novels v screenplays

For me, different stories require different formats. Just like some stories are meant to be novellas, some are meant to be short stories, others are meant to be novels, and still others are meant to be screenplays.

I've had some stories that I just couldn't seem to work out as a novel, but as soon as I switched to writing them as screenplays, they came pouring right out.

As far as advantages/disadvantages to each, it depends. Selling a spec screenplay to a producer can be just as difficult as finding a publisher for a novel, if not more difficult. You can make your own movies, just like you can self-publish, but the former requires a lot more time, a different skill set, and potentially a lot more money.

Huh, exact same question posted in Novels forum.

The obvious answer: if you want to be a novelist, you'd write novels; if you want to be a screenwriter, you'd write screenplays.

Why don't you read the sticky threads at the top of the forum and go check out a few dozen screenplays? Plus the numerous how-to-write-'em articles.

-Derek

I'll tie down the china before this gets ported or closed.

The OP might get different answers from novelists and screenwriters, no harm in keeping 2 separate threads, at least for now. May be merged later.

-Derek

Writing either is a challenge: novels may be 4-6 times longer than screenplays but that doesn't mean that screenplays are 'easy' because, as appears in many other AWC threads, you need to write several and have them critiqued by people in the industry before you can even begin to master the format. Most people grow up reading books (as children) not screenplays, so prose comes much more fluidly to most people than film-scribing. If you can do either well then you should see some success wherever you're located, although for screenwriting I think LA helps a lot (I'm not in LA BTW) although it is a crazy place peopled by crazy people.

If you write books you could live in Timbuctoo - in fact, that might even work in your favour.

Hillgate said:

If you write books you could live in Timbuctoo - in fact, that might even work in your favour.

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The same could be argued for screenplays.

LIVIN said:

The same could be argued for screenplays.

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Come to think of it, you might be right.

I write screenplays. I found my voice in the screenplay.

Novelistic text is discouraged in the writing of a screenplay.
Dialogue should be kept to a minimum. (It is for MOTION PICTURE.)
Do not expend descriptions of character and scene. (This is the work of other crew members. It is a COLLABORATIVE ART FORM!!!)
Approximately one page of screenplay for one minute of screen time.
Length of plays should be anything between 75mins, 90mins and 120mins depending on the genre. For example, comedy, horror being shorter in length than drama, etc.
You must think in pictures. It is writing expressed entirely in visuals.
It must make sense pictorially, visually. Each scene should have a hook that keeps the viewer watching. And if it's a teleplay then breaks must be taken into account. It's a very, very different medium. The form and function appropraite a different ending.

All in all, the screenplay is far from easy to write. There's a vast number of variables that must be considered before sitting down to write the play in the first place.

satyesu said:

My aspirant brain is still of the naive idea I can still have some impact on the world. I'm just lost between trying ti make movies all the non-readers will watch but might get botched o write novels that will get less exposure but will be my words....

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Why do I have an overwhelming sense of deja vu?

satyesu said:

Whoops, wrong c/p. Sorry.

My aspirant brain is still of the naive idea I can still have some impact on the world. I'm just lost between trying ti make movies all the non-readers will watch but might get botched o write novels that will get less exposure but will be my words....

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Yeahp. I think we writers all face such a dilemma.

I've done both (and by that I mean original material for each). Writing an adapted screenplay? No picnic - but it's easier than inventing from scratch.

I'm gravitating towards novels more, because I've been in LA / Hollywood for years and you probably really do have to be there to have even a ghost of a chance at success. And even then. Still about who you know, your connections, incredible blind luck and so forth. Generally. You can get sick out there reading great screenplays that you know will go nowhere.

With screenplays you have to assume it'll be hacked up - if you're lucky enough to get it optioned or sold. It's fine - many of the great movies have scripts that were done by committee, or made up as the filming proceeded. So, what they do with it, should you catch lightning in a bottle in the first place - may be entirely different than what you intended. Watch the flick Sunset Boulevard, filmed in 1949. Nothing has changed. It was that bad then, as well.

So, novels. I'm experiencing less frustration, more fun with novels. My words, my thoughts. You control everything except widespread distribution - and again we're talking a near impossibility. That's primarily handled out of NYC and once again it's the Catch-22 of Connections-Who-the-heck-are-you-This-isn't-sellable-in-today's-market-We-only-deal-with-writers-we-know-or-who-have-a-proven-track-record-Hang-up-the-phone-now. It's also fine. You get to console yourself with the fact that Van Gogh never sold a painting in his life. Now they sell for tens of milions.

Very simple: Write a book you will enjoy reading. Write a movie you would really like to see. Everything else is essentially out of your hands.

I think part of it depends on your goals as a writer.

If you're looking for quick and easy money writing is the last place you want to look for it. It isn't quick and it isn't easy and it certainly isn't guaranteed.

If you want to tell a great story you can do it in any format.

Not liking novel format? Give script writing a whirl. You might find you prefer it. You might find you like both and you might find you don't like either of them.

At the end of the day it's your decision to make.

ETA that being said, certain stories lend themselves better to certain formats. Head heavy stories are far better in books than they are on screen. Very visual and more on screen type story can do great as a script.

wlz said:

I write screenplays. I found my voice in the screenplay.

You must think in pictures. It is writing expressed entirely in visuals.
It must make sense pictorially, visually.

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Hey wlz,

I'm intrigued by your remark: that you found your voice in the screenplay. Could you elaborate a little?

I'm interested because I tend to think in pictures myself. Somewhat like translating between languages, I find myself trying to quickly transcribe a visual image into prose. Is that what you experience(d)?

Casey

I had been writing short stories for myself and friends ever since grade school. I was also very active in theatre all through school - doing a lot of improv and writing little skits.

When I decided to write 'seriously' - I sat down and hammered out a novel. It was... okay. The plot was great, the characters intriguing. I mailed it off to publishers. (This was before the inter-toobs became connected, and you mailed them away in boxes.) Got lots and lots of friendly rejections "Not for us" - but interestingly enough - Three or four of the rejections made comments to the effect "You have a very cinematic style." or "You write very visually."

Cue the light bulb moment. "I SHOULD be writing screenplays."

That's how I 'found' my voice. Someone told me what it was.

I can't speak for WriteKnight but I've rewritten 13 scripts in an animated series, written two features for hire, and worked on another series all for pay. It wasn't a lot of pay but it was pay. All without any notable credits to speak of.

Publication such as novels and short stories doesn't make you any more qualified to write scripts. They're two different mediums with two different styles and approaches. If you think a published writer can just write a script and have it sell think again. If anything selling scripts and getting script work is even more difficult than getting published. In novel writing you only need a well written book with solid commercial potential and the right people to fall in love with it.

Script writing needs all that plus heavy networking.

I've optioned two of my feature scripts, and I have two now that are being negotiated. So yeah, that's 'successful'. I'd like to see them get produced - but you can't hurry a funnel. Networking is a HUGE part of the screenwriting biz. You have to be able to meet and greet - since it's essentially a collaborative effort. You WILL have to work with people to get the script produced. And people like to work with people they have a sense of - and that comes best from face to face meetings. Hence the caveat 'move to LA.' Sure, it's possible to do it WITHOUT moving to LA. But it's harder. You have to be willing to meet with people on their terms. Being in LA makes that easier. Heck, I'm in the San Francisco Bay area - and just being able to say "I'll be in LA tomorrow for a meeting, would you like to have lunch?" Makes a huge difference.

And ANOTHER thing:

This bit about not having much dialogue at all in a screenplay, as a rigid guideline: I say BULLY to that!

I really do. I think it's a silly notion, even though we screenwriters get preached that very credo ad nauseum as the "right" way to do a script. HAHAHAHAHA! Fact is, there IS no one right formula to do a movie.

If you are a film buff like me - what is one of the things you ALWAYS do? Give up? Really? You quote lines from a plethora of moving pictolas, that's what! You know lines - you know whole scenes fer chrissakes - and maybe for a few special treasures??? YOU KNOW EVERY LINE OF DIALOGUE IN THE WHOLE SMEAR!

Think about some of the terrific movies - and how much talking there is in them. Casablanca. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Network. Monty Python and the Holy Grail. North by Northwest. Double Indemnity. Sunset Boulevard. The Sting. Jaws (yes JAWS. Think about that long monologue of Quint's describing the USS Indianapolis sinking). Caddyshack. Animal House. Psycho. The Shawshank Redemption. Platoon. It just goes on and on. Certainly a lot of those flicks have action and yet what so many of us remember about the Great Ones is WHAT THEY SAID. Because they said a lot.

So, if someone tells you to restrict the dialogue down to a nubbin because that's "how it's done" - think about your movie and what you want to communicate - then do it YOUR way. And if that means memorable lines resulting from beau coup talking between the folks? Good. Do it. If they won't buy it now? Maybe the industry will revert back to some of that creative genius it once flaunted and it'll draw a crowd then. Or not. Still, do it your way.

In a script you should never right more or less than it needs. What it needs depends on the story you are telling and how you are telling it. Figuring out how much is just right is one of the more difficult jobs of a script writer.