Books on Film: Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair is considered a classic, but don't assume that means it's boring. It was originally written as a comedy, and it features one of the most famously conniving characters in literature. Many authors have been inspired by William Makepeace Thackeray's famous anti-heroine, Becky Sharp.

The Book

Written in 1848, Vanity Fair takes place in the first half of the 1800s. At the beginning, we find Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley, two friends who have attended Miss Pinkerton's Academy for Young Ladies together. They're leaving school to go to Amelia's house.

It's a bit of a strange friendship. Becky Sharp matches her name: she thinks quickly, and she's ambitious. Amelia, by contrast, is simple and sweet. Upon arriving at the Sedley home, Becky meets Captain George Osborne. He and Amelia have been engaged since they were children. Joseph, Amelia's brother, is also here.

Becky attempts to woo the brother, but it all falls apart. Some of it is due to the meddling of Osborne, who warns him away, and the fact that Sedley's as sweet and simple as his sister -- he can't even tell when a pretty girl is flirting with him.

With no marriage proposals in the offing, Becky has to find some means of employment. She begins to work for Sit Pitt Crawley as a governess to his children. Becky endears herself to the grumpy old man, and he proposes to her after his wife dies.

It's too late. Becky's been hard at work behind the scenes of the Crawley home, and she's already secretly married to Crawley's handsome second son Rawdon. He's the favored relative of a very rich aunt, Sir Pitt's sister. But instead of being happy about the marriage, as Becky had hoped, the old woman is infuriated. She disinherits Rawdon. 

Meanwhile, Amelia's life hasn't worked out as planned. The Sedleys have fallen on financial hard times, and their ties with the Osborune family are strained. Amelia's engagement to George is broken by the Osborne family. George, however, is goaded into marrying her anyway by his friend Dobbin, who believes in honor. George is disinherited as a result.

And in the background, the Napoleonic Wars are beginning. Osborne and Dobbin are sent to Brussels. On their way to deployment, the pair run into Becky and Rawdon. George makes advances toward Becky, who flirts back. George slips her a note telling her to run away with him.

He goes to Waterloo the next day. Becky tries to spend time with Amelia, but she's angry because George is attracted to her friend. George dies in the famous battle, shortly before Amelia gives birth to their son. She names him George and goes to live with her parents. Dobbin spends his days trying to woo her in very gentle ways, but it's wasted. Amelia is in love with the memory of the man that George never was. Years go by in this fashion, and the rift between her and Becky extends. Dobby eventually leaves and goes to India to get the memory of Amelia out of his head. 

Becky has had a son as well, but she's a very different mother than loving Amelia. She goes to Paris, and London, on her continuing quest to become well-settled and rich. She does this by flirting with various men, climbing them up the social ladder, until she is introduced around London society by the Marquis of Steyne. Becky is even presented to the Prince Regent.

Becky and Rawdon look respectable on the surface, but it's a sham. They're con artists who gamble and cheat to earn money, while Becky collects trinkets from various men and pawns them for extra scratch. She loves credit, especially when she can use it in other people's names. Rawdon is arrested for their debts and bailed out by his sister Lady Jane.

It's rather unfortunate, because Becky didn't expect him back. She's carrying on in a most scandalous manner with the Marquis, only to be caught by Rawdon at a most inopportune moment. He leaves her, of course. After Rawdon challenges the Marquis to a duel, Steyne tells Becky to get out of the UK altogether. She does, but it doesn't matter. Steyne follows her across Europe, destroying her reputation wherever she goes.

After 12 years away, Dobbin finally returns to England. He goes to Amelia and confesses his love, plainly this time, but she turns him down. She's still in love with George, even after all this time. Dobbin takes her and her son George on a trip to Germany along with Joseph Sedley, where they run into Becky Sharp again.

She's destitute, but still charming. She's even capable of enchanting Joseph Sedley despite the fact that she's a hard-core boozer who's lost her singing voice and much of her pretty looks.

At this point, Becky finally does something good. Feeling sorry for Amelia and plainly seeing Dobbin's torment, she shows Amelia the note George gave her all those years ago. Amelia realizes she's been mourning a man who never really existed, and she contacts Dobbin. 

Becky marries Joseph Sedley. After naming her his inheritor, he dies under very suspicious circumstances and at last Becky has what she wanted. Due to the quirks of Fate, Becky's son ends up inheriting the Crawley titles and fortune.

It's a story filled with ups and downs, rich characters and a plot that zigzags throughout Europe. It's a natural choice for any filmmaker. This is evident by the amount of filmmakers who have adapted it.

The Films

Vanity Fair was four different silent films, made in 1911, again in 1915, in 1922 and yet again in 1923. Once talking pictures were invented, everything that was done had to be done again. The first sound version of Vanity Fair was made in 1932 with Myrna Loy, a huge star in her day. This, however, is one of her very early films.

The story was adapted again in 1935, re-titled Becky Sharp this time. Miriam Hopkins was chosen for the title role. This was the very fist feature film shot in full-spectrum Technicolor, so it's very lavish. Her performance was nominated for an Oscar.

Then, Hollywood forgot all about it for awhile. They remembered the story in 2004 and decided to make the movie again. This time, Reese Witherspoon is Becky Sharp. A century has apparently softened Becky; in this version, she's not so much anti-hero as she is victim. 

She also doesn't attend school with Amelia in this version. After leaving school, rather dramatically, Becky rides in a carriage alone to her friend's home. She still meets Joseph and George, along with Dobbin. Becky does go on to be a governess and secretly marries Rawdon, and the pre-Waterloo outing does occur.

But this time around, Becky stays in Brussels to take care of Amelia. The big fight between them does not occur, and their friendship remains intact. Becky looks like a kind and caring friend in this version, lying to Amelia about George's fidelity, in a huge deviation from the Becky of the book. Rawdon is again thrown in debtor's prison, and again catches his wife in the arms of another man.

Becky is indeed in Germany 12 years later, but her circumstances are much improved in this version. For one, she's still beautiful and she has a steady enough job. It's the young George Osborne who finds her in this version of the story. Becky tells Amelia the truth about George, and Amelia goes running to Dobbin once more.

Joseph Sedley marries Becky, and they go off to India together to live happily. In an alternate ending, Becky returns to the Crawley home to find out that her son (Robert Pattinson) has inherited. He shuns her at first, then takes her hand. Pattinson once said that it was Reese Witherspoon who had him cut from the film.

What Got Adapted?

The 2004 version of the story is a sight to behold. No expense was spared in costuming and set design, and Witherspoon looks fabulous throughout. But the watered-down and victimized version of Becky Sharp isn't true to the original spirit of the novel, which shows Becky as a cunning little climber who's practically sociopathic in her selfishness.

The friendship between the two women is also strengthened, with Becky being a much better friend in this adapted version. They never quarrel, and it seems to fit with Becky's character when she reveals the truth about George. In the book, it's actually the one good thing Becky does with her self-centered life, a single shining moment of redemption.

Steyne is painted as a villain, manipulating Becky so that he can prey upon her. In the book, Becky is the one pulling the strings and at the very least, a very willing participant.

Then of course, there's the ending. In 2004, Becky Sharp rides of with Sedley. She's freed Amelia from grief, she's made young George happy and she's still lovely. In the book, Becky uses and kills her new husband. She's an anti-hero and a bad girl, but not in the film version. 

But of course, it is Reese Witherspoon. So I encourage you to watch the film and read the book, and meet both versions of the infamous Becky Sharp.

Writing 101: Spacing Out

I once forgot to eat for 12 hours. Sometimes, people will have entire conversations with me. After I give them a series of monosyllabic answers, I inevitably look up and ask "wait...what did you just say?" I'm not crazy, I'm spacing out. And if you're going to write successfully, you're going to need to learn how to do it, too.

Alone in My Head

The world is never going to shut up for you. It doesn't matter if you crawl into a bunker and lock the door, the world is still going to find you. It's going to intrude no matter how carefully you plan your day and no matter how many rules you make for your household. Closing the door may be symbolic to you, but life is always going to intervene. 

You have to master the art of spacing out. You have to be capable of sitting in the middle of Grand Central Station with a smartphone and write your novel, if that's what it takes. Because sometimes, that is what it's going to take. Sometimes, you're going to have to write while the kids are screaming, phones are ringing, the TV is going and someone's in the background asking a bunch of inane questions about the contents of the refrigerator. Life is like that. The writer has to learn how to leave this very busy, noisy world...and step into the one they're creating on the page.

You have to learn the technique of spacing out.

Turning Off the World

Spacing out isn't easy. You have to focus on the story in front of you and only that. There are going to be a lot of distractions in your ear, but you've got to focus on what's on the page. It is a skill that can be learned; it just takes concentration. Practice it by turning on some music or the television when you're writing. Start out at a low volume, and try to write. Focus on the words and tune out the noise until it's just that: dull noise in the background that doesn't mean anything. As you feel more comfortable, meaning more focused, increase the volume.

Keep practicing until you're able to shut out the world and live solely on the page. It's not going to work 100 percent of the time; there will be moments when a jarring noise or a loud shout will break your focus. But once you know how to let the noise fade into the background, you'll be able to work well anywhere. 

However, I would caution you to set reminders so you don't forget to eat.

Writing 101: Personal Presentation

 If you're serious about being an author, you carefully comb your books for mistakes before you publish them. You agonize over word choices, think deeply about plots and get incredibly picky when it comes time to design and choose a cover design. You pay attention to all the little details when you're presenting your book. But don't think for even one moment that you can slack off in the way you present yourself. In fact, it's something you've got to think about constantly.

Being a Brand

Once you label yourself as an author and start presenting yourself on the Internet through a blog, social media profiles, forums or any other venue, you're no longer a person. Now, you're a brand. You've got to start acting like it. 

Awhile back, I did a post reminding you that you're always an author, even when you're kicking back for some Twitter time. Whenever you're using your author name in any public way, whether on a forum post or even in an email to another author, you need to be thinking about how you're presenting yourself. 

Presentation is Everything

Specifically, I'm talking about all the typos. The grammatical errors, and the lazy punctuation. If you can't send me an error-free query letter, why would I review you books? If I'm reading your post in the forum asking me to buy your book and you're totally ignoring all rules of period usage, I'm going to have a knee-jerk Grammar Warden response. I know it to be true, because I've heard myself say out loud, on more than one occasion, "if you can't capitalize your Is, I can't read your book." 

And I'm really not all that choosy about what I read. I read books across all genres of all lengths based on all sorts of plots, so I'm pretty open-minded. But your average reader? They need a lot more wooing than I do, and they may write you off even more quickly than I.

Everything you put out there is ultimately associated with your books and your writing in general. So if all I see from you is sloppy Facebook updates and forum posts that ignore everything about capitalization and commas, what do I think about your books? That's right: I'm going to think they're sloppily-written, too. It might not be true. It probably isn't true. 

The thing is, I'm not even going to try to find out. That's why you have to think about personal presentation, because I'm certainly not the only reader who feels this way. You are being judged, unpleasant as that may be. So present yourself well, and you will end up selling more books.

Writing 101: If It Makes You Happy...

Have you ever killed a character? Did you cry and sob at your keyboard while writing the scene? Have you ever written a break-up? Did you feel anger and pain and jealousy when the lost love interest turned up with a new love interest of their own? If you're not feeling all these things while you're writing, then I'm not feeling what you're writing. You feel me? 

How Does That Make You Feel?

The best books are the ones that make us laugh and cry. The books that make you feel something are the ones that stick with you. They become special memories, personal stories. I'll never forget the emotional wreck I became while reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (don't judge me). There's a line toward the end of the book, where Professor McGonagall takes control of Hogwarts and tells the students they can stay and fight if they want to. 

I burst into tears. In the middle of a silent room, there's me sobbing. I started to cry so hard, I had to close the book for a few minutes just to gather myself. I loved that book so much, I'm not even embarrassed to share that story. That's a good book. And I guarantee you, J. K. Rowling started to cry and slobber at some point while she was writing the first draft of that book -- stiff British upper lip notwithstanding. 

Because, while I don't know the woman personally, I'm pretty sure she knows the secret of writing great emotional scenes. And here's what it is: you have to feel what the characters feel. 

If you're a writer, it's necessary to go a little crazy sometimes. While you're writing, when you're in that special space, you have to become your characters. You're no longer Self Pubbed, hard-working indie author. You're now your main character, living in that world and breathing that air and going through everything the main character is experiencing. 

And if you don't cry when something happens, or laugh at a scene that's meant to be amusing, you have to rewrite it. Get deeper into the character, try it again and see what happens. When your emotions are engaged, your writing is going to be a lot more realistic. That's the kind of stuff that's going to make me burst into tears at odd intervals in the middle of a silent room. And that's the kind of stuff you want.

Writing 101: Motive

People have a pretty high tolerance for fiction. It's okay to write about a psychotic killer who carves people up. Many fine stories have been based on this gruesome plot device. But it's not okay to fail to provide a motive for those killings. And the thing is, psychotic killers aren't the only characters who need a motive. All of them do. 

Why? 

If you follow me on Twitter, you may know that I spend a good portion of my day watching Investigation Discovery. I can get away with it by telling people it's research -- I write mystery novels. But when I'm by myself and an interesting case is unfolding, I might find myself doing some good-natured (not crazy) yelling at the television screen. Usually, I'm shouting just one word: why?

To me, that's the most important question in every story. Why is the main character in love with this guy? Why is that villain being so mean? Why is this all happening? It's easy to get caught up in writing vivid action scenes, steamy romance scenes and exciting dialogue...and forget all about including a motive. 

Something is driving these characters, and readers want to know what it is. There are lots of different ways to expose motive. Maybe you do it right at the front with an exciting scene. A character who nearly drowns, for example, might spend the rest of the book being terrified of water. The beginning scene that shows that near-drowning explains this fear nicely. Just imagine how the book would read without it. Some writers might wait, and reveal the past drowning more toward the middle of the book. 

It doesn't matter how you do it, only that you do. Every character has a motive, and you've got to know what it is so that I, the reader, can know what it is, too. Whether you choose to spell it out plainly or reveal it through a series of scenes, you've got to show the motive behind the characters.

Otherwise, I'm going to end up sitting on my couch, Kindle in hand, screaming why at your book. And I promise that, when my neighbors ask, I'll blame the whole thing on you.

Writing a First Draft

I stopped by a friend's blog recently to share my thoughts on writing a first draft. Go read it to find out what to do before you start writing!

Insomnia...Sort Of

It's not so much that I have insomnia. It's more about the fact that I can't find the time to sleep, but paradoxically I can find time to play Scrabble. This brings me to the recent revelation I experienced, one night around three in the morning: I'm really terrible at Scrabble. 

It bothers me to the point of distraction...and that brings us full circle to my sort-of insomnia. 

She Was a Scrabble Queen...

So I got this email inviting me to download a Scrabble app. I have a pretty high-grade app addiction, so I couldn't click the link fast enough to start the download. And besides, Scrabble? Of course I'll play Scrabble with you. I'm a writer. I rule at Scrabble. If being a professional wordsmith is good for anything, it ought to darn well be playing Scrabble.

It was with this very superior attitude that I loaded up the app and confidently entered into a game with the person who invited me. And because I am so superior, I wasn't even about to stop there. Why should I battle just one challenger, when words are my stock and trade? One opponent? Ha! You better bring more than a couple of guys to take me down.

So I went ahead and started up 5 different games. Yeah, that's right: my confidence was sky-high. Not only am I a marvel of app-juggling, I'm a pretty intense gamer when I have the time to focus on it. And I know words. So bring it on!

You can imagine what happened next. I began to lose. By a lot. I pit myself against multiple challengers, and I'm more than a little humiliated to admit to you today that I have won a single Scrabble game on my new app to date. Yes, just one game.

It bears mentioning that I downloaded it a week ago.Not only did I lose to the person who invited me to the game, I've lost to multiple random app-users who I like to pretend are J.K. Rowling, James Patterson and another half-dozen authors I admire...but it's much more like they are all in the seventh grade.

So naturally I have been making myself crazy playing Scrabble. Some of my games last for days, and turns may take up to 14 hours before I make a move. No, it's not because I'm studying the board for that long. I've had to set limits on myself, so now I only check the games when I'm caught up on my Tweets, my mail, my forums and the other stuff on my list. It might take 14 hours before I manage all of that in any given day, so that's why.

Of course, it doesn't help that when I do go to make a move, I check every single word in the dictionary and spend plenty of time mumbling to myself in frustration and dismay. The swearing takes up an excessive amount of time. It's unfortunate they can't be used as viable Scrabble words. Then I would rule at the game.

It's been a bit of a bizarre week, I'll admit. I had the mistaken idea that taking random Scrabble breaks throughout my day would prove to be a fun experience, a stress-relieving enterprise. Because I might work for 14 hours without taking a deep breath, this seemed like a perfectly reasonable course of action to pursue. Little did I know I would end up in a confidence-shattering competition with word masters who have gone into the hills of the Himalayas to study the most obscure words ever invented in language...or a pack of schoolchildren with stunningly vast vocabularies. I can't decide.

To put it a bit more simply, the Scrabble didn't help me relax, have fun or relieve any stress. It helped me miss more sleep, as I found myself lying in bed at the end of the day trying to find out if "qi" is an acceptable word (it is). If anything it's compounded my stress, as I have now fallen behind in my newly re-affirmed reviewing schedule. The tale I'm embroiled in now is a very intriguing blend of fantasy and mystery. I'll write a full review if I can stop staring at the Scrabble board long enough to finish it, and I'm making no promises. I'll out-word Bobstar if it's the last thing I ever do. 

Because I'm a writer, darn it...and doesn't that mean I ought to be amazing at Scrabble? I'm going to go sleep on that question as 10-point letters dance by in my nightmares tauntingly. I leave you with this piece of advice: if you decide to play Scrabble online, hope that you'll end up playing against me.

Writing 101: Writing Logistics

If you think it takes a lot of time trying to write a novel, try putting one together after it's been torn into fifteen to thirty different pieces. There's a lot more to being an author than turning out purple prose until your fingers bleed. You also need to pay attention to your writing logistics with every chapter and every book. Otherwise, you're going to get sucked into an undertow of time-wasting document-opening. I know, because for a long time I lived there.

Let's Talk About Documents

The few novels (and believe me, I'm using the term loosely here) that I ever wrote I completely screwed up. I gave each chapter a title, and wrote each one in a separate document. Naturally, I named those documents after the title of the chapter -- not by their numerical value. I'm sure you can imagine what sort of a nightmare this became any time I needed to access an element in the story, like if I wanted to re-read it in its actual order. I'm opening up documents, and getting frustrated....and wasting a ton of time I could've spent writing instead. 

Don't let this happen to you. I had to learn writing logistics the hard way, but now that I have I've got a system that works. Use mine, or come up with your own, but make sure you get it worked out before you write. Then, you won't end up plowing through bizarrely-named documents at the center of a disorganized mess.

First, make a folder for each book -- I'm talking about a separate folder for each. The folder should be the name of the book, or a stand-in name if you haven't titled the work yet. I'll use the main character's name, or a certain word I've associated with the book, as a stand-in. If it's a series, make a folder for the entire series and put each associated book folder inside.

Write the entire manuscript in a single document. I like to name mine manuscript, that keeps things simple, but it makes more sense to name it after the title of the book. Always save a second copy of the manuscript elsewhere on your hard drive, and back it up on a flash drive as well. 

Store all your resource materials for the book in the same folder. This might include your cast list, an outline, maps, notes, timelines, the blurb, whatever you've got. Give each one of these documents obvious names (like outline, map, notes, and so on) to make them easy to access. Back up a copy of the entire folder every time you make changes, so you don't run the risk of losing your work.

Find a simple, straightforward system for keeping your books stored on your hard drive. Writing logistics are pretty boring, but you need them to build a strong foundation for your craft...and to keep yourself from wasting a bunch of time you don't really have.