Recreating Shakespeare
I’m working on one of my final edits of a book I’m writing for teens. It’s about a young lady who has moved to a big city from a small town and is having difficulty meeting people. In her hometown, she has lots of friends. In her new school, she eats lunch in the library by herself in a corner cubby because she’s too scared to venture out. This, actually, is taken from real life. When we first moved to Portland, Oregon—from little Albany, Oregon—I had to change schools during my junior year. I want to repeat: DURING my junior year. If we had moved in the summertime, maybe I could fake it, slide in and act like I had been there all along. But when you join classes after twelve weeks of school, you feel self-conscious when you walk into those already established classrooms.
Before leaving Albany, I was on the dance/drill team at West Albany High School, so when we left, I had to say goodbye to that team and those friends. Mom tried to help me adjust by helping me get on Jackson High School’s dance team, my new Portland school. She felt that my transition would be smoother if I could join them, and bonus: I would have built-in friends. Mom did a great job preparing me, but I still had to find it within myself to go out there. Eat in the cafeteria. Make friends. Go outside my comfort zone. Eventually, I did, and I still have many friends from Jackon High School and think it was a great school to attend.
This part of my life makes for a great beginning to a story for teenagers because the foundation of it actually happened to me in 1979. So begins my book, A Place for Meg.
During that year, I got involved in the world of the stage. I wasn’t a full-fledged Thespian, but some of my friends were a part of that theatrical club. And The Taming of the Shrew was the first high school play I was in, which, coincidentally, is the same first play for my character Meg. My challenge in writing this book is how much Shakespeare to bring into it. But as we all know, many iterations of Shakespeare’s plays are out in the modern world. And I think my readers (hopefully) will understand The Taming of Shrew a bit better after reading my book.
Here’s a list of 5 movies that have a modern twist to Shakespeare’s plays:
My Own Private Idaho tells the story of two friends as they leave Portland, Oregon. This movie is loosely based on Henry IV and stars Keanu Reeves and the late River Phoenix
West Side Story is inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The 1961 big-screen adaption stars Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer. The 2021 movie stars Rachel Zegler and Ansel Elgort.
She’s The Man is the retelling of the romantic comedy Twelfth Night. It stars Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum.
10 Things I Hate About You is the modernization of The Taming of the Shrew starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Information from:
https://movieweb.com/best-modern-shakespeare-movie-adaptations/
Soon I will be done with my story (which doesn’t resemble “10 Things I Hate About You” in any way). I’m just getting the final edit completed and everything ready for my publisher. I’m excited for this huge journey to end and to begin/continue/edit my next book.
Here’s today’s writing prompt:
One day I found myself face-to-face with my favorite author. The first words out of my mouth were:
His/Her/Their reaction was:
Enjoy!
Write as much or as little as you feel!
