I Love The Terminator, But Not the Tagline.

Save the Cat (a fantastic book on screenwriting by Blake Snyder) asks the question - "What is the screenplay/movie about? Can you describe it to a studio executive in one line?" (I'll post about this book next week). I started thinking about which movies sang to me. What sparkled? Which movies can I watch again and again, which books do I read over and over?

I love The Terminator by James Cameron. When the movie was released in 1984 I had no plans to watch, nope – not for me. But the somewhat-significant-other rented the video, he wanted to watch it. So we did and I loved it! If the somewhat-significant-other hadn't been interested in gunfire, I may never have seen the movie.

Why? I searched movie databases. I discovered I wasn't the target audience. The producers and distributors promoted an action movie with the tagline(s), “In the Year of Darkness, 2029, the rulers of this planet devised the ultimate plan. They would reshape the Future by changing the Past. The plan required something that felt no pity. No pain. No fear. Something unstoppable. They created 'THE TERMINATOR'” The movie trailer introduces the movie with the phrase, “In the future a weapon….it feels no pain, no remorse.”

So, was it an action movie? Yes. Time Travel – definitely, and I love the paradox of time travel. Did it carry a warning about war and nuclear holocaust? Yes. Was the description of the movie accurate? Pretty much even though I could have tightened it to read - "Machines rule the planet. They have one goal, exterminate the human race. They have the technology. Can mankind survive?"

But I still think this movie was about something else, something enduring - love. The Terminator is a love story, first and foremost. The release was a success, surprising everyone. If the tagline for the movie had been different, would it have garnered as large an audience? A smaller one? Would it have languished on a dusty shelf in a video store? And did the men watching this movie realize they were in thrall of a romance?

All of the above brings me to the following questions:

1) What is the movie, story about? What one line plot description would you have used?

2) What if The Terminator had been marketed differently? How would you describe the movie? Should we look at the way we package the romance genre and would that increase the reader base to include more men? Our books are often filled with action, time travel and mystery.

3) What made this movie sparkle? Did the movie sparkle for you?

For me the sparkle was the timeless, undying love of Kyle for Sarah. The scene that sticks in my mind is when Kyle tells Sarah, “I came through time for you, Sarah. I love you. I always have.” The film's love scene wasn't graphic (the violence was, the sex wasn't) but this scene was powerful. A brillant flash of sparkle came in the close-up of the clenching of their hands.

Please, tell me what you think? I'm eager for discussion and I can't wait to read your one line plot descriptions.

Revisions

My day to sparkle blog. :) I've been thinking about it all day, wondering what subject to take on. I've been deep in revisions for a while now. Determined to whip my three most marketable manuscripts into shape. I've reworked #1, a 60k romcom. It's circulating. I'm hitting #2, which is an unweildy beast of 100k. Making notes for #3.

Then it hit me. REVISIONS!! Duh. (Talk about writing what you know . . .)

I love it that Romance Writers of America offers a PRO status to every writer who's finished their first book and submitted it to an agent or editor. That's great. Really. But the magic doesn't happen until the revisions. Some manuscripts need more than others, as I'm finding out.

#2 has gone through a series of revisions. And I've asked myself: How many? The answer is: As many as it takes.

I'm past the "typo" and "bad grammar/sentence structure" phase. I've moved on to bigger issues like: does this plot thread serve the greater story question? Is this character's action fully motivated? Is this dialogue strong enough to be "tagless"? Do the plot lines intersect at the right place? Have I chosen the right word to convey tone? Have I made this book stand out? Does it have "sparkle"?

Tough questions, I know. But if I don't have the answer who does?

Each time I think the ms is clean and ready to hit the door, I print it out to take a continuity read. If I can revise on the page then I know I have to sit back down and do some work.

On the converse, I am so relieved and overjoyed when I can get through entire chunks of pages/chapters without changing or modifying a single word.

This is the real "writers life". If it doesn't sound appealing then don't jump in. On the other hand, if you're like me, revel in the puzzlemania of the story and the process as a whole, this is the career for you!

The best way I know how to take on revisions is one sentence at a time. Sorry, that's the answer(for now). If you have a better method, please shoot me an email. (please!).

Remember, writing that first draft is its own reward. But the magic happens in the revisions. :)

Happy Writing(and Revising)


Sherry