At the end of a cold winter in New York City, Christine Howth, a free- lance journalist, mourns the recent death of her father while mulling over the first year of her divorce. She decides it is time to halt her drift. A first step is to begin a journal, to focus her writing and experiment with styles for a story. A second step is to find a full-time job, as her work is not paying the rent. A friend informs her of a staff job at a magazine; a former flame suggests she interview movie director David Loomis. The normally private Loomis agrees to a series of interviews and observations. But unexpectedly he unloads a personal secret, one that may jeopardize the film. He requests that she inform no one, and while she readily agrees, she discovers deep into the assignment that her editor has other priorities. Loomis's struggle to complete the film, and hers to write about it draw them together. His passion for directing stimulates her own efforts to write. Their shared interests and sensibilities bring new energy to both. The filming takes her to the Adirondacks; her new staff job sends her to Paris; the cabin her father loved calls her up to Maine. Each trip stirs her and helps solidify her new perspective. But pressures arising from Loomis's situation lead to conflict with her editor and separation from him.