Possible Loves
Writers often tell editors that if they gave us each the same set-up and even the "same" characters (name, occupation, general family background) we would each come up with a very different story. It's absolutely true.
It's even true if you give the same author the same characters (name, occupation, general family background) at a different time (as different as, say, five minutes) that that single author could write you two -- or more -- different stories.
I know because I've done it. I did it in A Cowboy's Promise. I still have the stor
y I was going to write -- but couldn't seem to get off the launching pad in time to make it work. But it's still a good believable story (they did, after all, buy it based on that synopsis). It just didn't turn out to be who those characters were when I got around to writing them.
Of course, figuring that out wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done. But it was, shall we say, a learning experience.
Two nights ago I had the very great pleasure of watching a film that did the same thing -- only it took the "same" characters and set them up in a situation and then played out the ensuing story three different ways. The film is called Amores Possiveis (in its original Brazilian Portuguese) or in English, Possible Loves.
It's the story of a young man, Carlos, who is waiting for his date, Julia, to show up at the movie theater. He waits. And waits. And then you skip forward 15 years to discover three variations of what might have happened after that.
When you read about the film it makes it sound as if these three scenarios are all based on whether or not she shows up. That's not really true. Whether or not Julia appears is not going to make Carlos gay, which is one of the story lines. It also isn't going to cause him to live with his mother for the next 15 years. Or marry another woman. But all those possibilities exist within the characters.
It isn't just one event that determines a story. It's a whole sequence of choices, of attitudes, of predispositions. But watching it played out on the screen -- three sets of Carloses and Julias in tandem, as it were -- was fascinating. While the director changed their appearance slightly for each story line, it was barely even necessary after the first half hour. The characters were so clearly NOT the same as the other Carloses and Julias that they were easy to distinguish even when the cuts from one story to the next were instantaneous.
I enjoyed it immensely, felt like I got three movies for the time spent in one, and had the opportunity to reflect on what creates character besides. It was very instructive -- and it reminded me of all the time I spent with Spence and his scotch bottle in chapter two. In the end he never picked it up, but in an alternative Spence story, he certainly would have.
That's the fun -- and the pain -- of writing: discovering who my people really are. Now that I know, things are going much more smoothly (for me, not them, but don't tell them that!). If you have a chance to watch Possible Loves, do so. It's definitely worth the time.
It's even true if you give the same author the same characters (name, occupation, general family background) at a different time (as different as, say, five minutes) that that single author could write you two -- or more -- different stories.
I know because I've done it. I did it in A Cowboy's Promise. I still have the stor
y I was going to write -- but couldn't seem to get off the launching pad in time to make it work. But it's still a good believable story (they did, after all, buy it based on that synopsis). It just didn't turn out to be who those characters were when I got around to writing them.Of course, figuring that out wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done. But it was, shall we say, a learning experience.
Two nights ago I had the very great pleasure of watching a film that did the same thing -- only it took the "same" characters and set them up in a situation and then played out the ensuing story three different ways. The film is called Amores Possiveis (in its original Brazilian Portuguese) or in English, Possible Loves.
It's the story of a young man, Carlos, who is waiting for his date, Julia, to show up at the movie theater. He waits. And waits. And then you skip forward 15 years to discover three variations of what might have happened after that.
When you read about the film it makes it sound as if these three scenarios are all based on whether or not she shows up. That's not really true. Whether or not Julia appears is not going to make Carlos gay, which is one of the story lines. It also isn't going to cause him to live with his mother for the next 15 years. Or marry another woman. But all those possibilities exist within the characters.
It isn't just one event that determines a story. It's a whole sequence of choices, of attitudes, of predispositions. But watching it played out on the screen -- three sets of Carloses and Julias in tandem, as it were -- was fascinating. While the director changed their appearance slightly for each story line, it was barely even necessary after the first half hour. The characters were so clearly NOT the same as the other Carloses and Julias that they were easy to distinguish even when the cuts from one story to the next were instantaneous.
I enjoyed it immensely, felt like I got three movies for the time spent in one, and had the opportunity to reflect on what creates character besides. It was very instructive -- and it reminded me of all the time I spent with Spence and his scotch bottle in chapter two. In the end he never picked it up, but in an alternative Spence story, he certainly would have.
That's the fun -- and the pain -- of writing: discovering who my people really are. Now that I know, things are going much more smoothly (for me, not them, but don't tell them that!). If you have a chance to watch Possible Loves, do so. It's definitely worth the time.
posted by Anne McAllister at 9:36 AM
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