Today I am taking a special break from my usual "Writing Wednesday" post because my little nephew is turning 3 today.
This little boy means the world to me (as do my niece and other nephews) I am so happy to be sharing his birthday celebration with you my lovely readers.
Being Aunt Blaire is one of my favorite roles and even though I am far away from them they are always close to my heart.
Back in the winter when Boston was buried under 9 feet of snow I put the movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks on hold at my library and I finally got it! I am going to blame all the snow for it taking so long to get to me (even though it is now August).
Anyway, I can't tell you why back in February I had an inkling to watch it, but it was quite fun. I grew up watching Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music but for some reason I don't remember this film being in my families repetition and I don't know why not after all it has magic, cartoon animals that talk and Nazis (a perfect combination).
It truly is a nonsensical story (and how many times can you say that about a movies with Nazis in it). It takes place in a little village in the country side of England. Three kids (Charlie, Carrie and Paul) are sent off to this country side to protect themselves from the bombings in London to stay with Miss Price (Angela Lansbury) who is witch in training. She is hoping to use her witch powers for the War cause.
Well though she is a witch in training she needs to finish her lessons when the school is closed due the war. That is when we meet Professor Brown (you might recognize as Mr. Banks from Mary Poppins) who is actually a fake. Then they are sent on a quest to get the last of the spell on an island that is run by animals who speak, this is where the cartoon aspect come in.
After this moment, the Nazis land on the shore of the village and take residence in Miss Price's house. Now it is up to Miss Price and the children to save the day. Which they do...
As I am in the generation who thinks of Angela Lansbury as being from Murder She Wrote it was fun to see her in another role. Also fun to see her lead military armor into battle. For anyone who criticizes Disney for not writing strong female characters they should look to her.
Overall, it was simply cute. My one criticism is that there might be too many musical numbers that don't help the plot line, but I think that was typical for musicals back then. So if you are looking for a film to pass the time and not to be take too seriously I recommend it. And after waiting months for the DVD from the library I am glad I finally got to watch it.
I have spoken out about my dislike for Jane Eyre before, post: Jane Eyre... what the? I read the book right out of high school mostly because everyone assumed if I liked Jane Austen I would like Jane Eyre... even though they are completely different. Then being convinced by my friend who loves Jane Eyre to give it another try I watched the Jane Eyre movie (2011). But I still didn't get it. So when I saw the YouTube web series "The Autobiography of Jane Eyre" I watched a few episodes and then thought... nope not for me.
But for some reason (not sure why) I started re-watching it and I got hooked.
Actually I remember now why... I spend way too much time watching fan made videos, but I found the video below, and from the few episodes of "The Autobiography of Jane Eyre" I had seen I recognized the actress. I will admit I was intrigued with why with all the stories to chose from why did this video maker decide to include this version of Jane Eyre in their montage. Maybe I missed something?
So in a bored moment, and in a moment of feeling blue and wanting a distraction I decided to give "The Autobiography of Jane Eyre" a second chance (link to YouTube page) and I am glad I did. As I said I read the book almost 10 years ago so I don't remember much of the plot so I am not sure how exact the web series is to the plot... but personally I am okay with some updates if it helps tell the story. I commend people who take classic works of literature and revamp them in this new way to make them accessible for the modern day audience and if the main point of the story remains in tact then I am fine with some modernization.
My biggest problem with Jane Eyre is that she always seemed perfect, and I didn't like a heroine that had no flaws. I think in watching this web series, I saw her flaws more clearly. She had such bad childhood that she was afraid to pursue things that made her happy worried that they would abandon her (if it was a person) or worried others would mock her for it (if it was a hobby). She didn't speak up for herself because she wasn't ever allowed to as a child so she spends a lot of time in her own head. And actually I can understand all those things.
Over all- I liked it and would recommend it to anyone who has been enjoying these web series updated stories like "The Lizzie Bennet Diaries" or "Emma Approved" or "Classic Alice". Also I would recommend if you want to get lost in a good story. There were some parts that still annoyed me but they were small enough I can overlook them and still consider this a good adaption of the book.
The one thing I really did like is that in episode 20 she talks about her faith and I was happy to read in the comments of the video that this is true to the book. I am glad she didn't make it a big political discussion (because faith is not a political discussion) she just talked about forgiveness, loving others and loving yourself.
Thanks to these videos I might be willing to give Jane Eyre another chance once... I mean its been almost 10 years surely it is time to give second chances.
If you are a real Jane Eyre fan and you want to read more read the post "Entertain: The Autobiography of Jane Eyre" the author of that post is much more of a Jane-ite than I am.
It is Wednesday and that means it is Writing Wednesday... I probably like this time the most because I can share what I working on creatively. In a previous post Writing #Littleloves I shared that I was feeling stuck in my writing. Well I struggled for awhile of what to do, what my story was really about, and why I was writing it? I know many writers struggle with writers block and I see a lot of pins on Pinterest about how to conquer writers block and I am not saying my advice is right but here are some things I did and it helped...
Read a great novel...
I cannot stop recommending The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley. I loved that it was about a writer trying to write a historical fiction. Also I liked how she talked about her process, one thing she did was tape down facts about the era she was writing about on her desk so she could look at them easily. I have notes that have kept about my characters but they are scattered about. So I took out my notes and taped them down.
Rethinking some things down
I am all about following inspiration and letting the characters telling me where the story is going. While that is great in some ways I felt I lost my point of my of my story. I want my story to be a romantic story of hoping in spite of obstacles. I want my story to be about Mattie and Kelby being separated by class, family obligation and war. World War I to be exact and yet I was nearly 100 pages into the writing and these things had not come up. So I decided I needed to rework my writing... but how?
Skip Ahead
Most of my work in progress is building up to WWI but this is where I was getting stuck because I didn't know how to take my characters from the life they were living and throwing them into War... So I took a step back from my current plot and wrote a scene in the middle of the war. You can part of that scene here... "Author Happiness". Skipping ahead really helped me feel inspired to get back into my story.
Do some research...It can be fun
Okay I will admit I was a history major and yeah I went for Masters in Library Science so I enjoy research...but it can be fun. For example: I found this documentary "Diaries of the Great War" on Netflix and for me I watch the documentaries 8 episodes and take notes of things I want to mention in my story. Also I have a board on Pinterest called "The War to end all Wars" and follow other boards about World War I. So even though you may not be writing a WWI novel I am sure you can find areas of research that are fun.
Listen to Inspiring Music
When I am writing, I like to have music going. Sometimes I just find a song that speak to me.I am not going to make suggestions on what songs to listen to as I know music taste really vary. Here is one song I have just discovered and feel it well with my story...
If you are not on a deadline (which I am not except my own thinking) it is okay to walk away from your writing. I have really gotten into Poldark on PBS. It is about Ross Poldark who is believed to be dead after fighting for the British in the American Revolution. He comes home to find the woman he loved to be engaged to his cousin, his inheritance in practical ruins, and he has to make a new life for himself. It is great! Plus you get to see Adrian Turner without a shirt...
While it has nothing to do with WWI, I don't care! It is my distraction.
Okay back to serious writing..
Outline/ Timeline
As I said above I usually about following inspiration and my one weakness is making an outline. When I skipped ahead and wrote that scene I decided that I wanted to weave it into my story as a flash forward.... but then I thought "now what" I have this one random flash forward. What do I do with this. So I was going to have more flash forwards about the war, this would help me pull the war more into my story. So I sat down and actually outlined my work in progress and it feels good to have a direction.
Typed it up/Write it down
I know this takes a long time but I am the kind of writer that has to write down my story and then type it. Only on a few occasions have I been able to look at a blank screen and just type up my story. It really helped me to type up some parts, re-working my descriptions, adding some detailing and even taking out some unneeded dialogue.
If you are the type of writer who can type up a story and are feeling stuck I suggest maybe stepping away from the computer and hand writing some things out.
I know this will not be hard for writers as writing is basically dreams you put on paper. While right now I remain unpublished I think of the day my story will be published and I love thinking about the cover of my story. So I have spent some time while stuck searching Pinterest to get some inspiring art to be the cover of my story. I know right now I do not own this picture and I know that my publisher will have their ideas on what to make the cover look like but right now I am just enjoying the idea of a possible cover.
Enjoy!
When I first started my thesis, for my graduate program, my advisor said choose something you are going to enjoy even when its tough. "Choose your own hell." Enjoy your work, enjoy your research, enjoy your time you spend writing. I know for me writing is sometimes the only thing that make sense to me. I enjoy getting lost in my characters, and lost in my story. If you don't enjoy it maybe it is time to set it aside and work on something you do enjoy, work on something you find passion in.
I know I am not a published author so you can take my words with a grain of salt but these are things I have found useful.
