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Well, I have the 1955 version in the house currently, so I’ll watch that first but I know our library has the 1999 version so I might watch that one later.
Yep its definitely a classic one. I’m a bit of a Sherlock Holmes nerd 😉
Well, yes, I am overly obsessed with Les Mis and have listened to so many different versions and I have my favourite portrayals etc. Have you finished listening to Les Mis yet?
INFP Queen of the Kingdom commander of an army of origami cranes and a sabre from Babylon.
@seekjustice Okay, cool. We’ve already established that you like both Gordon MacRae and Hugh Jackman as actors, so you should get at least some small enjoyment out of them. 😉 Even if you don’t like the musical in general.
Well, as I said, it’s not just Sherlock Holmes, as I didn’t know Holmes had faked his death that way but I have heard of other deaths faked that way. Do you like parodies? Would you like the Sherlock Holmes parodies?
Haha. Uh, no. I think I’m about a third of the way through. It’s taking me longer because I’m trying to actually pay attention to what’s going on. Also, though, I got a bit stressed because I was comparing it to your book, and realizing even more which parts of the first draft I liked better than the second draft, since the second draft parallels Les Mis so much more than the first draft did, which makes it more predictable and less interesting, as is the case with your second book. So I wasn’t as interested in the musical anymore either. However, I’ll try to finish it soon. I do like it pretty well so far.
"Sylvester - Sylvester!"
Hopefully!
I do quite like parodies if they’re done right 🙂
I didn’t change that much, did I?
INFP Queen of the Kingdom commander of an army of origami cranes and a sabre from Babylon.
Aaand, I fell asleep on you again. 😛
Anyway, I found the Sherlock Holmes parodies (the ones I was talking about) on the Australian Gutenberg. I didn’t even know there was such a thing! But I did find them, and they’re really short, so you can read them easily whenever you get the chance. Here they are:
The Adventure of the Clothesline
The Adventure of the Mona Lisa
Well, you kinda did change a lot. Not a huge, drastic change, really, but a few subtle changes that made it way more like Les Mis than it was before. Remember how I hated the Rain thing? Well, of course, now that I was listening to the musical I realized that she’s based on a character, so her feelings are totally predictable, and wouldn’t be as emotionally compelling since anyone who knows the original story would just think, “Oh, of course, that’s just how her character is.” It’s like what I think Valtmy said about how Stars was different and unpredictable, but Empty was predictable, and that was why she didn’t allow herself to get closer to Zac, because she knew he was going to die. Does that make sense? It’s just a few little things you changed that make it so much more similar to Les Mis than it was before. Less you, and more Victor Hugo.
Oh, and I do like some of your changes. Some of them make it way better. It’s mostly the ones that parallel Les Mis too much that I don’t like. 😉
"Sylvester - Sylvester!"
@seekjustice But please remember that this is just me, and you have a whole bunch of other beta readers. 😉
"Sylvester - Sylvester!"
So I’ve been agonising over your post for w ay longer than is normal and I’ve come to this conclusion:
Writing retellings are a balancing act between original content and not. For example, I think the changes I made with Caderousse (have you started P4 yet?) were good because someone would expect that of a story based on Les Mis…
As to the other changes…I’ll probably discuss them with my new readers who haven’t read draft 1 and see what they think.
The absolute worst part of editing is conflicting beta opinions 😛
Just so you know, though, I’m not offended 😀
INFP Queen of the Kingdom commander of an army of origami cranes and a sabre from Babylon.
@seekjustice I’m sorry! 😛
I’ve started part 4, and I do agree that Caderousse makes a bit more sense here than she did in the first draft.
The biggest thing I am worried about is that I think you are an amazing writer, but I am afraid that if your book is too similar to Les Mis people will not realize what a good writer you are, but will simply think you are copying a great writer and that is why it is good.
Ah, conflicting beta opinions. 😛 I know you’ll not be able to please everyone. One thing I would like to say though, is that you can take your beta readers who haven’t read your first draft to tell you whether the second draft is good alone, but you might want to also check with your original readers so you know if there are parts of your first draft that were better than the second draft, since the second draft readers won’t be able to tell that.
"Sylvester - Sylvester!"
@seekjustice And thanks for not being offended. 😀 I know how hard it is to write, and I know how hard it is to have people say they don’t like something you’ve written, so I’m always worried when I say I dislike something about your writing, especially since for the most part I absolutely adore everything you write, so I don’t want you to get the wrong impression. 😉
Come on, I even write fanfiction for you!! 😛
"Sylvester - Sylvester!"
Well, it hurts my pride, my honestly my pride is rather…I don’t know…large. And I could do with some humility. That’s why God made me a writer 😛
Fair enough. That makes sense. Honestly, I think the uniqueness of my story lies not so much in the plot, because the plot is…well, fairly average, but more so in the characters. Even though the plot is pretty similar to Les Mis, the characters are much more of my own creations, they don’t really (in my mind) resemble the characters from Les Mis.
My ten beta readers are pretty much 50/50 as to whether they’ve read the first draft or not, so hopefully I’ll get some good opinions out of that.
Thank you 🙂 That really does mean a lot to me.
INFP Queen of the Kingdom commander of an army of origami cranes and a sabre from Babylon.
Yes, I agree. Your characters are the most important parts of your book. My biggest issue in the second draft was with Justice’s character, remember? 😉 And actually the Rain thing is specifically about her character. I feel like now that she’s “in love” with Justice instead of having a flirty kind of crush on Kendall she is no longer your character but Hugo’s.
Anyway, let me know when you get a chance to read those Sherlock Holmes parodies. 😀
And speaking of Sherlock Holmes…did you know there’s a Sherlock musical? I don’t remember what it’s called and don’t know whether it’s good or not. I stumbled upon it a few days ago, but since I don’t know much about Holmes I didn’t quite get what was happening in the synopsis. Have you heard of the musical, and do you like it?
"Sylvester - Sylvester!"
@rochellaine *clears throat* *raises eyebrow* Have you been faking deaths without me? Me, the person with crazy theories. The person who when watching BBC’s new Sherlock series thought up how Moriarty could have faked his death, even though he died by shooting himself in the head. The person who when eating cherries wonders if they could make a good fake blood (answer: Probably if mixed up something else to thicken and maybe redden a bit more.). The person who’s favorite character [Kay] decides to fake people’s deaths when she is hired to kill them (she also decides to try and get them caught on a different crime so they go to jail, but don’t know it was her. Not sure how much detail I’ll get to do on that though…).
#1 Why do the papers not burn? Driver’s license maybe, but probably not… You could fake your death with a burning building, but not like that. Also you don’t need a helicopter. 😉
#2 They would take their pulse by hand… So, I’m guessing you’re looking for comedy though…
Do you need more ideas?
@valtmy
#1 Remember to put holes in the shirt for the bullets afterwards.
#2 Nice, but maybe getting into a sub would work better in case someone sees you.
#3 This is a nice simple easy fake death. You don’t have to bribe for the death certificate even. Just figure out how to make them think you you went on that trip. You may have to go on a few trips and get separated and be mysteriously lost. There are a few ways this could go. 🙂
#4 Where’s your body (pieces of your body) if your clothes are just lying there? Maybe bloody fabric pieces instead of full clothes. People would look because they would think you were hurt or in trouble, but they may give up after a long time. I don’t think bear killings are that common even.IMMA KAPEEFER! Til we're old and gray!
@catwing Well, by all means! Please give me your ideas! One condition, make them as absurd as possible, and they aren’t supposed to work in real life. That’s the entire point! 😛
Yes, I know the papers would burn, and I know that doctors would not be that incompetent in real life. These faking death sequences are supposed to be in the imagination of my crazy protagonists, who will discuss and dismiss them one by one. I only need one real faked death…um…well, you get what I mean. 😉
So don’t worry about my brain; in my own notes I had already written that the papers would burn and when I proposed the hospital idea my mom and sister laughed me to death, but I don’t want ones that would work.
Oh, here’s my brother’s explanation: have you ever seen the Roadrunner and the Coyote cartoons? Basically I want a death faking idea as if the Coyote had planned it. Overcomplicated and utterly ridiculous and impossible in real life. Make sense? (And please give me more ideas if you have them.)
"Sylvester - Sylvester!"
Was it only the instance you mentioned that you thought was too out of character for Justice?
The problem I found with Kendall and Rain is that honestly who would have a crush on Kendall? No one is supposed to like Kendall!
No, I didn’t know! I must go find out!
INFP Queen of the Kingdom commander of an army of origami cranes and a sabre from Babylon.
@rochellaine I wasn’t worried about you. I don’t know why I was fixing them. *shrug* Let’s see…
#1 If you were to go swimming and someone dressed up like a shark swallowed you. Use ketchup. Or cornstarch mixed with food coloring.
#2 Parachute a dummy dressed as you but have the parachute faulty and so you fall into the ocean/ravine. Or the parachute sails the dummy and crashes there. (Over a cliff or ocean, because you got excited and jumped too soon.)
#3 Step in water with a wire so everyone thinks you are electrocuted. Make sure you do the ‘I’m being electrocuted dance’ before you fall over. But the wire is off/dead.
#4 Pretend to faint during a lecture. Gasp for breath. Plead that life give you another chance at life( XP ). You have ‘died’ of boredom. Or a heart attack.
#5 Choke on a piece of food and fake poisoning.You may want to elaborate them some. 😉
IMMA KAPEEFER! Til we're old and gray!
@seekjustice That was the biggest and most obvious instance. I think there were a few other times when he seemed a little too soft, but I’ll have to go back through and read it again. For the most part it’s all good.
I LIKE KENDALL!!!!!!! How can you say no one likes Kendall? Anyway, even Justice cares about him, as we established when Justice went of his own accord to search for Kendall, then beat up the guys who were beating Kendall up, then dragged Kendall all the way back to the meeting by himself. See??
Okay, so Kendall isn’t a favorite character from the start, but by the time you get near the end he’s just one of those guys that you tolerate because they’re actually a nice guy, just kind of annoying. And then, when you get to the end, when Waif dies, (which I haven’t read yet in your second draft and I am so afraid to read since I found out I still cry when I read about Sapphire’s death,) Kendall becomes a nearly favorite character. And then he dies with Justice!! I mean, seriously. After all that, doesn’t he deserve to be liked? How can you say no one cares for him!! Poor Kendall!!!! I still love you, I promise!! Not as much as I love Zac, and Jonas, but, ohhhh, Kendall!! I’m sorry that SeekJustice doesn’t like you anymore. I’m sorry that Rain doesn’t like you anymore. I’m sorry that you have no one but Waif and even he dies. 🙁 🙁 🙁
…um…I’m fine. I promise. I’m okay. I’m really going to be fine. Just please tell me that Kendall’s case isn’t hopeless. Please? 😛
(Honestly, it was just supposed to be that first sentence that was a rant, but as you can see, I got carried away.)
"Sylvester - Sylvester!"
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