Novel or Screenplay?

[NicoleMD]

For those of you who write both Novels and Screenplays:

When a story idea comes to you, how do you decide what format to put it in? What story elements make for better screenplays vs. novels?

The story I'm writing as a screenplay started off as an idea for a novel. In my writing group we did an exercise where we were supposed to write a scene that was meant to be read out loud. I used a scene from this story, and learned that when words are allowed to escape the confines of a page, you can do all sorts of neat things with them.

This is great! Now I have options...which means I'll have one more decision to make for future works in the hopper.

So when you get an idea, how do you decide?

Nicole

[Plot Device]

I'm just partial to screenplay. Maybe if an idea were overtly swamped with interior monologues, I would gravitate toward a novel. But my first impulse is always screenplay.

[bradsigprod]

Nicole,
here's one opinion. I only write screenplays but my pattern is to begin by writing a moderately detailed treatment which, in effect, is like a short story. So I would say to just write a great story. you can then convert it into a screenplay.

[dpaterso]

Complexity is usually a deciding factor for me. Number and depth of characters, twisting storylines, etc. Simpler, linear stories make for better screenplays (in my opinion).

-Derek

[Maryn]

It's always seems to me that the amount of content, from plot to character development to settings, in a screenplay is the rough equivalent to a longish short story, maybe 5000 - 7500 words.

If you sometimes write fiction, it's relatively easy to write a story-version of your idea. Is it complete, adequately fleshed somewhere under 10,000 words? Then it might make a great screenplay. Are you nearing 10,000 words with tons more to tell that all deserves inclusion? Is there a lot of interior monologue, character development through memory or flashback, lengthy or complex emotional turmoil, or other content that doesn't lend itself to the screen? Then your concept might better suit a novel.

Maryn, pretending this helps

[dpaterso]

This is just for fun's sake, I'm not claiming it matters or anything:

I've played around with adapting prose to screenplays and vice versa (haven't we all?) just to see how things broke down. Short stories never seemed to have enough content, I always had to add something extra to the mix, which meant a big re-think since that extra content had to be integral to the story, not just obvious padding. In most cases it was too much hard work! Novellas (from 30k to 40k words) usually gave me an ideal weight of material for a straight adaptation without needing to cut stuff and restructure. When adapting screenplays to prose I usually ended up with lightweight novellas around 30k.

Conclusion: this adaptation business is trickier than I thought, maybe it's best left for the pros! Try it for fun by all means but don't expect great results (or for anyone to appreciate your efforts).

-Derek

[zeprosnepsid]

I agree with Maryn more or less. If you look at films throughout history, short stories and novella do seem to make better adaptations. Because even good novel adaptations don't usually live up to the book and cut a whole lot on the way (even the very long adaptations). You end up losing a lot of the depth of the story.

But Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me, Rear Window, 2001, Brokeback Mountain -- they are all films that seem like they adequately explore their themes, really develop their characters - but aren't overplotted.

So I do think a short story/novella length fiction work is probably best suited to adaptation simply when it comes to including and exploring the themes and characters properly.

[RainbowDragon]

Often ideas present themselves with their format already included. They say, "I'd be a great movie but not enough substance for a novel" or "I'd be a great novel and film!" All you have to do is listen. I would suspect if yours started as a novel idea and translated nicely to a script, it may be telling you it could stand up as both and just depends on whether you want to write it out as one, the other or both.

Good luck!!

[Jamesaritchie]

I don't think there's a difference. If I can turn an idea into a novel, I can also turn it into a screenplay, and the other way around. It isn't about what, it's about how.

[NicoleMD]

Thanks for the suggestions. I guess it might also be a matter of when the ideas come tapping against my noggin. November I write novels, June I write screenplays. The rest of the year I edit. Problem solved. :)

Nicole

[Writer2011]

For a while I wrote only screenplays....but am writing both now. Whenever I get an idea, I have to decide if it's going to be a novel or screenplay.

Say I want to write a mystery about a P.I. Well I think to myself, "Will this make a decent screenplay or novel?" or "If I were to go to the movies, would I rather see a whacko chasing after oversexed teens or a man trying to find a missing person?"

Hope this helps..

[javili]

Is it possible to write both at once from the same ideas and characteres?

Gracias
Javi

[L Anne]

Complexity is usually a deciding factor for me. Number and depth of characters, twisting storylines, etc. Simpler, linear stories make for better screenplays (in my opinion).

-Derek

I agree. Both forms have their pros and cons, so if you want to get really complicated or if you want to do some kind of long, epic-like series, novels are usually the way to go. You can have complicated screenplays, too, but you have to incorporate it into a reasonable time limit and such.

I only recently started writing plays and had to help direct them for my high school. It's somewhat limiting since I'm so used to novel and short story writing, but there are a lot of other possibilities that are just plain fun to use. In novel writing, you can only describe so much in terms of setting before your readers get bored and turn on the tv. In a play, you get complete control of every table, coffee mug, and pebble on the set, along with costumes, lighting... The only setback is that you have to make sure to arrange it in a way that looks "complete" and at the same time enhances important parts of the scenery. Plus, there's all the fun with dialogue and sounds (esp. music) that some of you've already mentioned.

You can't be too abstract with plays or movies, though. In a novel or short story, you can have buckets of symbolism and readers would be able to understand the significance of, let's say, a woman's red lipstick. In a play, abstract messages will likely fly past the viewers' heads. A lot of stuff happens in a play and your audience won't have time to contemplate the color of Player #5's socks.

And then there's all those little things. I like going on flowery!prose!tangents, so I prefer novels. Someone else might want to do fantasy or sci-fi. Details and special effects are easier to get across in novels...unless you get a deal with a big movie company or something. :)


Is it possible to write both at once from the same ideas and characteres?


I would think so, though I've never tried it. I guess it depends what kind of story it is, because you can't overload a play with action and complex ideas, but at the same time it has to keep the audience's attention and has to make sense. A novel requires more...uh...meat. More descriptions than plays. </not very helpful>

[Hillgate]

FWIW: As long as you have a great screenplay you can normally turn it into a good novel as long as you can write prose and think of additional sub-plots and flesh out your internal monologue. I'm not sure it always works the other way around because books work off a very different pace to film and the story, as Dpaterso points out, is often less linear and hard to adapt.

And note 'Great' to 'good'. A lot of fabulously talented novelists just cannot write screenplays, and vice-versa.

Good luck whatever your decision!