The Secret to Writing a Good Story: Lessons Learned from "Great Expectations"
Last night, I watched on TV the latest adapatation of Dickens' masterpiece, Mike Newell's 2012 film of Great Expectations, and I was reminded of the basic ingredients for a writing a good story - nay, in this case a great story! If you haven't seen it, here's the international trailer:
The film, while very good - the actors are excellent, the settings atmospheric - was a relative success (see Rotten Tomatoes'rating here and The Guardian's review here), I suspect because the producers assumed too much knowledge of Dickens' book on the part of the audience. As a result, there were cluttered, hard-to-understand passages, with the resulting risk of losing the audience.
But back to Dickens and his great coming-of-age story of a humble orphan who's drawn upward in society by an anonymous benefactor and discovers that becoming a gentleman is not a key to happiness. Why is it such a good story? Simple:
It addresses universal human preoccupations: love, social mobility, happiness; It has many unexpected twists and turns that keep you wondering "what's next"; and for us who inhabit the 21st century, it has an exotic setting: Victorian England.Reality check: how does your book compare?
I just checked my current work, a book I first published many years ago (in 2007 and in Italian) and that I spent months revising, cutting over 100,000 words and adding a new 20,000 words - to the extent that now it is something totally different and new. I am speaking of Luna Rising that was released just now, at Christmas, the full saga as well as each volume separately:
Available on Amazon, click here for a 40% discount Luna Rising is a coming-of-age story told from the standpoint of a teenager who is born a "gifted child", made lonely by his extraordinary mental abilities. Check, point 1 (universal human preoccupation - the anguish of self-discovery).
It is also a family saga set in Sicily (check, point 3, an exotic setting) where Tony Luna goes searching for his family roots and encounters the ghosts of his ancestors in a place out of time, the Circle of Conversation. Among them, a beautiful woman is attracted to him...Check, point 2 (the twists and turns).
And good news, in a Holiday spirit, I am offering you, my dear reader, volume 1 of Luna Rising, called The Circle of Conversation, FREE on Smashwords: click here to get your free copy but if you prefer Amazon, you can get it for only 99 cents here .
FREE on Smashwords, 99 cents on AmazonPlease note that if you get Luna Rising, the Full Saga (volumes 1-3), you'll save over 40% on the whole series. Click
here
to get it.
I know, this looks like a shameful book promotion, but it's not. I'm not spamming you, I wanted to find out what you, my readers here, really think of my book, whether I manage to fulfill "expectations", the three points mentioned above. That's why I've made the first book free and I give away the whole series at a deep discount. Let me know what you think!
Happy reading and happy Holidays!
PS: Just to set the record straight, I don't pretend to be like Charles Dickens (chuckle)...Just that we can still learn from him, that's all!
The film, while very good - the actors are excellent, the settings atmospheric - was a relative success (see Rotten Tomatoes'rating here and The Guardian's review here), I suspect because the producers assumed too much knowledge of Dickens' book on the part of the audience. As a result, there were cluttered, hard-to-understand passages, with the resulting risk of losing the audience.
But back to Dickens and his great coming-of-age story of a humble orphan who's drawn upward in society by an anonymous benefactor and discovers that becoming a gentleman is not a key to happiness. Why is it such a good story? Simple:
It addresses universal human preoccupations: love, social mobility, happiness; It has many unexpected twists and turns that keep you wondering "what's next"; and for us who inhabit the 21st century, it has an exotic setting: Victorian England.Reality check: how does your book compare?
I just checked my current work, a book I first published many years ago (in 2007 and in Italian) and that I spent months revising, cutting over 100,000 words and adding a new 20,000 words - to the extent that now it is something totally different and new. I am speaking of Luna Rising that was released just now, at Christmas, the full saga as well as each volume separately:
Available on Amazon, click here for a 40% discount Luna Rising is a coming-of-age story told from the standpoint of a teenager who is born a "gifted child", made lonely by his extraordinary mental abilities. Check, point 1 (universal human preoccupation - the anguish of self-discovery). It is also a family saga set in Sicily (check, point 3, an exotic setting) where Tony Luna goes searching for his family roots and encounters the ghosts of his ancestors in a place out of time, the Circle of Conversation. Among them, a beautiful woman is attracted to him...Check, point 2 (the twists and turns).
And good news, in a Holiday spirit, I am offering you, my dear reader, volume 1 of Luna Rising, called The Circle of Conversation, FREE on Smashwords: click here to get your free copy but if you prefer Amazon, you can get it for only 99 cents here .
FREE on Smashwords, 99 cents on AmazonPlease note that if you get Luna Rising, the Full Saga (volumes 1-3), you'll save over 40% on the whole series. Click
here
to get it.I know, this looks like a shameful book promotion, but it's not. I'm not spamming you, I wanted to find out what you, my readers here, really think of my book, whether I manage to fulfill "expectations", the three points mentioned above. That's why I've made the first book free and I give away the whole series at a deep discount. Let me know what you think!
Happy reading and happy Holidays!
PS: Just to set the record straight, I don't pretend to be like Charles Dickens (chuckle)...Just that we can still learn from him, that's all!
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