I want to write a girlfriend story that is authentically how women relate to one another. I recently watched “Wine Country” the movie. It’s got great people in it, and I was looking forward to it, but it missed the mark. It either tried too hard, or it realized half-way through that nothing had happened and they needed to make something happen and then the something that happened was off kilter or … I’m not sure. It just stopped being authentic. So I want to try my hand at it. I’ve got five women in their early fifties or maybe late forties. They were part of a girl’s band in high school, and they stayed friends. There are combinations that see each other more often than others, but they all care about each other. All of them have endured sadness and awful things have happened to at least four of them, but they are all resilient and have spunk. Now, I need a reason for them to have decided they need a long weekend getaway. Here are some examples of reasons, so you can pick one of these or you can come up with your own, if you like.
- One of them is getting a much needed divorce from a philanderer.
- One of them quit her job to spend a year writing a screenplay about a girlfriend weekend.
- A husband left one of them for an older woman/another man/a transgender person.
- After a long time single, one of them is getting re-married to a man none of the girlfriends like.
Pat Ponders Life 
#2 gets my vote–hopefully, she can afford to leave her job for a year.
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I like #1. Also soooo disappointed in Wine Country. Waste of good talent.
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And I like 3 and 4…..
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4 is my vote, mostly because I’ve had way too much experience ignoring my girlfriends’ advice about men – and they’ve always been right!
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Well, of course, the plot is thickening, and I think 3 and 4 will be combined. And all of them will have a reason to want to get away for a girls’ getaway. Ruby has gotten her last kid off to college and plans to marry the guy she’s been with for two years, and yes, the girlfriends don’t trust him. They are ostensibly celebrating her empty nest and upcoming marriage. Zan is turning 50 and has some secrets she will reveal. Olivia is a personal assistant to a wealthy man who has invested for her and might be either getting arrested and/or going under. Margo’s husband left her for a man, but he’s being dominated by that man, and he calls her and has long conversations with her because she’s his best friend.
Thanks for your input. Keep it coming.
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Must they all be overweight as the movie Wine Country would have us believe of all 50-yr-old women? It isn’t true. Must they all dress frumpy? Must they appear to shop at thrift stores? What about socio-economic issues? What about health issues? What about success and career issues? Surely, there is success in there somewhere. What about one of them not being as much in love as being loved? It does happen the other way around occasionally. These women have the advantage of no longer having to concern themselves with pregnancy. They can take lovers if they wish, free of anxiety. Surely, there is one who is adventuresome. The fifties are statistically the happiest decade: no kids underfoot, no mortgage, no career woes, no love woes, comfortable in your own skin (at last)–free to travel, enjoy your spouse or significant other, enjoy the grandkids, watch your kids show signs of maturity, etc. Good luck, Pat.
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Thanks, Elizabeth. I do plan for more for these ladies than Wine Country would have us believe of women that age. When I was 50 I went back to graduate school and those years were some of my best. I want that for my characters, too. Doors will open, I promise.
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