The graveyard scene at the end of the fourth Harry Potter book is one of my favorite scenes in the entire series. I cannot describe how gripped I was, reading it for the first time at the age of fifteen. I had never read or experienced anything quite like that in fiction. It was amazing.

Needless to say, I was excited to see that scene play out in the film adaption when the film version was released years later.

The film adaptation of those powerful moments left me incredibly disappointed–so much so that I still remember how much it disappointed me. It wasn’t that I had super high expectations, either.

FILM VS THE WRITTEN WORD

After watch that movie, I sat down and tried to analyze why I felt that scene in the graveyard was so much better, so much more devastating and gripping, in the book.

I realized the issue was simply that film is a visual medium. The silver screen is about what you see on it.

While there is action of a type in the graveyard scene when Voldemort finally returns to a full human body of his own, I realized that the really incredible moments in that scene, in the book, are all in Harry’s mind–his fears, his doubts, conquering those, fighting back, doing what he can to try to survive even though it seems impossible he might make it out alive.

This taught me a powerful lesson when it comes to writing fiction:

• the written word is NOT a visual medium.
• in a novel, what makes action scenes great, even more than the action itself, is what is going on behind the action.
• in a novel, what matters in an action scene is a character’s thoughts, feelings, reactions.
• how are they planning their next move? what are they hoping might happen? how desperate are they? how panicked? how confused?

EVERY artist should focus on what is unique and most effective about his medium. When it comes to the written word, this is it–a character’s mind and motivations.

Readers experience action scenes in a novel in a vastly different way than viewers do watching an action scene on film. Readers can have direct access to a character’s mind during tense moments. Writers should make use of that.

I doubt I would ever have realized this without the comparison of the book and film versions of Goblet of Fire. But there you go!

Please consider following my Facebook page, and make sure to mark your calendars for the June 15 release of The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope!

You can read an excerpt here, or meet the League!

• Meet Verony TODAY! Find redemption with her and the Crimson League
• She took part in a sorcerer’s coup, then changed her mind.
• COVER REVEAL!!!
• My characters are kind of like my kids
• We are go! With magic of a different kind in this one.