Twilight the book vs the movie

I have been writing about Twilight this week, so I figured I would continue the trend. Once again, these are just observations on my part.

I know that movies change books for plot or action purposes. Take some characters out and add in additional ones.

But for Twilight there are definitely two things that they should have left in, in my opinion.

The first is the meadow scene. Yes, I know they kind of did it, but they missed it all up. The meadow scene should have been done like Mrs. Meyer had it in the book, or at least resembled it a bit more. It was a special place for Edward that was a part of him. A place where he went to be alone and enjoy being himself away from his home. And he shared it with Bella.

It was also where he moved away from Bella when she got to close, where he showed his vampiric abilities, where they first kissed, and it should have all been portrayed like the book had it.

Another thing that I think they should have kept was Edward constantly smelling her …aroma. It was important in the book to show that he was slowly becoming accustomed to her smell. Plus it brought closeness to them, that the movie was lacking just a little bit. Edward coming close to her neck and brushing his nose against her jaw line and taking her wrists, inhaling--becoming desensitized. It also portrayed Bella’s trust in him.

There are more, but now I want to talk about some scenes probably could have left out.
Edward tossing Bella on his back like a sack of potatoes and climbing trees. Did that really add to the movie? To me they could have cut it and maybe put a bit more effort into the meadow scene.
Bella and her father eating at the restaurant. I really didn’t understand why they didn’t have her fixing dinner at home. I know that maybe it wasn’t really all the important, but think about it. It showed a responsibility and need that Bella felt she had to take care of her father--like she took care of her mother. This was an important part of Bella’s persona in character development.

Okay, something I loved about the movie. I loved the fight scene at the end. That James was ripped apart and got what he deserved. Evil vampire that he was. :)

That being said, the New Moon trailer looks very promising. It seems that there will be a bit more emphasis on the Volturi, but I can see why for action purposes.

Twilight -- What about the writing?

Disclaimer: I am not a published author, just an aspiring. These are nothing more than thoughts that have wafted through my mind and might change tomorrow. More so, this is an opportunity for others to chime in and tell me and others what you think. I love to know people’s opinions.

Okay, I know Twilight has been criticized for breaking writing rules. Repetition of words, zeroing in on Edward’s eyes, and more telling than showing, and so on. Is that good or bad? Well let’s take a look.

When I first read Twilight, I read it as only a reader. Yes, I was starting on my first ms, but I had no clue about all the writing rules--the dos and don’ts. So as a reader, yes I did notice the repetition of some words. Did it bother me? Nope.

What about the ongoing references to Edward’s eyes? This is my thought--Edward’s eyes were a huge part of the story, his eyes told of his mood and thirst level, how original they were, how much she loved to gaze in them. It was an important part of the story. So maybe it should be repeated. Think of it this way-- when you meet someone that you are attracted to, maybe a first love, what is it that your first notice? Most might say eyes here. When you are talking to someone, what do you look into to gage reactions? Eyes and facial expressions. It is said that eyes are the windows into people’s souls, and I believe it.

Telling vs showing: Always told "Show don't tell...Show don't tell." Some say that most readers now days have short attention spans, and we (as published or aspiring authors/writers) have to jump into action and thrills. Now, this is something that I disagree with. I don’t think that is true. I think if a story pulls the reader forward, no matter how it is written, then that is all that is required.

What do you think the first important rule to writing is? I might be wrong, but I think the most important rule is for the writer to draw the reader into a world and hold them there. And if Mrs. Stephenie Meyer did that then she did her job as an author.

Okay, I have said this, now as an aspiring writer, what do I do? I try and follow the rules.

What is your opinion? Did you like Twilight or did you not find it to your liking?

Twilight - Loving it

For all the Twilight fans, me included, New Moon is just around the corner. Thinking of going to the midnight showing if I can get one of my kids to face the embarrassment of going with their mom. And I doubt that. Maybe I'll take a friend.

Anyway, this post is about what does Twilight have that draws fans in of a variety of ages? Male and female? And yes, I know several guys that like the book and/or series.

I was visiting someone's blog over the weekend and they mentioned about the over 30 crowd liking Twilight (sorry I can't remember whose. I visited a lot this weekend.) Anyway, they said something about it and it made me wonder why. Why is there a craze amongst the over 30 crowd--mothers, married, and singles?

And I have come up with why I think.

It is all about Edward.

Here is a guy who is super intelligent, caring, willing to do anything for the woman he loves, protective (although a bit over-protective), rich (of course, has had plenty of time to acquire money), not to mention sizzling, smoking hot hot hot!!!! Top it with being an immortal, and you got something better than a cherry on a sundae.

I will be honest when I say I have not had a real crush on any guy since my early twenties. And this guy lives within the pages of a book. Although don't get me wrong, Robert Pattinson is pretty nice to look at too.

It's like this fictional character woke a part of me that I had forgotten about.

So what about the guys who like the novel. What about it draws them in?

Again, I think it is all about Edward.

Only this time it revolves around a more James Bond thing---Every guy wants to be him, every woman wants to be with him. And they want to be the type of guy that would draw women to them like flies to sugar. :)

What do you all think? I would love to read your comments on the subject.

The Joy Evaporates

There are so many days that I just can't seem to get any words down. My brain is flooded with ideas, but I just don't get the opportunity to write. I am busy babysitting, my own children, my husband, cooking, cleaning, being a taxi, etc etc.

This last week though, with the children at school, my hubby out of town, and I didn't have to babysit, I actually got a total of 5,000 words down. 5,000 and I am thinking that is great. But then I visit other writers blogs or twitters that I follow and they do 1,000 words a day, and I get a little depressed.

I know all these other people are just as busy as I am with kids and work and real life. I just wish I knew how they do it. Where does their time come from?

And maybe it is just me.

If I really think about it. I have some time at night after the babysitting is over, the kids doing homework and what not, the hubby zoning on the television, but by then I am tired and I want some me time to read a book or maybe watch a movie.

Maybe I just need to get rid of me time, even if I am tired and worn out. Give it up and concentrate on what really matters to me, which is to finish my ms so that I can start on another.

What do you do when your day is so busy and you are tired in the evening? Do you write anyway? Do you figure out a way to make yourself time? I would like to know!!!

A movie or book that touches you.

Almost 20 years ago I watched Edward Scissorhands, and I left that movie feeling so sad. I watched it last night, and it still makes me sad.

So after the movie was done and I took it out of my PS 3, I started to think of a book that did the same thing. A book that I use to love when I was a child and read over and over, a book I probably hadn't read for thirty years--Where the Red Fern Grows. Everytime I read this book, and I visited the pages frequently, it made me on the verge of tears.

So what about you? Is there a movie or book that touches you?

What atmosphere is best for your creative juices?

Another poster brought up that she liked to listen to music, so I thought it would be interesting to see what conditions best suit you when you write.

I have different ways depending on the mood I am in. Once in awhile, I like to have everything perfectly quiet. No T.V., no music, no kids, no hubby, nothing. Unfortunately I do not get that very often. On days when everyone is home, I often go to my playlist, slip on the headphones and try and drown everyone out.

The problem with this is that the music can turn out to be a distraction too. I will find myself bopping my head to the beat, and one time, I actually typed the lyrics to a favorite song. Other times music really helps me to write. It flows into my words. On these days, my writing seems to shine. The characters. The scenes seem to be filled with life. I happen to love those days.

What about you? How is your best writing created?

How do you write?

So far, I am writing four manuscripts.

The first is a young adult fantasy. It is complete. The second is a paranormal romance. It is half way complete--45,000 words. The third is a sci-fi paranormal (I guess might be the best way to describe it)---4,000 words. And the fourth is just the beginning of a sequel for my young adult fantasy.

I know how I want to start my books. I know how I want my books to end. I have a little bit of an idea of how to get from point A (the beginning) to point C (the end), but over all, I don't have the foggiest of what is going to happen, nor do I know all of the characters that are going to rear from the depths of my imagination.

My storyline often ends up being as much of a surprise for me as it might for any prospective readers.

How about you? Do you write with no idea of what is going to happen? Or are you the organized type that has an outline that they follow?

How do you keep going?

What do you do when the words don't seem to want to flow? How do you get past it?

When I finally get free time to sit down I find it rather frustrating that I can't progress any further on whatever manuscript I am working on. The words just seem stuck at my fingertips and refuse to be typed out along my computer screen.

So what do I do?

Often I will go back to the previous thing I was working on or maybe a bit further and read what I have down. This seems to help me get a direction on what I want to work on next. Another thing I will do is go take a long bath and think about my story. If neither of those work, I give up and read a book, which in turn helps me to get the creative juices flowing again. :)

A Writer's Story Part 2

So what makes you all want to write? Why do this?

As many of my writing friends know, writing is not easy. I think some people give it a shot because that is exactly what they think--"My easy peasy road to fame and fortune." But we all know that it is far, far from easy. Far--far--far. If there was a spectrum of hard to easy, writing would be a direct polar opposite of the easy mark. :)

So why do this?

I know why I did.

For years, I wanted to be a writer. I love to read, to be carried away to different situations and worlds, to fall in love with characters (sometimes literally :P ), and when I was in school, I loved to write stories and such, but I never pursued it as a career. When I was younger, I didn't have time, mostly I really didn't think I had the creativity. As I got older, I tried to write a couple of books, got to about page fifty, then would get side-tracked with kids and stuff and give up. (I commend all authors that have kids constantly pulling at their attention and still have the zing to it.)

Why now? I don't know why, but this time when I sat down with an idea, I was determined to see it through. And I did. My manuscript for KRELIS is done.

So what now?

I'm trying to find an agent for my high fantasy, KRELIS, and I have started another two books.

If you haven't published KRELIS why are you writing more? Apparently you don't have the talent to write?

For the first question--I am doing what writers do when they have a passion for the written word----Write. It doesn't matter if my first novel is published or not. For the second---maybe that is true, or maybe I just haven't found an agent that has the same passion for my story as I do, or maybe....??? I can't bother myself with that type of question. All I know, is I have stories in my head that I am going to get down on paper.

Does it matter if I get published or not?

I would love to be published. It is one of the reasons that I am doing this (only a small one though), but it is not mandatory for me to continue writing. I write because I love it.

A Writer's Story

This is a story of an aspiring writer, who wrote a novel that has not been published. The novel's name is KRELIS, and who knows maybe one day it will be on your local bookshelves.

Although KRELIS has not been published, she has moved on to other projects in hopes that one day her dream might be realized. One is a story of young witch and the other is about a girl who can read minds.

KRELIS is about a young wizard who is rather happy living on an isolated island in Known World. But one day he is propelled from being an apprentice to that of a full fledge wizard and equal with his master, Antigonus. Antigonus has a dream a hundred years in the making, and asks Krelis and his friends to go on a long and dangerous quest to collect dragon stones.

What are dragon stones?--you might ask. Dragon stones are just regular stones that form from the hearts of a deceased dragons, but when the stones are merged with the dragon's spirits, a transformation takes place, creating a powerful talismans. Talismans that have the power to change Known World.

Will Krelis and his friends be success? If they are successful will the reward be worth the price they pay? Maybe one day you will be able to know. :)

So here I invite you to follow me on my own personal quest. One of being published and sharing with you the stories that float in my head. It really isn't as scary as it sounds. :) Please feel free to leave comments, questions, or whatever your heart desires. :) And be sure to follow some of the other blogs and tweets that I do.