Movies and Writing

I love movies. Have loved them since I was a kid. Along with books, of course. And, when I write, although the books I've read have been a big influence, movies have proven just as big an influence.

I think writers can learn a lot from movies. In a movie, unless you have voice-over, everything about a character has to be revealed through action and dialogue.

And the way movies are paced, the fast cut, which, actually, is a technique that wasn't used much before the 60s. In movies prior to the 60s you might show a character saying he's going to the office.

You'd see him walk out the door, get into his car, drive through the streets, arrive at the office, get on the elevator, greet the receptionist and go to his office. Now, it's a fast cut from his home to him sitting in his office. Unless, of course, something happened to him on the way to work.

The fast cut can be a valuable technique for fiction writers. I've read some stories where I was pratically yawning because the writer felt he/she had to detail every single thing the character did.

No, you don't have to do that. Unless, of course, it has some significance. I mean, you can do it. You can do anything you want. But you risk boring the reader. Elmore Leonard has a famous quote. He says that when he edits he cuts out all the stuff the reader will skip.

Film editors do the same thing. They cut out the stuff that might cause the audience to start shifting in their seats or rattling their buckets of popcorn out of boredom.

As for my writing I'm doing good. The 1000 Words a Day group is also doing great. Everyone is writing and making progress on their projects. I'm done with the draft of a short-short, am ready to start drafting my 30,000 word novella and have finished the character sketch for my heroine/sleuth for my NaNo novel.

Until my next post.