Television or movie

Turning them into published books is my only goal. However, they would make good movies, especially the first one,

I picture movies in my head, but it's not like I'm gonna turn my nose up at either.

Depends. Who's paying more?

Personally, I'd prefer television. More time for character development and subplots, and a better chance that the story wouldn't be entirely gutted in an attempt to condense it down to a 120 page screenplay.

Honestly I'd rather my favorite book be a TV show than the movies it is, only because TV shows come out more often and have more character development. But on the one-in-a-million chance that someone picked up one of my books, I'd rather a movie because a TV show would feel like it was unnecessarily stretching it out.

For a straight plot-to-screen adaptation, I'd think movies (or, at most, miniseries) are the way to go - unless I someday write a multivolume epic. Yes, there's likely to be some condensing and/or adaptation, but it tells the story without extra embelishments or the need to make everything "episodic" in nature.

For exploring the worlds around and beyond the story, a TV show might work... assuming anyone deems any of my story worlds worth hanging around in. That way, the arcs aren't tied to the book so closely, allowing it to take on a life of its own. (TV being a group effort, I can only imagine what a team of writers might come up with that I, by myself, fail to see.)

But, really, I need to actually write the things first, then convince other people they're worth reading.

Settlement 1 would be great for movie adaptation. There's one driving plot problem, three crises, and a resolution, without too much happening on the side. Settlement 2 and 3 (and what I've written of 4) still have central conflicts, but they devolve into soap operas, basically. Would be great for television.

WriteMinded said:

Turning them into published books is my only goal. However, they would make good movies, especially the first one,

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I'm with WriteMinded on this. It's a nice daydream, but it's just a daydream until the book's published.

That said, probably movie because I don't write series books.

I have it in my head as scenes before I write it out. I'm not sure if that comes from my theater background...but because of that I've always seen it as a movie. Lately though, television has been getting the same respect and budget as film. That being said, I think a series would work better on something like HBO or Showtime and leave the one-off for movies.

Settlement 1 would be great for movie adaptation. There's one driving plot problem, three crises, and a resolution, without too much happening on the side. Settlement 2 and 3 (and what I've written of 4) still have central conflicts, but they devolve into soap operas, basically. Would be great for television.

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This setup almost sounds like a pilot episode and then the rest of the series.

jjdebenedictis said:

I'm with WriteMinded on this. It's a nice daydream, but it's just a daydream until the book's published.

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Once the book is published, it's still a daydream. And psh, "just." Daydreaming is what writers do.

Neither.

Jamesaritchie said:

Neither.

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You might be in luck.

Not given it much thought before, but I guess the best format for my story would be a two part mini series - there's an absolutely cracking place to leave off right in the middle, where the shit really hits the fan and the whole game changes.

Thinking about it, I could probably split the book in two right there, except it would be a terrible cliffhanger...

Years ago, i would have quickly said movies, but recently there has been a lot more respect and effort put into TV shows. So now you could see a well written series or long-winded epic put into TV and it would be worth watching. I have to laugh at this sudden obsession with "character" driven shows. Its all i hear. What a joke. Newsflash: there have been character driven shows in the past, they always got cancelled because you had to invest in them, and you didn't always get your happy ending. Suddenly... its 'cool'. Ugh. I'm not complaining though. I still refuse to watch TV, but snippets of this and that i've seen at other people's houses have definitely opened my eyes to this new renaissance of sorts.

Interesting question! For my MG, I'd say movie. For a series of PBs I'd go with television series. Fun to daydream about.

Drinking game. Wait, was that one of the options?

Well in the case of my book, it's an easy answer because the main character is loosely based on a real life stage combat trainer, who I already have in mind to play the part in the days when I can write the script.

Now, is it going to be a successful movie? Maybe not. Maybe it will go to Vimeo to die, or maybe it will get a limited theatrical release. I'm not so naïve as to believe it will be a box office success.

I'd be fine with either, but all my WIPs are standalones, so movies are much more likely. Got to get something published first, though.

Following along the lines of the daydream (however realistic or unrealistic it may be), if any of my stuff became a movie, I'd want some creative control over what happened. I'd be happy to let someone else do the casting and directing but I'd want to at least be partially involved in the script writing, and I would want all the people have to get my approval before any story/character/whatever decisions got finalized. I'd also want to be able to sit in on the filming and see all the behind-the-scenes goings on (especially anything related to costume and set design), because fun.

As you can see, I totally haven't thought about any of these things before. Nope. Not at all.

lenore_x said:

Once the book is published, it's still a daydream. And psh, "just." Daydreaming is what writers do.

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+1

Interesting. A few years ago I suspect most of us would have said movie without much hesitation. Perhaps it's the rise of the TV series that has changed the question.

Mind you, there are bigger things to reach for than either movie or TV miniseries. L. Ron Hubbard managed to turn his writing into a religion. EL James turned Twilight into sales of Kindles. George Lucas turned a movie into dolls, sorry "action figures".

I'd settle for happy readers.

Netflix series! I'm loving the quality of shows that Netflix is producing. They take more risks and are bolder with the shows they're pumping out.

Judging by how bad "Under the dome" turned out I definitely pick movie. Movies are much better at doing faithful adaptations of books than TV. Of course, I don't necessarily need my book to be adapted faithfully, but I would like it to be adapted well. Networks have far too much control of their TV shows for my taste.

Television. I don't really like movies as much as I watch TV. Also, with a TV show, you get to watch your characters for years, whereas with a movie you only get about two hours.

I think I would prefer television for my first series as it would allow a deeper insight into the characters, in particular a side character who has the major role in creating the conflict of the first novel. My characters undergo a lot of growth and a movie may have to speed through that growth.

JetFueledCar said:

But on the one-in-a-million chance that someone picked up one of my books, I'd rather a movie because a TV show would feel like it was unnecessarily stretching it out.

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You could just have a short one-season television series.

If my book became a movie one day they would have to cut so much out and probably change it. It wouldn't even be the same. A TV show would be better.

Even then I'm not even entirely sure I would want it to be on TV.