Date Night with a Writer

Over the last few years, Friday nights have become date night for my husband and his favourite writer… That would be me. 

We are both book lovers that challenge each other to find books that have been adapted into movies. We read the books, watch the movies, and then we discuss the differences between the literary version versus the cinematic version. We discuss things such as:

• What facts were changed from the novel to the making of the movie?
• Which version was more interesting?
• Why would the producers change it from the original version?
• Why did they cut entire characters from the film?
• Which was better… the book or the movie?

After our discussion, we search for articles on Google about why the changes were implemented. For a writer, this is a fantastic way to spend a Friday night. It helps you understand what your ultimate reader might want in the novel you are currently writing. It also shows you two different options for telling the same story. You can dissect it, discuss it, and use the information to direct the path you might take on the page within your fictional world.

True confession: Sometimes, I pick a movie adaptation where my husband hasn’t read the book. All the Fridays in March 2023 fit with this confession. This month, I chose a 10-episode series of the best-selling novel, “Daisy Jones & The Six” written by Taylor Jenkins Reid (one of my automatic buy authors). Amazon Studios purchased the film rights for an original streaming series executively produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine (This process took 5 years after purchasing, before it was released). 

“Daisy Jones & The Six” is labeled as Historical Fiction at the bookstore, which isn’t on my husband’s reading list. But, because he loves me and knows I am excited to watch it, he pretends to be happy with my choice. 

Want to know a secret?

My hubby loves this story just as much as I do. When seven o’clock strikes on a Friday night, he is already sitting in his favourite chair in front of the television, with the next episode queued up on Prime and his thumb hovering over the PLAY button before I even enter the room. Would he watch it without me if I weren’t home yet? Ha!

You may have heard me talk about the novel, “Daisy Jones & The Six” before. I absolutely loved it the first time I read it in 2020. The structure is incredibly unique. It is told in a documentary writing style with the band members being interviewed about the whirlwind rise and the crash-and-burn implosion of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer. The story is a recount by each individual member, where they reveal the mysterious truths, desires, successes, and failures. As we all know, people don’t usually recall situations the same way as others do. Often, the memories are entirely different, just like witnesses at the scene of an accident. This is where the mystery and conflict come in.

When I originally read this novel, I thought the band was real. I scoured the Internet for them. Ha! The answer is that the story is about a fictional band with a strong Fleetwood Mac vibe running through it.  

The cool thing you might not know is that the producers at Amazon Prime ordered this 13-episode series based on this novel in July 2018, eight months BEFORE the book was published in March 2019. This is super cool for the author, and I couldn’t be happier for her.

Interesting Fact: Each Amazon Prime episode is titled like a track on a record, featuring original music created for the show from the band’s album “Aurora.” The series producers used many of the same song titles Taylor Jenkins Reid created in her novel.

What is not cool: Amazon Prime has decided to drop only a few episodes every Friday night in March. I would rather binge-watch the entire thing in two or three nights straight than wait a week between episodes. Maybe other people don’t mind this minor inconvenience, but it pretty much kills me to wait it out. I’m impatient. Gah!

In case you are interested, here is the release schedule:

• Episode 1: “Track 1: Come and Get It”: March 3, 2023 
• Episode 2: “Track 2: I’ll Take You There”: March 3, 2023 
• Episode 3: “Track 3: Someone Saved My Life Tonight”: March 3, 2023 
• Episode 4: “Track 4: I Saw the Light”: March 9, 2023
• Episode 5: “Track 5: Fire”: March 9, 2023
• Episode 6: “Track 6: Whatever Gets You Thru The Night”: March 9, 2023
• Episode 7: “Track 7: She’s Gone”: March 17, 2023
• Episode 8: “Track 8: Looks Like We Made It”: March 17, 2023
• Episode 9: “Track 9: Feels Like the First Time”: March 24, 2023
• Episode 10: “Track 10: Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide”: March 24, 2023 (Finale)

I would love to share all the differences between the novel and the movie here, but because you may have yet to read the book or watch the movie, I will refrain from doing that. However, I truly recommend reading and watching “Daisy Jones & The Six,” then calling me to meet for coffee to discuss further. 

Lastly, I will leave you with exciting news… Suppose you love Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novels. In that case, you will be happy to know there are four of her seven novels currently in the process of being adapted to a movie (or that are already released): “Malibu Rising,” “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,” “One True Loves” and of course, “Daisy Jones & The Six.” 

So, bottom line: There is plenty of time to grab your significant other’s phone and add the words, DATE NIGHT WITH A WRITER to their calendar every Friday night for the rest of the year (provided you want to have a big discussion with them about books versus movies).