Diane Hester's Blog
May 10, 2020
Writing With Passion On Any Topic - the story you were meant to tell or the one that will sell.
Recently I watched the movie ‘Their Finest Hour’ about an English film company tasked with producing an uplifting patriotic film about their country’s involvement in World War Two. The part I found most interesting as a novelist was how the three screenwriters went about creating a plot for their film.
For years, in choosing the plots for my novels, I’ve obsessed about finding just the right one, the story I was ‘meant to tell’. I used my own feelings regarding a premise to guide me in deciding whether to develop it further. I thought the more passionate I felt about an idea, the better the story would turn out.
To an extent that’s true and I still believe it. However after watching Their Finest Hour and seeing how those screenwriters went about creating a story, I’m starting to expand my thinking on this.
These three writers were simply presented a topic by their producer and told to go off and come up with a plot. They were given three elements they had to include: the story had to feature two English sisters, it had to have an uplifting ending, and somewhere in the middle somebody had to save a dog.
That’s it. That’s all the writers were given. Nobody asked them if this was a topic they felt passionately about. Nobody cared if this was a story they ‘had to tell’. And yet they managed to put together a film that made audiences laugh and cry and cheer.
So I realize now that creating a great story needn’t only be about what an author personally loves. I’m thinking that, as a professional writer, I should be able to create a moving story from any marketable high concept premise whether it’s my particular passion or not. In the same way, as a professional violinist, I could play the music of composers I didn’t particularly like (even Strauss!) as musically as I did my favorites. I brought the same training and knowledge of my art to play all music equally well.
The trick I think is to make from that marketable idea something you do feel passionate about. The passion isn’t in the idea itself but in what you bring to it, your own personal take on the subject.
I'd love to hear other's takes on this.
For years, in choosing the plots for my novels, I’ve obsessed about finding just the right one, the story I was ‘meant to tell’. I used my own feelings regarding a premise to guide me in deciding whether to develop it further. I thought the more passionate I felt about an idea, the better the story would turn out.
To an extent that’s true and I still believe it. However after watching Their Finest Hour and seeing how those screenwriters went about creating a story, I’m starting to expand my thinking on this.
These three writers were simply presented a topic by their producer and told to go off and come up with a plot. They were given three elements they had to include: the story had to feature two English sisters, it had to have an uplifting ending, and somewhere in the middle somebody had to save a dog.
That’s it. That’s all the writers were given. Nobody asked them if this was a topic they felt passionately about. Nobody cared if this was a story they ‘had to tell’. And yet they managed to put together a film that made audiences laugh and cry and cheer.
So I realize now that creating a great story needn’t only be about what an author personally loves. I’m thinking that, as a professional writer, I should be able to create a moving story from any marketable high concept premise whether it’s my particular passion or not. In the same way, as a professional violinist, I could play the music of composers I didn’t particularly like (even Strauss!) as musically as I did my favorites. I brought the same training and knowledge of my art to play all music equally well.
The trick I think is to make from that marketable idea something you do feel passionate about. The passion isn’t in the idea itself but in what you bring to it, your own personal take on the subject.
I'd love to hear other's takes on this.
March 1, 2017
Pre-release Giveaway - HIT AND RUN
) Just an early heads-up: A pre-release giveaway of my latest thriller, HIT AND RUN, will commence on March 6th and finish on the 20th. I'll be giving away 20 copies for early review. (U.S. and Canada only.)
"A cinematic, stay-up-all-night thriller." HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN - Anthony, Agatha and Mary Higgins Clark award winning author.
July 16, 2016
Run To Me Giveaway
To celebrate the November release of my second thriller, HIT AND RUN, I'm giving away 4 signed copies of RUN TO ME, finalist in the 2014 Daphne du Maurier Awards.
July 10, 2016
Cover Reveal
With my second thriller, Hit and Run, now in the pipeline (to be released early November) I'm excited to reveal the cover.
May 29, 2014
Breaking News
RUN TO ME has been short-listed in the Daphne du Maurier Award for excellence in mystery/suspense.
Congratulations to fellow finalists Gretchen Archer (Double Whammy), Allison Brennan (Cold Snap), Rosie Genova (Murder and Marinara), and Hank Phillippi Ryan (The Wrong Girl.)
Congratulations to fellow finalists Gretchen Archer (Double Whammy), Allison Brennan (Cold Snap), Rosie Genova (Murder and Marinara), and Hank Phillippi Ryan (The Wrong Girl.)
