Writing about Running for Netflix
Evelyn Skye on depicting running in Damsel, a novel and Netflix film.
Hi there, friends,
At a San Francisco meetup of writers, I found myself chatting with the amazing
, a New York Times bestselling author of eight novels, including The Hundred Loves of Juliet and Damsel, a groundbreaking literary and film collaboration with Netflix. Her books have been published worldwide and translated into sixteen languages.Damsel had just been released on Netflix, and I couldn’t help but pepper Evelyn with questions about the book and her creative partnership with the filmmakers.
If you have not seen it, Damsel stars Millie Bobby Brown, Angela Bassett, and Robin Wright and debuted as the #1 movie globally on Netflix. It’s a fairy tale of a damsel in distress—complete with dragons, knights, and handsome princes—only the trope is completely inverted. And, as Evelyn notes below, it’s a highly kinetic story.
Our conversation got me thinking about describing motion in fiction. How do you write about running in a novel? And how do you write about running in a novel . . . with dragons?
So Evelyn explained! Enjoy this guest post from Evelyn Skye about creative writing about running and movement through space and terrain.
I ran cross-country during my senior year of high school. Before that, I was a tennis player, which meant I was used to short sprints. So when I joined cross-country, I had to learn new techniques for long distance, as well as build up my endurance.
Nowadays, I’m a novelist, and I spend more of my time writing about running than actually running. Still, my past cross-country and tennis experiences have helped, particularly when writing my latest novel.
You may have heard of Damsel on Netflix, but did you know that it’s also a book?
(Sam had the audacity to ask whether he ought to watch the movie or read the book first. I told him he was a heathen for suggesting to an author that he do anything other than read the book first. I think we’re still friends, though… otherwise I don’t think he would have invited me onto his space.)
Anyway, if you’re not familiar with Damsel, it’s about a young woman, Elodie, who receives a marriage proposal from a prince, only to discover that instead of happily-ever-after, she’s going to be sacrificed to a dragon. As you can probably imagine, this means a lot of time running away from the dragon!
But how do you write about running and running and more running, while keeping it interesting? It was a fun challenge to take on, especially since Elodie was the only character on the page for a majority of the story.
Vary the Scenery
Like a race through monotonous scenery, chapter after chapter of dark, rocky dragon’s caves can get repetitive. So when I was writing Damsel, I had to continuously shift the terrain as Elodie fled, like in this excerpt:
Elodie reached the end of the moss and jumped, landing on her shoed foot and sprinting for the cave entrance.
The dragon sprang after her, its massive wings catching the wind… One of its talons struck the back of her right calf.
Elodie shrieked. But the cave opening was right there, only a yard away. It was small, exactly the kind of place [her sister] would have loved for hide-and-seek when they were children, and exactly the kind of tight fit Elodie hated.
But that also meant it was too small for the dragon.
She dove for the opening. The ceiling here was low and she had to hunch as she ran…
But even with different backdrops, I knew I wouldn’t be able to write 300+ pages of just running. There had to be more.
Change up the technique
I still remember one piece of advice that my high school cross-country coach gave us—windmill your arms as you run downhill. At first, my teammates and I thought he was joking. We would look ridiculous flailing our arms! But in my next race, I tried it, and… It made me faster. It was easier to keep my balance with my arms out like I was on a balance beam, which meant I didn’t waste energy looking down at my feet and inadvertently slowing down.
Similarly, when writing Damsel, I had to change up her escape techniques as each situation called for.
[T]he will to survive was an irrational one, and it was what kept her moving. Finally, the rock shaft widened and opened into another cave. It was a six-foot drop but she jumped down, barely registering when her ankle twisted, just grateful to be able to stand to full height, grateful not to be enclosed anymore in so small a—
Elodie barely suppressed a scream as the [dragon’s] violet eyes opened a few yards away from her.
Inevitably, though, when you’re trying to escape a bloodthirsty dragon, you’re going to get injured. What then?
Shake it off
Sometimes, you just have to finish the run, even if you’re hurting. Sure, Elodie’s situation was a bit more extreme, but still, if you’re a runner, you’ve pushed yourself through pain before, and you understand.
Writing about running with injuries helped me bring Elodie’s situation to life, as well as added a good dose of tension. The poor woman had to go through a lot:
Elodie fell to the ground, rolling against the rocks to try to smother the [dragon’s] flames. It burned her legs and her arms, the sharp stones cutting into flesh, the gravel grinding into her wounds.
You have to get ahold of yourself, she thought, tears and snot trickling down her face…
She forced herself to her feet and started running again.
There are better workouts than running from dragons
While fleeing a dragon is some serious motivation, I would still recommend you stick to recreational running; it’s more relaxing. But if you’re craving more of a story about a woman running for her life (and then fighting back against the dragon), check out Damsel.
But unlike Sam, I’m sure you know you should read the book first, before you watch the movie.
Thanks so much to Evelyn for joining Breakfast Club this week!
You should absolutely go read Damsel and watch it on Netflix. I’m a sci-fi/fantasy nerd and loved them both. My favorite part of the novel might be the delightfully strange dragon language that Evelyn’s daughter created, complete with a rich dictionary, grammar guide, and conjugation tables. It’s pretty amazing.
Learn how Evelyn wrote a book alongside a movie in this post in
’s Author Stack. And you can find more from Evelyn in CREATIVE.INSPIRED.HAPPY with Evelyn Skye.It’s warm and friendly over there! Indeed, Evelyn just announced two Scholarships for Aspiring Writers: $1,000 for Mid-Career Adults and $2,500 for a High School senior.
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Parting thought
"Life is not as simple as good and evil. It is mostly lived in the pages in between."
— Evelyn Skye, Damsel