How many times have you watched a movie/TV show and thought I’d like to read the book it was based on?
I’ll admit it doesn’t happen to me very often. Usually one or the other falls short of my expectations. But after watching Coming Home, I decided to take a chance on the book by Rosamund Pilcher.
It took me 2 days to reach the last page, which for me is a very long time.
As it was a Masterpiece Theatre production, I really wasn’t surprised at how closely the movie followed the book. But I was intrigued by what the TV adaption kept, condensed or changed. Some of the changes were necessary for the length of story and to minimize the number of characters and POV switches that were in the book.
Those are easy to understand.
But the resolutions for Edward and Loveday on the screen were somewhat unsatisfying and it wasn’t until I read the book that I thought now this makes sense. (Sorry, I don’t want to get into too much detail and spoil either for someone else.)
So then I got to thinking about my own writing.
If I were going to make my current WIP into a movie which scenes would give the most impact and which would exemplify the characters and their growth arc.
And how often could I make a scene do both?
Maybe that’s what makes a page turner.