Most of the time I like the book better than the movie or TV show. In fact, nearly every time I prefer the book over the adaptation. Many a coworker has heard me go off about the movie adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, because it’s just so wrong on so many levels, and I could go on forever about why. But on rare occasions, I prefer the adaptation. Mind you, for all the following, I watched the adaptation before I read the book, so perhaps that has something to do with it.
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Don’t get me wrong, I love Neil Gaiman. The Ocean at the End of the Lane is one of my favorite books, and I’ve enjoyed every other book of his that I’ve read. However, there was just something about Stardust that wasn’t great to me. I love the movie, and I’ve seen it a number of times, but the book just didn’t seem to have as much heart as the movie. It didn’t feel as magical. The narration felt so distant, which I’m not the biggest fan of, so it’s probably just a preference thing. But it made it so I couldn’t bring myself to care about the characters as much as I did while watching the movie.
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Mostly I love the development of the side characters that you get in the show that doesn’t get to happen in the books. Since the books are more focused on Quentin, I missed my favorites: Elliot and Margo. I also particularly loved the way Quentin’s relationship with Elliot developed in the show. I know that they veered way off of the events of the trilogy in the show, but for once that didn’t bother me. It quickly became one of my favorite shows, and it’s one of the few I own on Blu-ray.
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
I think this one in particularly is a case of I-saw-the-movie-first. The movie was just so much…well, cooler. While the book was interesting and the mystery of the area was intriguing, I kept waiting for weird, messed up animals to come wandering by. I kept waiting for all the cool, bizarre things that showed up in the movie. And then they didn’t, and I was disappointed and wanted more weird plants and fungus taking over bodies and doubles of animals bounding along. Especially after reading Borne by VanderMeer, I was disappointed by the lack of weird, magical things.
Do you have adaptations you enjoy more than the books? If so, which ones?
What I wrote this week
Draft 2 of the second Enorians book – Prologue through Chapter Two
I feel in no way accomplished enough to give my own advice when it comes to writing, but I will happily pass along some that I’ve gotten from others. Some that has helped me.
I got myself a Masterclass subscription for Christmas, and naturally I had to start with Neil Gaiman, because I love Neil Gaiman. And during one of the videos he said of new writers, “Your job is to get the bad words, the bad sentences, out, the stories that aren’t any good yet.” It reminded me immediately of something one of my undergrad professors told us in a creative writing workshop, which is to give yourself permission to write badly.
This is such a great lesson, not just for writers, but for anyone who’s trying something new. You’re going to suck at first (unless you’re a prodigy or something). That’s inevitable. I certainly have a pile of hot garbage from years ago that will never see the light of day, but without that pile of bad words and sentences and stories that aren’t any good, I wouldn’t have gotten to a point where I feel like my writing and stories are worth showing to anyone. But I think for writing, especially, it’s a great thing to be told that it’s okay to be terrible, because you know what? That’s what second drafts are for. Your first draft can be a disaster, but you can fix it. And then fix it again. And fix it once more, like I did with my first Enorians book. The book as it is now has absolutely nothing to do with the first version other than the fact that Rowan’s name is Rowan (except even that’s not true, because the spelling changed).
So gives yourself permission to write those bad stories or paint those terrible pictures or play terrible music or continue to struggle to make your body do what your brain is telling you it should while you’re on a horse but it’s hard because muscle memory – this last one might be really specifically aimed at myself. You’ll learn something with every wrong move you make, and as with anything else, the more you do it, the better you get and the easier it becomes.
Since I kept it relatively short today, here’s the first couple pages of Chapter One of The Children of Oher. Keep in mind what I just said about first drafts 😉.
Kora’s wedding day looked nothing like how she’d imagined it in her childhood. First, she was only eighteen. She’d always thought she would be well into her twenties or older. Someone else had picked out her dress, a simple, straight white thing that made her feel like she was wearing a sack. Not the graceful gown she’d pictured, with a flowing train and a sparkling bodice. She didn’t have a veil, though she’d always liked the idea of her husband lifting it to kiss her when the time came. Her hair hadn’t even been done nicely. It lay in its dark, messy waves, the top all frizzy from having a bag pulled off her head. Not pinned up in some elegant style like in the pictures with diamond-studded hairclips and flowers weaved throughout. And the last thing she’d ever wanted was to get married in the middle of summer outside. The sun beat down on her, making her hot and uncomfortable. But worst of all, the man Kora stood in front of, the man she was supposed to marry, wasn’t a man she loved. In fact, she hadn’t met him until ten minutes earlier.
Trying not to look into the stony face of her supposed future husband, Kora glanced at the people around her. They stood in a garden surrounded by houses. An unnaturally perfect garden. Kora had always liked overgrown ones, where the plants were allowed to flourish and go where they wished, but this one felt sterile, controlled. Each flower, each leaf, each petal placed just so. Water rushed somewhere behind her. A river? She wasn’t sure. The grass prickled against the soles of her bare feet.
She wasn’t the only one girl who seemed out of place. On either side of her a half circle stretched at least ten girls long, each one wearing the same sack of a white dress. She couldn’t get a good look at some of them, but the ones she could see looked to be in various states of shock or grief. The blonde girl beside her wept silently, eyes on the ground, her shoulders slumped. She couldn’t have been more than sixteen. The woman on Kora’s other side had hair as green as the eyes she darted in Kora’s direction. Woman, Kora thought, but young, still. Not much older than herself. All the girls in line couldn’t have been older than their mid-twenties. Had they all been brought in from the outside like her?
Each of the girls had a male opposite standing in front of her. Kora glanced at the man before her again. His skin was the color of wet driftwood, and black eyebrows formed a deep frown, his forehead wrinkled and beading with sweat. The muscles in his jaw stood out, as if he clenched them. But his deep-set eyes weren’t on her. They gazed at something to beyond her, and when they flicked to her, she quickly looked away.
Beyond the couples, if they could even be called that, the garden was filled with a large crowd, all dressed as if they were attending an actual wedding rather than whatever this was supposed to be. They spoke to each other in quiet, excited voices. What were they all waiting for?
Trying to relieve the discomfort of keeping her arms behind her back, Kora rolled her shoulders, grimacing. She tried her plastic cuffs again, moving her hands in hopes this time they were looser. The cuffs rubbed painfully against the already sensitive skin of her hands. All the attempt did was earn her a sharp jab in the spine. She shot a glare back at the man behind her. That earned her another jab in the same bruised spot.
A hushed silence fell over the waiting crowd and all eyes drew to the break between the houses across the garden from where Kora stood. Even the men standing before each girl turned to face the newcomer. Kora followed their gaze, fear and anticipation make her sweat.
The woman who stepped into the garden had a warm, open face, though she didn’t smile. She took in the scene around, blue eyes full of affection. Her long, silver hair spilled down over her shoulders, and as she glided forward, her white robes rustled along the grass. A gold chain hung around her neck, leading to a large disk, which rested in the middle of her chest. Though Kora couldn’t make it out, she could tell there was a symbol on the circle.
With a fresh jab in the spine, Kora realized everyone else had bowed their heads to the woman. Gritting her teeth, she did the same, wondering who or what this woman was. Someone important. That much was clear. She walked with an air of certainty, her shoulders back, her head held high, as if she knew just how important she was. She paused beside the statue in the middle of the garden, one that Kora hadn’t yet taken a good look at. Kora was surprised to see the carved figure had no hair. It seemed wrong, somehow. Strangely, she’d been expecting Oher to be some beautiful woman with long flowing hair and a welcoming face, somewhat like the woman who’d just walked into the garden. Instead, carved out of rough, dark stone, the woman’s face had been etched in a pained expression, something like grief, agony, with her eyes closed as if she couldn’t bear to look at what lay before her. She held her arms spread, like she beckoned them, like she wanted them to take away her pain. It made Kora intensely uncomfortable. She focused back on the living woman.
Clasping her hands together, the woman surveyed them with a smile, her eyes warm and welcoming. “Good afternoon to you all, my beautiful children. What a glorious day she has bestowed upon us on this most wondrous of days. With her divine blessing, we have had another fruitful crop yield. With her divine blessing, we have filled our stores with fish from the river. With her divine blessing, we have protected ourselves from the Abominations lurking outside our walls.” She paused, allowing cries of gratitude. When they abated, she smiled and continued. “My darling children, with her divine blessing, we have found willing brides for our sons.”
What I wrote over the last week
Chapters nine, ten, and eleven of The Children of Oher
A.M. Sӧtemann 