Author Criticism

[katiemac]

Today I was talking with a friend about film and movie scripts. Since Hitchhiker's opened this weekend, we brought up the fact that Douglas Adams, the author of the novels, was also the screenwriter.

I brought up a very famous author who was asked to work on the screenplay for the adaptation of her book(s) to screen, but couldn't because of time contraints, deadlines, etc. To this, my friend responded quite sarcastically, "As if she could write a screenplay."

Now, opinions are opinions. But this friend has not even read the author's books and, to be extremely cliche, only "judging the book by its cover." This is more of a rant than anything, but it just bothers me to see published and successful writers criticized by someone who hasn't read their work. It's entirely different if you've based your arguments in a thoughtful manner with evidence, as has been seen on this board.

I bet I'll get a lot of disagreement on this, too, but it also bothers me when people criticize celebrity novels based on their public personas. Sure, a lot of these books are ghostwritten, but I think people should at least be given the chance and not scoffed at right off the bat.

Too much skepticism in this world (this art), I'd say. :(

[zornhau]

Novel writing and screenwriting are different, but overlapping skillsets. Some people can do both, but that's not a given.

[zeprosnepsid]

yeah, if they were just criticizing the author's ability to write a screenplay then that has some validity. Just because I can program in C++ doesn't mean I can program in Java.But yes, if they were criticizing their work then that's just silly. I used to have a roommate who would say they didn't like films they had never actually seen.

[Jamesaritchie]

Generally speaking, I don't even like to see published writers criticised by those who have read their work. It's nearly all opinion, and whether you like or dislike a writer's published fiction usually has nothing to do with its quality.

It strikes me as odd that some think being famous precludes talent, or that because you write this or that kind of book, you can't write screenplays. Anyone in any field can possess talent, and just because you're a celebrity does not in any way mean you can't have a great deal of talent.

Carrie Fisher got the same attitude aimed at her, but she wrote some pretty good novels, and went on to become one of the highest paid script doctors in Hollywood.

[maestrowork]

It's a big presumption to say a novelist can't write screenplays or vice versa. Granted, they are two different skills, but a writer is a writer is a writer -- they're just skills to learn. It's still telling a story with characters, sets, action and dialogue. Many novelists or screenwriters cross over successfully: Carrie Fisher, Michael Chabon, John Irving, Douglas Adams, etc. etc. etc. (and I think Stephen King writes scripts, too?)

[Maryn]

The Agatha [Christie, of course] Awards were announced April 30th, and Best First Novel was won by Harley Jane Kozak for "Dating Dead Men." If that name seems familiar, it's because she's done 24 movies and 4 TV series.

Talent in one area absolutely doesn't preclude talent in another--the competition for the Agathas is pretty stiff.

Maryn, who hasn't read a single one of this year's winners--yet

[Nateskate]

In my mind, they are very different. In screenplays, you are using setting and props, not just dialogue. But, really, you have to convey thoughts to actors, and others, not simply the audience.

A well crafted scene may be a minute long, and convey a world of information. But it would translate horribly into a book chapter.

I think it would be fun to write a screenplay, but if it ever comes down to trying to write a screenplay (Dreams outloud) for one of my stories, I'd need to co-write it with an experienced screenwriter. A lot of authors tried and couldn't do it.

[Jamesaritchie]

In my mind, they are very different. In screenplays, you are using setting and props, not just dialogue. But, really, you have to convey thoughts to actors, and others, not simply the audience.

A well crafted scene may be a minute long, and convey a world of information. But it would translate horribly into a book chapter.

I think it would be fun to write a screenplay, but if it ever comes down to trying to write a screenplay (Dreams outloud) for one of my stories, I'd need to co-write it with an experienced screenwriter. A lot of authors tried and couldn't do it.

Screenplays and novels are very different skills, but for me, screenplays are much easier to write. I've found it's actually the actors who do the work of conveying thoughts, and the director who helps greatly with this process.

Most novelists I've seen who fail at screenwriting do so because they try to convey far too much. A screenplay is minimalism, and many would be screenwriters simply don't trust the actors and directors to expand and expound a given scene. The writer tries to spell everything out, and tries to write scenes as if the screenplay were a novel.

All you really do in a screenplay is put down what you want to happen. The actors and directors take it from there.

[cattywampus]

As writers, we ought to know that much depends on the words we use. I was attacked so many times for saying "I hated that book/movie" when I hadn't even read/seen it, that I decided a more accurate statement would have been, "Something about that turns me off." Like Danielle Steele winning the Pulitzer. Like Jerry Springer with an Emmy, or Friends going into its 15th season.

Catty :tongue

[Maryn]

Boy, that truth thing really works! I'm going to try it.

The impression I've got of a movie or book from trailers to reviews to who loves it to print ads, tells me I'll hate it. That sense often turns out to have been absolutely accurate if I'm forced to read or view it. But to say, "Something about that turns me off" makes wonderful sense and leaves the door ajar for the extremely rare occasions when it turns out it wasn't so bad and my hatred was wrong.

Which is not that you'll be able to make me watch another Adam Sandler movie, just that I will no longer announce that I hate them all.

Maryn, sometimes mistaken

[cattywampus]

Maryn, there is something about you that turns me on! I think it's your intellect.

Catty :D