Paint With Words

So maybe I’ve spent a little too much time rolling this idea around in my head, and I just need to get it written out.

I just finished reading 2 subsequent books to Gone With The Wind, Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley and Rhett Butler’s People by Donald McCaig. Now, the first one was just written as a sequel, but the second was the original story written from Rhett Butler’s point of view.

I really enjoyed it, too. There were a lot of parts in GWTW that were originally very vague, and I’m sure for a very good reason. A perfect example is Belle Watling telling Melly Wilkes she has a boy, and she hasn’t seen him since he was young. You never hear any more than that the entire story. However, Rhett Butler’s People not only explains the situation, but gives this boy a whole past, and you learn about things you would’ve never heard in the original.

And the charges the Yankees “trumped up,” those are all explained too. And in fact, Rhett was never really in the wrong in the first place.

It was interesting to hear someone else’s perspective, especially on a story that’s so well known. There’s insight and light shed on things you never would’ve thought about for, and even completely new characters are devised.

I bring it up though, as the book showed me some interesting things about writing stories like that. The plot was wonderful, but there were times when it came to dialogue that  was a little weak.

I’m trying to write one now, and it’s interesting, because when I wrote the original story…well…I never counted on the original having this many spin offs or being what it is. haha! But, the dialogue to me is the most important part. It’s got to line up.

All of it is difficult though. There are points in the story where you don’t hear from one character, so now, I have to make something entirely new up for him to do. Talk about a challenge. Oh boy! But it could be interesting. And, one of the best parts is asking my friends, who’ve read the story, what they think about it. I know some of them have ideas and theories about what they think should happen, and have been willing to share. A few even joke that when the story becomes a movie, they’d play the main character. But it should be interesting, either way.

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