Toying with an Idea

Mark · Mar 18, 2005

Hi everyone,

Here is what I have going on. Last year, I finished my first novel. It is about ten 20-something guys who spend a week down the shore. It's loaded with characters and dialogue. It is mostly dialogue, actually.

By the time I finished 7 days and ten main characters, not to mention the supporting characters, I had 330,000 words. Being new to the business, I sent out some queries to agents. I bet you can guess that the general theme of rejections was, "too long for an unpublished author." I couldn't even get anyone to read samples.

So, I put it aside an wrote two YA novels. One sports (baseball) and one detective/humor. Both are under 50K words. My aim right now is to work on getting them published. I hope this will help me get my foot in the door. (I also have a WIP about a pub crawl, but that is still just in the making).

Now, here is where I need some feedback. Should I condsider converting my long novel into a television script? Remember, it it mostly dialogue driven. I assume 330K would be too long for a movie script, but would it equate into a season? Hour shows, half hour shows? Is this an avenue worth pursuing? Or should I stick to trying to get it published as a novel?

I know it is hard to answer these questions without knowing the work, but even if you just have some basic or random thoughts, I would like to hear them.

Thanks

IWrite · Mar 19, 2005

Mark -

Some thoughts on your questions.

The odds of someone with no series experience selling a pilot or even getting a meeting are almost non-existent. So unless you know a show runner or David Kelly is your uncle it's probably a waste of time.

Producers are looking for ideas with legs that can generate enough episodes for 5 seasons - because the ultimate goal for tv producers is syndication - production companies normally lose money on the initial runs.

Contrary to popular belief - a screenplay is NOT mostly dialogue it should be at least 50% action 50% dialogue.

Novel writing and screenwriting are very different crafts - if you have no experience as a screenwriter - your best bet may be to edit down your novel - 330K words of mostly dialogue sounds like an awfully talky novel. My guess is you probably don't need half of it.

NikeeGoddess · Mar 19, 2005

adapting

Now, here is where I need some feedback. Should I condsider converting my long novel into a television script? Remember, it it mostly dialogue driven. I assume 330K would be too long for a movie script, but would it equate into a season? Hour shows, half hour shows? Is this an avenue worth pursuing? Or should I stick to trying to get it published as a novel?

the style of scriptwriting is so very different than narrative short story or novel writing. if your really want to attempt adapting them to a different medium then i suggest you invest in some books of adaptation for the screen.
- we don't count words. we count pages. 1 page per 1 screen minute
- you'll have to learn how to write action into dialogue heavy stories
- the fewer characters the better. ensemble pieces are more suitible for tv thou. while adapting many times a writer must combine 2 or 3 characters into one.
- a published story is usually easier to "pitch" b/c a producer can see that a publisher already thought the story was strong enough to put into print.

and make sure you read, read, read tv or film scripts and see how it's done

Mark · Mar 19, 2005

IWrite and Nikee,

Thanks for your thoughts. I bought a few screenplays (Green Mile and American Pie) to get a feel for screen writing as well as an few instructional books.

However, from your thoughts I can see that maybe it is not the way to go. Maybe adapting this novel to a TV series isn't the best path. I can see that it would be very difficult to get it read for the reasons you stated. It makes sense.

For now, it will just have to sit in my drawer (sigh) until I can get something else published.

As for it being talky, I may have given you guys the wrong impression. There is a lot of dialogue compared to narrative, but that is because my style is to not write lengthy descriptions. I like to describe emotions and places through my characters words. The reason for the length is just too many days (7) for 10 characters. Guess I over did it, but I loved every minute I wrote and that is what it is all about. (The few people who did read it, liked it too. That makes me feel good)

Thanks for the advice, I'm glad I wrote this post before I spent a good deal of time converting. Good luck to you guys,too.

sgtsdaughter · Mar 19, 2005

just a passing thought

another thought . . . shelf the 330K novel for a year or so, and then go back. maybe you'll be one of the lucky few and a get a nice publication run on one of the other books you've got going, or maybe you'll come back with fresh eyes and shorten it or make it a series of novels . . . just a thought. :Sun:

Annessa
Pitfalls Between Nightfall and Daybreak

Mark · Mar 19, 2005

Annessa,

Yeah, I will definitely have to do some shortening the more I think about it. For now, I am going to stick to that plan of trying to get something else to work. Thanks for the feedback.

kojled · Mar 21, 2005

theater

mark

i'd consider doing parts of it for theater. dialogue heavy stuff is a natural fit for the stage. consider breaking it up into segments. offer for theater workshops (they're always looking for scenes to work). ultimate goal would be a theater production you could use to boost support for publication of novel

zilla

Mark · Mar 21, 2005

Kojled,

Interesting... I never thought of that. I have been trying to decide how to break it down. It's no easy task, but I am going to have to try.

I don't know much about theatre groups, but I'll look into to it. Might not be a bad idea. After I play with it for a while, I am going to post a scene in the critique forum. Maybe you can take a peek at it for me then.

Thanks

Lady Brick · Mar 21, 2005

Just some advice... adaptation is really an entire art form in itself. If you are looking to do any work in screenwriting or playwriting, I'd try out some fresh material first to get a feel for the forms. Playwriting is especially good for that, with 10 minute plays being such a common thing.

Mark · Mar 22, 2005

Thanks to Lady Brick and everyone else. Good advice. I am going to try and get familiar with screenwriting by writing some short scenes. So maybe some day in the future I can put a full piece together from for some of my ideas, while waiting to hear on my books.

I posted a short scene in the critique forum. Maybe if you have some free time you can take a peek.

Thanks to all.

Toying with an Idea

Nearing the end of an era