Yearly archive for 2013

A Lesson from Miracle on 34th Street

By on December 20, 2013   /   Book Lists  

Building on TP Jagger’s fabulous post on what writers can learn from Christmas songs, today’s post will explore what writers can learn from the classic Christmas movie, Miracle on 34th Street.  In case you aren’t familiar with this gem, here’s a quick description: when no-nonsense Doris Walker hires  a man to play Santa for Macy’s department store, she quickly finds out that while he is the Best Santa Ever, the man also genuinely believes he is Kris Kringle.  Doris, once burned by love, does not believe in Santa or other fantasies, and does not allow her daughter, Susan, to believe in Santa, either.  Kris Kringle sets to work on changing Susan’s mind, while Doris’ neighbor, Fred Gailey, tries softening Doris’ hard worldview.   When Kris’ mental health is challenged in court, everyone involved finds that their views of Christmas have changed because of meeting Kris.  (Note: This movie is so popular that it has been remade several times; do yourself a favor and watch the original 1947 version.)

miracle on 34th

See this one first!

There are four main characters in the movie: Kris Kringle, Doris, Susan and Fred, but the movie is well-buttressed by several secondary but important characters.  There is RH Macy, Doris’ boss, who insists on keeping Kris In spite of his apparent delusions because he is so popular with the customers.  Granville Sawyer is the company psychologist who takes a disliking to Kris, and forces the mental health hearing.   We meet the prosecutor and his family, as well as the judge in charge of the hearing and his political advisor, who reminds the judge that finding against Kris could create a public backlash.

Write your secondary characters as if they are the main characters.

What’s remarkable about all the characters is that while they exist to move the story along, they are also handled with much care and detail.  When I watched the movie this year, I could not help but marvel at how fully developed they were.  Each one brings to life the writing advice, write your secondary characters as if they are the main characters.  We know what each character wants, whether it’s boss man Macy wanting to beat rival Gimbels, or the political advisor seeking a winning election for the judge.  We also get to meet their families and see others interact with them, not just for the purposes of the story, but for their own sake.  You even know the opinions of the district attorney’s wife and meet the judge’s grandchildren.  (My favorite family background moment is when Kris questions whether the twitchy company psychologist is happy at home.  Mr. Sawyer does not respond immediately, but eventually announces, with a bit too much protestation and much manic plucking at the eyebrow, that he has been happily married to Mrs. Sawyer for many years, thank you very much.)

The next time you’re adding a minor character to your story, consider whether he or she (or it!) can be more than a cardboard cog for the story.  Do they have their own motivations and backgrounds?  How would they tell the story from their point of view?  And then, if you like, add your own cinematically-inspired writing advice in the comments below!

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Five Writing Truths We Can Learn from Christmas Carols

By on December 18, 2013   /   Book Lists  

 

 2103 Christmas-Snow I have a confession to make: I love Christmas music. In fact, I like it so much that my wife had to institute a family rule—no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. I eventually got her to compromise, convincing her that Christmas music was allowed before Thanksgiving, as long as it had snowed first. This year, pre-Thanksgiving, I had the stereo pumping “Jingle Bells” as soon as Virginia had its first snowfall.My wife accused me of cheating because we live in the state of Washington.

I say that she never specified the location of the snow.

Anyway, with Christmas now only one week away, I began to wonder what writing wisdom might be gleaned from the music of the season. From the traditional “Away in a Manger” to Elvis’s “Blue Christmas,” here are five Christmas songs and the writing truths they reveal:

1)      “Away in a Manger”: I don’t care if you are reading this while at work in a busy office. Don’t be shy. Go ahead and belt out the opening lines of this Christmas classic. What do you have? Within the first four measures, you already know about the no-crib issue.

If you want to pull in the reader, start with a problem that needs overcome.

2103 Christmas-Rudolph

2)      “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”: There’s more to be learned from Rudolph than the proper hyphenation of phrasal adjectives*. In fact, the writing truth embedded in the song is as illuminating as Rudolph’s nose:

A single unique trait is often enough to create a memorable character.

3)      “Blue Christmas”: Elvis had snow. He’d finished decorating the Christmas tree. But none of that could pull him from the doldrums of a blue Christmas. He was missing his “Dear.”

Have your protagonist struggle with the loss of something or someone he cares about.

4)      “Christmas Don’t Be Late” as sung by Alvin and the Chipmunks: The squeaky voices of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore get really annoying, really fast. My tolerance of their singing definitely doesn’t extend to listening to the whole song. So . . . when you write, I don’t care if your character is a singing chipmunk or a granny who grew up deep in the mountains of Kentucky.

Don’t overdo dialectical speech in yer dialogue. It’ll get distractin’.

5)      “The Christmas Song” (a.k.a., “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”): Written on a hot summer day in 1944, “The Christmas Song” went from a few lines penciled in a notebook to a finished song in about 40 minutes. No, you probably won’t crank out a timeless masterpiece in under an hour. But . . .

You never know when the muse might strike.

Sometimes you just need to sit down, start writing, and see what happens.

Now, before you give your muse an opportunity to inspire, take a moment. Pick a Christmas carol. Pause and ponder. Then share with us some holiday-based writing wisdom of your own.

 2103 Christmas-Gift *Note: If you have no idea what a phrasal adjectives is, you may not know why you should never write about a “ten year old boy.” Thus, in the spirit of the season, I offer this ever-so-useful link as my grammatical gift to you: Grammarist: Phrasal adjectives.

 

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