novel writing v. screenwriting....

anyone considering going over to the dark side? i am.

i just think that i'd rather see my name on the credits more than one a book cover. realistically, i don't to see my name on anything, really, it's not a big deal to me. i think that for me, though, that once i learned how to write a script, i could actually put out more content.

i'm not sure the competition is any more harsh for either of them. any comments about which is harder to make a living doing?

speaking of money, and i realize there are no real averages for either, which one do you think would be more financially beneficial? true, with novels you earn royalities, potentially for a long time, but you can always resell a script whose option has run out (theoretically, at least). having seen the sample contract from the WGA for screenwriters, i *think* i'd rather have the screenwriter's money.

all things considered, has it crossed anyone's mind? those who do both, if you had to choose (i know it's a hypothetical question you'd never really have to decide) which avenue would you go and why?

i've checked your shit out, john. pretty awesome resume. it's your 'marmaduke' contribution that won me over. and, hey, how old is that niece of yours? major hubba-hubba. tell her i said hi there, hi there very much.

so let me pick your brain while i pick my nose: short of emailing me your tax return, which one, novel writing or screenwriting, has been the better financially? since you do both, do you have an opinion on which one is harder to break into? which one do you spend more time writing individual projects on (no one said i was a grammarian)? more intrusive questions pending.

claudia, i've not written any scripts yet, so i can't say which one is the best course for me personally. i'm rather kind of torn. on one hand, i can be relatively free in a novel whereas a script is, it seems, much more structured in terms of how producers want a story to unfold (i.e., it seems they're much more attuned to following the three act thing). on the other hand, i believe that i can probably actually get a story out of my head *a lot* faster and not have to worry about a lot of prose issues that takes four months to sift through. plus, as i mentioned, i'm considering the economics because ultimately i don't really care overmuch what format the story comes out it in as long as it comes out. (yes, i realize what i write may bear little resemblence to what makes it onscreen. i'm okay with that, i think. i'll ask my banker to console me if that happens.)

someone else today recommended 'save the cat,' so thanks for adding to that. if i get a chance, i might see if i can pick up a copy this weekend. blake snyder, unless i'm mistaken, has a kind of formula to follow, no?

deepening the pit of selfishness, i think screenwriting *seems* more exciting. no, i don't think i could do a tv series, either. while i can stick to a rough formula, my mind doesn't work in episode form that doesn't have an ending. i couldn't do a show that goes on forever until it's cancelled. have no illusions, though, my show would kick ass. not sure what it would be about, but that's just details.

true, no one has to choose. i could do both. but, to be honest, if one's paying off more than the other, i'm sticking with the one i can retire early on. yeah, right ~ early retirement... bwahahahahaha!

that's a consideration, too, having the control over your own product. well, as much control as is reasonable. even when the editor wants changes made, you have control over how those changes go. and, yeah, it would somewhat of a nightmare if you went to see your own story on screen and it's nothing like you envisioned at all (unless, of course, you wrote the shooting script, in which case you should expect it to be pretty accurate to a certain degree, eh?).

true, a movie is a collaborative effort. you take your changes there. it could be a disaster, or it could come out better than you thought possible. i mean, you've got a lot of people who are creative working at being creative, so it could work out really well, right?

in all reality, chances are i'd be lucky to sell the option. in those terms, selling the option to a script as opposed to selling a novel, i wonder how much more my 'odds' improve of turning a buck. (i know it's not random chance or luck, but 'odds' seemed the right word.)

30, huh? good age. what's her being married have to do with it, though? heh heh heh.

i'm a bit on the fence with mother goose and grimm. i'm from dayton, so mike peters' work is well-known (he does a lot of editorial cartoons for the local rag, too). i used to work with a very talented artist who claims he knew peters and peters stole the grimm idea from him. my intellect says this guy is full of it, but, damn, he just would get so angry and passionate about recalling the story, it made you kind of wonder if there was a kernel of truth to it. ne'ertheless, it used to be one of my favourites.

curious about something: say you write the novel and the publisher sells it to a production company and they have a screenwriter do the script. if the movie is a blockbuster, is the author entitled to extra, rather like 'royalties'? are authors ever offered points? or would get a flat fee for the rights and hope the movie motivates people to buy the books? naturally nothing is written in stone, but is there a 'norm' here? (thanks for answering, btw.)

i can hardly say i'm a student of film, but i generally can predict how things are going to go. that's another thing, that i feel my storytelling methodology fits screenplays closer than novels.

i haven't the time for a class. i wish i did, but, as i've said before, the most worthless class i've ever taken was 'creative writing.' what a farce. i think i'll save a few bucks, some time, and gas and read a how-to to get the basics.

not *too* interested in t.v. anyway, for me it would be movie scripts. a little action, a little drama, something pleasing to the eye. basically junk aimed at the crotch. i'll be rich. watch for me at the oscars. i'll be the one tom cruise keeps winking at while i'm calling security.

still, if you pay attention, there is a little bit of writing involved in most reality shows. granted, most of it can be done on a cocktail napkin, but still....

one thing i'm not too hep on about screenplays is the format. it looks... bare and naked somehow to me. and the need to write in present tense. but, hey, i don't have to worry about heap-hopping, eh? and if i head-hop in a script, something's seriously wrong with how i'm doing it, lol.

awesome information, guys.

well, i wouldn't have a problem with taking an assignment. i don't think i would, at any rate. i've said it a hundred times ~ i'm a whore like that.

i don't grasp the 'oh, woe is me, i have to work from a formula!' complaint, as if there's no formulaic novel writing. and like a screenwriter who's done fifty scripts would somehow, by some virtue, not subconsciously continue to write in a formulaic way. 'but, oh!, there's no creativity in the formula!' huh? i swear, sometimes i think creative people forget that they're supposed to be *creative*. if there's nothing to scripts other than plugging in names and coming up with a few half-assed bits of something kinda sorta different, as the formula argument implies, why bitch about easy money? what, tired of seeing your name onscreen? making too much money? you're going to scream if you get one more oscar invitation? yeah, writing novels is the sure-fire way to solve *those* problems, huh, dumbass? (that one's for you, david.)

i would imagine there's a pretty lopsided set of numbers of screenwriters who get greenlit or optioned v. the amount of writers who see publication of some kind. i'd also venture to guess that people who have no business doing either figure screenwriting is easier (none of that messy prose stuff you have to learn, right?) and skew the stats quite a bit. it's hard to equate the two, imo, because i think right off you would have to eliminate those who should have taken up basket weaving instead of novels and/or scripts if you wanted to wanted to get to the heart of your 'odds' (for lack of a better term).

you're right, too, and even a chowderhead like myself would know better even on a cursory initial thought that points on net would be laughably dumb. i'd also think that points on gross would be dreaming, but i guess that depends on the project and the expectations. don't they offer points on the production cost?

raven, doesn't the WGA guarantee that pay to everyone as a base? that is, you can get no less than that?

and, yeah, it sounds like a lot of money. if you live in dayton. los angeles, and you'll find quite a difference in the cost of living, i'm sure. it was when i lived there briefly years ago. i mean, i was still a kid of 18, living on the beach, and was making eight bucks an hour at taco bell twenty years ago. i think minimum wage here in ohio was eighteen cents a day and you could buy a two-story house for $1,500 and have enough left over to get your wife those boobs you've been wanting. hell, you could get them for your girlfriend, too (conventional wisdom goes that you should stop there lest your dog's name gets changed to 'dolly'). i may be exaggerating a little bit.

true, it's probably easier to become a broker. and probably pays better. then again, i don't recall ever seeing a disgraced screenwriter being lead off to jail for insider script writing, either. plus, i'd imagine that when that skank in the bar asks you what you do for a living, screenwriting illicits more wows than brokering. and if she's seen your movie, you'll be peeling her panties off later. what's she going to ask a broker, 'so, sold any stocks lately that i happen to own, too?' and i'll wager that more WGA membership cards are right next to 'official bikini inspector' cards (ladies beware, most of these are counterfeit) in the wallet than whatever it is they give brokers, so guess who i would want to hang with?

granted, i'd hang out on writers sites. probably better than porn sites. i mean, honestly, who's more prone to receive child porn, a screenwriter or a guy in a suit?

is there any estimates on how many scripts and options are sold per year? raven, do you have an opinion on the percentage of scripts you discount almost immediately as garbage? hm, not sure that would help even trying to come up with fantasy math 'stats,' would it?

i don't know if i love screenwriting yet. i'm not completely in love with trying to write fiction. just to tell a story, i don't care if it's in skywriting.

and thanks for reminding me of residuals, i'd completely forgotten about those.

it's kinda funny, too, that i could write a really lame horror script (pretty fast, to boot) and it make money and write a great horror and it not earn out the advance. who knows?

for the record, what's really got me more excited about scripts is a story idea i had, which i called 'i scream man,' (a play on 'ice cream man') a cheesy horror story. well, i thought i better check the title out. i'm glad i did, and i wish i didn't at the same time. yep, 'i scream man,' due out september of '08 right around my birthday, starring crispin glover (in the movie, not my birthday). well, it's a cinch my story would have rocked the hairs off your ass while that other story will suck harder than monica lewinsky at the democratic presidential debate (sorry for the lame joke, you should be used to them by now), but i've other ideas.

great post, drury, sorry i didn't see it before posting the previous mess. i take it you'd still have to say the money is with the screenwriting, huh? don't get me wrong, i'm not switching over (for as long as it may last anyway) just because there's potentially some better money in it on average (is it fair to say that?), really rather than i think that since i'm such a visual kind of person (and we probably all say that, eh?) the stories i'm interested in telling lend itself more to be seen than read.

like you said, once it's in someone else's hands, they have to apply their own vision to it. there's only three possible outcomes: it's worse than you thought, it's just what you thought it would be more or less, or it's far superior and you wonder how the hell something you ever did turned out to be so awesome. depends on your expectations, i reckon.