

            There is a company that runs weeklong seminars on how to own and operate a bookstore. She took this class and was able to brainstorm with the class teachers afterwards to discuss specific questions and answers. The name of the store, The Well~Read Moose, came about over a cup of coffee during this meeting. Ms Demotte has a love of anything to do with moose. Her store logo is a sophisticated, whimsical moose with Harry Potter glasses reading a book and sipping a hot beverage. The seminar teachers and Melissa worked on the size of a potential bookstore as well as how to find the right location, how to determine inventory levels and how to handle consignment programs.

ROVA: What is the hardest part of owning a bookstore?

            Inventory management. What to buy, why to buy it, what not to purchase, how long to keep a book on the shelf and anticipating consumers' needs. Her accounting background means that she is organized and likes things to be in logical order. This doesn’t stop her from moving around the books in her store especially during this time of a high learning curve. She wants the store to look curated and fresh. She and her employees are continually straightening, dusting and changing “face outs.” ( Face outs are books that are displayed with their front covers showing versus the books' spines.) Ms Demotte feels it would be much more difficult to manage a bookstore without a business-accounting background

ROVA: What is the best part of this venture?

            Talking to the customers. Learning what customers like, what they are looking for and having conversations about favorite books or the latest best sellers. Part of this philosophy is that the employees build a relationship with frequent customers so they are able to recommend books that the patrons will buy. The customers learn to trust what the employees are telling them.

ROVA: What tools are available for bookstore owners to select books?

             Memberships in The American Booksellers Association and its regional arm the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association are the biggest aids in determining what is happening in the industry, what are hit sellers, and trends and predictions. The PNBA covers the states of Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Montana. She spends a lot of time reading these web sites gleaning trends, spying potential problems and sharing the foibles and pleasures of running an independent bookstore. She reads galleys and constantly does searches using, among other web sites, Edelweiss, an e-list she subscribes to managed by smaller publishers. Paper catalogs are also a part of her options. Ms Demotte says there is an overwhelming amount of data available and she is learning which sites help her the most. Her goal in her work has always been to be as efficient as possible.

ROVA: How do you target readers?

            The staff found that a book display of books made into movies was instantly popular. The Well~Read Moose is half a block from a large theater complex and people wander in before or after a movie or a restaurant meal. The genre of Young Adults is always changing and there is a need for good literature here. She feels a big challenge is to figure out what the next popular fad will be.

ROVA: Are there genres you do not stock?

            Mass romance, pornography, obscure subjects and used books.

ROVA: Can you send back books that do not sell?

            Yes. She buys eight per cent of the inventory through wholesalers. However, the return numbers and prices are not as good and she has to pay the freight and restocking charges. With bigger publishers, there is no restocking fee. She is finding about 18% of orders are returned which is average for the size of the inventory. The Well~Read Moose sells two to three hardcover books to every twenty paperbacks.           

ROVA: What strategies have worked so far and what surprises did you encounter?

            A billboard close to downtown drew a lot of tourists as well as advertising the new bookstore to locals. Displays of books that are specific to this area and activities available locally have sold well. Seasonal books displayed prominently are also on the learning curve. She said she missed the garden books season because she opened the store in May but when I was in the store in late February, I spotted a large cabinet holding regional books and general gardening books that were selling well. Children’s books are flying off the shelves. Parents will buy a hard cover book as a present and then buy some paperbacks for themselves as well.

ROVA: What drove the idea to serve coffees, teas, wines, muffins plus hand made candy?

           Melissa determined she wanted an atmosphere of comfort and the ability to linger if the shoppers chose. She overruled staff objections and allows people to walk around the store holding a cup of hot liquid or a glass of wine. There has been only one minor spill and it resulted in a purchase.

            There are several book clubs that meet at the store and she gives a 20% discount to members of those book clubs when they purchase any of the listed books. A frequent purchase discount is also available.A successful idea was to offer a children' story time where adults could enjoy a glass of wine and browse while their children were listening.

Melissa Demotte generously shared her insight during a long session of questions and conversation. She is a delight to talk to and willing to share her love and knowledge of books. Her deep understanding of the business world coupled with an enthusiastic, well-trained staff almost guarantees The Well~Read Moose will be operating in Coeur d’Alene for years to come.

"Words Fail Me" by Patricia O'Conner

          "What is written without effort is generally read without pleasure." Samuel Johnson

Words Fail Me  What everyone who writes should know about writing; Harcourt Brace & Co., 1999 by Patricia O'Conner is a gem of a book for beginning writers.  It was easy to read and gives sensible, useful tips to make you a better writer. Good writing goes beyond mastery of words. "Good writing is writing that works, " states O'Conner. She believes a writer must have an understanding of the heart, the world and life. You have to have a capacity to make judgments. Following the rules, most of the time, will get you good writing. These are philosophies that she comes back to often.

The chapters are divided into sensible categories filled with humorous sentences of wisdom. "Crummy spelling," says O'Conner, "is more noticeable than crummy anything else." Her most important rule is "Your first duty to the reader is to make sense. Everything else -- eloquence, beautiful images, catchy phrases, melodic and rhythmic language -- comes later, if at all. I'm all for artistry, but it's better to write something homely and clear than something lovely and unintelligible."

Here are some compelling ideas she advocates.

1. Know your audience. Determine what things your audience (readers) have in common. Every choice you make is influenced by these communities. Write what you would like them to read. O'Conner says your writing will be clearer if you start with these tenets in place. Writing for ten year olds about pioneer cooking is different than writing about pioneer cooking for adult women. 
   Picture your reader, make him or her friendly and on your side, with you in this road you are both traveling. "Readers are not Olympic judges." They want to enjoy the time spent together. 
 Respect their intelligence by not talking down to them. 

2. Her mantra is: WHAT do I want to say, "HOW do I want to say it, and WHY do I want to say it. Write down ideas as they come to you. Also write a list of things you want to tell your readers. She calls this her "stash."  Cull from the stash and keep what you want in another place but never delete any ideas permanently. Change is fine. You can move ideas around once you get the basics down. The first two sentences of each paragraph must be strong.

3. According to O'Conner, there are several beginnings and a good beginning can win an audience for life.
   Summary beginnings...tell what you are going to tell them, tell them why it needs saying and how you will do it.
   Anecdotal beginnings...start with a short story or joke. These must be relevant to the topic of the rest of the story and age appropriate.
  Physical descriptions...set the scene by describing where the characters are and what they look like with their names.
  Leisurely opening...very hard to write. James Michener comes to mind It took him three chapters to tell you the sun was rising over Maui in his book  Hawaii. Audiences in today's fast paced world do not tolerate well leisurely openings.

4. Give yourself enough time to write. Set a schedule that you can stick to based on the other activities in your life. Some of us have school age children so our free time in between 9:00 and 2:00 with domestic chores thrown in. Others work at a job that negates free time from 7:30 AM to 6:00PM. Look at your schedules and determine what works. It may be every Saturday from 1:00-5:00PM or two hours daily.
 Every writer  has a time limit of how long he can write. Know yours. 
 O'Conner says that if you quit writing before your scheduled time, do not reward yourself with something pleasant like a cookie or reading for 20 minutes. Do some icky job until your scheduled writing time expires. 

Part 2 of this book: The Fundamental Things

1. "If you have done your homework, you do not have to disguise it in showy language." Use short words. Hemingway says that you need a built in  (paraphrased) baloney detector. Readers know inflated language versus true ideas expressed well. 
2. Short paragraphs are easier to read.
3. "Find an interesting verb and the rest of the sentence will take care of itself." Strong verbs don't need propping up. "He walked with a swagger." versus "He swaggered." "The meal took three hours to be eaten" versus, "They ate for three hours." Keep nouns and verbs close together to avoid confusion.
 Use single modifiers not " wet, red, snow-encrusted face."
4. Read your work aloud listening for cliches, boring phrases and stilted sentences.
5. Put the modifying item last. "This restaurant serves pumpkin ravioli, linguine and pasta." What it really serves is linguine, pasta and pumpkin ravioli.
6. Remove "training wheels" in your writing. "...music that is pleasing to the ear" and "...dancer is graceful on her feet." (How else would music be pleasing?)
7. Use exclamation points sparingly and never in multiples.

Part 3: Getting Better All The Time

1. Maintain the appropriate tone throughout. Good writing is not comedic in one part and grisly in another. Match the tone to the subject matter. 
2. "Rewriting is more than correcting what is wrong but pushing further what is acceptable."
O'Conner says to do a final analysis of your writing.
-----Do I still like the beginning?
-----Can I be simpler?
-----Do I make sense?
-----Do my numbers add up?
-----Do my sentences hang together?
-----Do I need every word modifier?
-----Have I got rhythm?
-----Am I playing the same tune throughout (tone of ideas)?
-----Am I using the right image?
-----Have I made my case?
-----How's my grammar?

I give this book five stars. She uses excellent examples for every point she makes. One final piece of advice from Patricia O'Conner: Any problem can be solved---sometimes by throwing it out.

Drawing/Painting and Writing

Power of the Pen writing conference is March 7, 2015 in Spokane, WA. The keynote speaker will be Mary Buckham. There will be several editors and agents taking pitches and giving workshops. The workshops will be geared toward writers of all genres of fiction. Here's the link to the website: http://www.iecrwaconference.com. The fee is $95 nonmembers, $70 members of Inland Empire Chapter of Romance Writers of America for this day long event.

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A person cannot sit down and paint the perfect picture immediately. You are painting a woodland landscape and you have trouble with the deer. You work on that area for a while, work on the clouds, return to the deer or walk away and read for thirty minutes. When you again start to paint, your ability to render the deer has changed and it works or it is worse.

The same goes for writing. You cannot sit down and write the perfect first draft. In fact, the harder it is to write a certain part the more effort it will require. Every writer faces this situation. Janet Evanovich says that it is difficult for her to write sex scenes. It requires champagne and copious supplies of M&M’s. For another writer, writing tension in a murder scene may be difficult. All writers stumble on a different aspect of the story. Do not try to be Stephen King, Flannery O’Conner,  John Grisham or Elizabeth George. Write the story you want to tell.

 Although The Starry Night  (left) by Vincent Van Gogh was painted during the day in Van Gogh's ground-floor studio in a mental institution Saint Paul-de Mansole, now a convent in St.Remy, France,  it would be accurate to state that the picture was painted from memory. The view has been identified as the one from his second story bedroom window, facing east (lower right) a view which Van Gogh painted variations no fewer than twenty-one times, including  Starry Night.  <sup>The other two painting are of the</sup>
 same field facing east from his bedroom on the second floor. "Through the iron-barred window," he wrote to his brother, Theo, around 23 May 1889, "I can see an enclosed square of wheat . . . above which, in the morning, I watch the sun rise in all its glory."

View today of mental institution
St. Remy, France
Van Gogh's room,
second floor middle window

View today from Van Gogh's
room in mental institution

 Van Gogh depicted the view at different times of day and under various weather conditions, including sunrise, moonrise, sunshine-filled days, overcast days, windy days, and one day with rain. The hospital staff did not allow Van Gogh to paint in his bedroom, but he was able to make sketches in ink or charcoal on paper (like a writer's rough drafts), and eventually he would base newer variations on previous versions. In fifteen of the twenty-one versions, cypress trees are visible beyond the far wall enclosing the wheat field. Writers cannot use the same theme twenty-one times but we can write various drafts of the same theme from different points of views or by making one the people the main character in one version and a secondary figure in another.

Van Gogh used the same inspiration for many paintings. Writers can do the same. We can combine our fourth grade school field trip to a California mission with a family vacation to the Santa Ynes Mountains in the same area years later and produce a scene for our story. What we cannot do is sell the same scenes in different books like Van Gogh could sell the same scene with only slight variations. If you do that, your books sounds like a well known author whose main character drinks Knob Creek at Elaine's with the same pal almost every night, bedding different women combined with a sketchily filled in mystery plot. It is a formula that has worked for him but readers get bored quickly and quit buying his books.

Writing takes a plot plus a subject and turns them into a story. A book has a flow just like a painting. Artistic scholars tell us we take our eyes on a journey through a painting starting at the upper left of the canvas and work our way toward the center. I disagree feeling that I look at the largest or brightest part of the painting first and work my way spiraling out from that point. The artist has a story she wishes to tell and devises a one dimensional way to do it. There may be several stories going on at the same time via smaller sections of the painting; these are likened to subplots in books.

Books tell stories with the luxury of more space, i.e., pages and multiple characters and subplot(s). I expect the main character to be introduced in the first chapter. I prefer he or she to have a name and an accurate physical description. The artist wants you to understand the main subject of the painting and then fill out the story as your eyes travel around the canvas. Painters repeat themes in various spots so that it is satisfying to the viewer. Books do the same. We repeat the struggle the protagonist is having by having him try different solutions and failing.

Think of your story like a drawing or a painting. Visualize your story then write down what you see. Add the details. Rewrite and fine tune. Publish.

Farewell to Jenny and Hello to New Beginnings

Writing North Idaho is experiencing what we hope is a temporary hiatus from our veteran contributor, Jenny Leo. Jenny is an original founder of WNI and has been an integral part of its development. Her intelligence, insight and flare for the interests of writers have led this blog to its successful place among writers worldwide. Her life as a full time editor, author of novels and nonfiction essays, family enthusiast and community volunteer make for a full life.  We appreciate all we have learned from her! We will miss her regular posts but we look forward to hearing of her many adventures in life. Please follow her at: jenniferlamontleo.com and read in the archives of this blog her over 150 posts on various subjects about writing.

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A new year means new beginnings. Many people start exercise programs or make lists of things they wish to accomplish in the next months. Several people will record the names of books and authors they read in 2015. Others will chart the numbers of miles they run, new recipes they want try or numbers of jig saw puzzles they work. If you are reading this, you are probably a writer and have thought about your ongoing or upcoming works.

Experts have tips as to how best to do that set goals or benchmarks we can achieve.

    Ø  Since January 1st has passed, begin your path toward your goals on a Monday. This is a psychological benchmark that helps you focus and feel energized.

    Ø  Make a plan. Good intentions are not enough. Actual plans prevent procrastination.

    Ø  Do not have a back up plan. “Plan B” weakens your resolve to work hard on Plan A. Think though what you want to accomplish and how you going to do it. The more details the better.

    Ø  Build in a strong incentive. Monetary rewards have shown great success. StickK.com is a web site that will take your money and donate it to a cause of your choice if you fail. Make a pact with a spouse or friend who also has set some type of a goal. The person who does not complete his or her desired goal treats the other to an agreed upon pay-out. It could be dinner out, a weekend trip, a pre-set number of doing a chore for the one person or whatever you can find that will be the impetus for you to work hard on your own goal.

    Ø  Place benchmarks throughout your main plan. These can be small or short goals. Reaching each one is a reinforcement and reward for accomplishing a portion of your goal and encouragement for reaching for the next mark.

    Ø  Experts tell us to conserve our willpower. We do not have an unending supply of it. Do not attempt to work on several major goals in a given time. For instance, you should not try to loss 35 pounds, learn a new language and write a novel in the same span of time. All will fail because you will have spent your willpower.

For writers, an evaluation of our writing achievements from the previous year is a good beginning to setting our writing goals for the future. Ask yourself these questions.

  #  What did I write this past year? How many stories did I actually finish? How many did I start? How many did I discard as rubbish? (These efforts should not be discounted as we always learn from our efforts.)

  #   Did I enter any contests? Did I “podium” in any of them? Would I enter any of the same contests again? Do I want to find other contests to enter?

  #   Did I take any writing classes and what was my goal and outcome of those classes? Would I take more classes from that source? Why or why not? What other classes are offered, at what time, the topics, the cost, the time and the place?

  #   Did I do what I set out to do writing-wise last year?

  #  Am I proud of my writing(s)? Why and why not?

Writers are always challenged. Each day presents us with opportunities. It is up to us to decide what we are going to do with them. Good luck in your writing for this year! Good luck to Jenny in all she does!

Write magically!

Books on Your Holiday Gift List?

She’s 12; she reads voraciously; she has eclectic taste in genres; she reads above her grade level; she’s ready for Gone with The Wind. The “she” in this case is my oldest grandchild. She is receiving this book for Christmas because (A) it is one of my all time favorites,  (B) she is ready for the subject matter and (C) she is old enough to do research on her own about the Civil War to better understand the setting and meaning of the book. I am excited for her to receive it but more excited to talk to her after she has finished reading it. I am also giving her another book, a blank one, A Private Reading Journal. I wish I had kept a journal or log of all the books I read starting when I was twelve. It would be fun to look back ands what I thought a book when I was fifteen, 25 or 65 years old. 

Do you give books as holiday gifts? I have friends who devote their gifts exclusively to books and have done so for years. One buys the book she decides is her favorite from the past 12 months of reading and gives it to the adults on her list. This is tricky finding a book that will appeal to all. Another loves searching, contemplating and then buying the right book for each person on her list. Both these friends read many books and belong to several book clubs so they have a wide variety of books from which to choose. Sometimes it is a classic that makes the list, other times, a new hardback book. Another idea is a gift card to a bookstore and the receiver can choose his own selection.

Here are some web sites for you to peruse to find the right book you would like give.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/nov/29/-sp-writers-pick-best-books-2014

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/07/2014-books_n_4550607.html  off beat

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/writing-tips/ books on writing tips for writers

www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books

http://time.com/2815951/best-books-of-2014-so-far/

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/books-top-100-bestsellers-of-the-year/379003535/ 

http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/notalists/ncb notable children’s books 2014 by American Association of Library Services for Children

https://bankstreetcollegeccl.wordpress.com/2014/06/05/best-childrens-books-of-the-year-2014-edition/  The Banks Street Center for Children’s Literature

http://www.cbcbooks.org/childrens-choices/   children’s lists of best books 2014 chosen by children for ages 5 to 12.

Here are some other gift suggestions for the book lovers on your list. All are available by clicking on this link:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=GIFTS+FOR+BOOK+LOVERS 

Selection of soothing music

Book or e-reader holder

Woman's tee shirt

Lighted magnifier

Gift basket with book related goodies

Goood Mooorning Vietnam!

“GOOOOD MOOOORNING VIETNAM!” In this movie Adrian Cronaur, aka Robin Williams, talks about Lyndon Johnson visiting the camp.

            “Excuse me, Sir. Seeing how as the VP is such a VIP…shouldn’t we keep the PC on the QT, ‘cause if it leaks to the VC…he could end up an MIA and then we’d all be put on KP."

These are a textbook perfect example of acronyms.:VP-vice president; VIP-very important person; PC-press conference; QT quiet; VC-Viet Cong; MIA-missing in action; and KP-kitchen patrol. 

For writers these acronyms provide a quandary. How do we use them? What is capitalized, how do I print it when my character is saying an acronym? Is this acronym known or understood in another country? There is no universal agreement on the use of acronyms or on written usage because the topic is too broad, used many different ways and may mean something else in another context. The answers I researched said YOYO (you're on your own.)

Acronyms, also called initialisms, are words formed from the initials of other words: laser, sonar, scuba, AIDS, and NATO.  Additionally there are many sub categories of acronyms.

1.     Pronounced as a word containing only initial letters

MoMA (Museum of Modern Art in NYC), LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association), OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries)

2.     Pronounced as a word Necco (New England Confectionary Company), URL (Uniform Resource Locator)

3.     Pronounced as words or letters depending upon the speaker: IRA (individual retirement account, also spoken I-R-A meaning the same or I-R-A meaning the Irish Republican Army), FAQ (frequently asked questions), SAT (Scholastic Achievement Test), AARP (American Assoc. of Retired People which dropped the full name in order to appeal to all adult people)

4.      Pronounced only as the names of letters ABC (American Broadcast Co.), DNA, IBM, GQ Magazine (originally Gentlemen’s Quarterly), USA, NAACP, BP (British Petroleum now British Products), AT&T (New York stock exchange abbreviation for American Telephone and Telegraph), Seattle’s Best Coffee became SBC when it went national but quickly changed back to its full name, AOL (American Online); DMZ (demilitarized zone)

5.      Pronounced but with shortcuts NCAA can be N-C double A, or N-C-A-A; NAACP can be said as N-double A-C-P;  AAA (American Automobile Assoc.) or triple A; Amateur Athletic Assoc. is said in short cut: three As

6.     A variation called orphan initialism involves cases where the name of an organization changes to match its initials. For example, GAO used to be General Accounting Office and is now Government Accountability Office (imagine what that cost us tax payers for new letter head stationery, business cards, etc.) TCBY used to stand for This Can’t Be Yogurt but a law suit forced it to change to The Country’s Best Yogurt.

7.     Pseudo-acronyms are basically what IM (instant messaging) uses. CULT (see you later), BB4N (bye bye for now) and hundreds of others.

Writers need to write so that acronyms are in the proper context and with clear understanding so the readers know what the letters stand for and how to read them, i.e., hear them spoken in their mind.

“Good Morning, Vietnam” was written by Mitch Markovitz, directed by Barry Levinson with much of Robin Williams’’ material improvised. 

Bucket List for Writers

Bucket List

Do you remember the 2007 movie "The Bucket List" starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman? The title is derived from the slang term "kick the bucket" meaning "to die." In silent Western movies a character would fall down kicking over a bucket. That was the signal to the audience that he had died.  Many people have written their personal bucket list of things to do before they die just like in the movie.

In recent weeks in the United States a young woman, Brittany Maynard, has made news by writing her personal bucket list. She has an untreatable, painful brain tumor and death is in the immediate future. She has moved to the state of Oregon where the right to die act is legally practiced. She has selected November 1 as her date of death. In the past few days, she checked off the last thing on her bucket list.... a trip to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. I wish her well in her journey.

A bucket list is different than a to-do list. The latter has things on it like: buy soap, return library books, buy gas, and register for writing class. It is meant as a reminder of tasks you wish to do today. A bucket list is a reminder of things to fulfill but on a grander scale (play at Carnegie Hall versus practice recital pieces). It includes goals you wish to accomplish, dreams you realistically want to fulfill and life experiences you desire before you die.

Writing a bucket list forces you to think what you really want. Some items may be materialistic but most are adventures or goals you set for yourself. It is a plan for your future. It is a blueprint for where you want to go and what you want to do. It gives clarity and focus to your life. To me, it makes me think about what I will work hard to make happen, places and people I want to see and challenges I want to tackle. It is realistic.

I know I will never be a ballerina (I am five feet tall and in the later part my 60th decade) but this doesn't diminish my desire to enjoy number four on my list: another performance of Russia's Bolshoi Ballet. The first time I saw them perform, I cried I enjoyed it so much. The BL solidifies my number three desire to spend two weeks in Paris. I do not want to play the piano at Carnegie Hall but I do want increase significantly my playing skills to better understand and enjoy music. These are legitimate items on my bucket list.

We, as writers, can benefit from a Bucket List aimed at our writing. Some goals for me to put down may be to finish the novel I started five years ago; send more query letters to different agents regarding my newly finished nonfiction book; learn to spin wool so I can write an article for the weaving magazine; refine what public libraries I want to visit to do research for a new idea I have for a different nonfiction book; and clean out my writing files! Thinking about what I want to accomplish versus what I have to accomplish gets me excited and motivated to check things off my BLW (Bucket List, Writing).

Your BLW is probably entirely different than mine. Yours may include finding a writers' retreat for the summer of 2016, winning a writing contest and trying your hand at Goth novels. Who knows? You know. You know what your heart is beating toward and where your brain is heading. Write down a BLW,frame it and put it on the wall in front of your computer. Put on the teakettle or coffee pot and get busy.

Bern, Switzerland

Granddaughters

Tulips in Holland

“After all, tomorrow is another day."

 The title of this post is the last line  in both the book and the movie of Gone with The Wind. It is one of the truest adaptations of  book into movie form.

What is the trick to making an excellent movie from an outstanding book? Does it make any difference if the movie is true to the story? How do authors feel about their books being made into movies? What does it serve to duplicate a good book onto the movie screen except to make money?

A group of seven authors in New York debated these questions. Their feelings were divided into three camps:

(1)           I do not care what they (Hollywood) does with the movie if it remains true to the spirit of my book. 
(2)           I want it to be as true to my book as possible

(3)           I do not want a thing changed.

Numbers one and two are the only achievable answers to the question. Why? The author brings his one perspective to his book. A movie involves not only the perspective of a screenwriter but also the director, costume designers, editors, location settings and choice of actors. Multiple inputs are needed for a movie.

The author builds a sustainable image. He chooses his target audience and writes to them. A movie expands the book to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. The author has to work hard choosing words that show and not tell. The movie uses more effects visually showing emotions and actions in a much shorter period than is possible in books. A book can meander into its main plot whereas a movie must grab the attention of the viewer immediately so as not to be boring.

Each reader builds in his imagination what the characters look and sounds like, what the setting looks like in each scene and the pace of the book. The reader also goes through these same paces along with the plot pacing. He decides if he likes or dislikes, tolerates or abhors the characters. It may take him a long time to understand his conclusions. Movies make you immediately mentally vote on these things because it is has only two hours to present a much larger plot of a book. Dialog is more essential in both venues but more of it occurs in a movie because movies by nature demand action.

Some authors do not care what a filmmaker does to their books. They figure that the movie is two hours of free publicity for their book and/or other books they have written. The film can be made for a small audience or a blockbuster with name actors, lavish costuming and settings. Both try to make money. The studios can write off the smaller budgeted movie or movies that do not capture the audiences. Films can be made and seen by a test audience using various endings. Books do not have that luxury.

The risk in making a movie from a book is that the viewers go to a movie because they liked the book. Their expectations are built on what they individually visualized in their minds and what conclusions they came to at the end. We know what the ending should be. Maybe the movie is true to the book (Gone with The Wind is a prime example) or maybe the movie only has a passing acquaintance to the book.

Movies from books do have advantages to the public at large. Most adults read fewer than five books a year but discover that they like this story and seek more works by the author. Movies bring children back to reading. Movies can be a family affair watched together.

Books are a renewable source of stories for Hollywood. An actor may recommend a book but decline to star in it when he reads the final script. Good casting can make the book an even bigger hit; poor casting like Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher or Katherine Heigel as Stephanie Plum make a movie sink like a body in cement aimed into the Jersey River.

Here are some books being made into movies. I rarely see movies if I have read the book. The movie is never as good as the book (one exception is GWTW). Do you see the movies after reading the books? Which do you prefer?

Mockingjay  by Suzanne Collins

Gone Girl and  Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

The Switch by Elmore Leonard

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

A Walk in The Woods by Bill Bryson

Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin

Devil’s Knot by Mara Leveritt

The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks

The Giver by Lars Lowry

Read a follow post on October 29, 2014 for Dr. Seuss’ response published posthumously made regarding his books made into movies. It is delightful, shocking, and enlightening.

Location as A Character

Think of Gone with The Wind not set in Atlanta but Washington, D.C., Les Miserable not in Paris but Berlin or HELP set in Detroit, MI not Jackson, MS and you have no story. In these books, location IS a character and a main character at that.

The question for the writer is how big a character do you want location to play. Does it define the action, is it a part of history that cannot be disputed, could the plot be plucked and set down in a different location without effecting the entire venture too much? How much would you have to explain if you set your novel some place else or change the dialog?

Many novels have the location as secondary plot. Under The Stars was set in Kenya in the 1930’s. The exoticness of the setting made the plot much more interesting. It helped the author to

grow her characters more easily due to the different ethnic morals and traditions she encounters. Daniel Steele’s novels could be set in any place and in any time. It doesn’t matter if her main character is rich, beautiful but troubled in Cote d’Azur, France, Denver, Manhattan or Rio de Janerio. She gets herself into the same predicaments and acts according to her set standards of the jet set. What happens in the location is not dependent upon the particular traits of Paris or Los Angeles.

A book set in a certain location may be a draw to readers. Many people want to learn things about another culture or geographical location and will pick up a book hoping to do so. If you want location to be a draw, do not set your novel in North Dakota unless it is during the 1870’s, early 1800’s or a mystery set in the oil area of the northwestern part of the state in 2014 where many people have emigrated for the high paying jobs. We just returned from a vacation in Whistler, B.C., Canada and Vancouver. I would love to set a novel in Vancouver but it could just as easily be set in Seattle, Portland or Lima, Peru if all I wanted was beautiful countryside with mountains, rain and evergreen trees. On the other side, talking about a geisha needs to be set in Japan because geisha were only a part of Japanese culture.

 I look for location as a primary factor in my fiction reading. I love to travel and enjoy reading more about a city or country because the characters are there. The Diana Gabledon series is intriguing because it takes the readers to the 1700’s in Scotland and then North Carolina and France. I love Daniel Silva’s mysteries because each one takes place in a European city or several and parts of Tel Aviv. I always learn something. On the other hand, Ethiopia as the location for Cutting for Stone, played a subtle and interesting part of the plot. However, the book could have been set in any third world country and the main plot sustained without difficulty.

Dialog has to be grounded in location but not to the point of possible misunderstanding. A “wee” here and there in a Scottish setting is appropriate and gives the reader a sense of the character. Most readers know the meaning of “bairn” (child) but would not understand “Awe’re a’Jock Tamson’s bairns” which means, “We are all God’s children, nobody is better than anybody else – we are all equal.” Most know that “havin’ a look under the bonnet” in Great Britain means someone is going to look under the hood of a car and not peeking under the hat of a baby. This reminds me of Tony Hillerman’s books set in Arizona in modern times where he uses numerous native American saying in their language but translates freely for the reader. It gives authenticity and flavor to the plot. A lot of his plots involved Native Americans and Caucasians together solving murders where the heritages of both entered into the plot line.

Are you taken by location when choosing a book? Do you find it hard to write your story if it is set in a different country. Do you ask yourself if this book has to be set in (place) and (time)? Does it work better in a different location or era? If you are stuck, try writing your story in a different location and/or era. No matter what you decide, remember that location influences what picture the reader develops in his mind. You want to make that as strong a part of the plot as you can. An exercise for learning is to write a short story set in a different country just to see what it entails.

“Haste Ye Back!" - Farewell saying meaning “return soon”.