I am an attorney/software developer/project manager who has, up till now, had no connection whatsoever with the creative community. I do have a project I'm working on, a fun little time travel story I was telling my six year old granddaughter that took on a life of its own. I was just going to try and set it down in a book, but my granddaughter is bugging me to make it a movie, so I'm looking into that as well. I started a Kickstarter page, but the writing effort has become much more intense, so the funding side has been on hold (OK, outright neglected). It's fun, though. I'm learning a lot. Especially about ancient Rome. Some fun things, and some things you wouldn't want to know. The book, and the movie, will be suitable for adorable six year old granddaughters. :)
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Yep, I've got a Jekyll/Hyde thing going on with that. Now it wants to be a script, now it wants to be a book. I really have to do both to get where I want to go.
OK, I'll bite. What 'zactly is a "NA dark thriller?" New Age? New Amsterdam? Not Applicable? :) As for scripts, I like the novel format, because you get to control every brush stroke, as it were. The description is part of the art. And when you want to go off into thought-provoking monologues, if you write them well, you can keep the reader's interest. Screenplay seems like mostly pure dialog, and you're letting the director (or whoever does that - I am a novice) fill in much of the "vision" of the visual dimension. But my problem is I have a lot of fast moving dialog, and in novel form it gets slowed down by setting up all the signals of who is saying what to whom in what situation, etc. So in reading it out loud I've had people tell me, "hey, that should be a screenplay." So I'm confused. I suppose this is all just my inexperience talking. Right now I'd be happy just to get the story written and done. The concept is, I think, great, the beginning is pretty good, but the middle is getting bogged down in too much detail. Or something. Sigh.
Good thoughts, Peter. Thanks for the input. And yes, the story's the thing.
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Nice to meet you Joe. I'd suggest the Screenwriters Bible as a place to start and a good reference point as you begin this journey.
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What comes first, the story or the script? I believe that if you have an idea for a book and you want to write a book, then do that, it's great, then you can adapt the book into a script, the dialogue is already there, so all you need to do is transfer the dialogue into script format, with the character and location details. You can then publish the book and pitch the script. The great thing about doing it that way, is that you have the 'novel' with all the discerning details, emotions and descriptions and you have the script, which is what you need to turn it into a film.
Rosalind, some very good thoughts there. You're probably right. The screenplay would be better driven by the book than the other way around, for the reasons you gave. Now all I have to do is finish it.
Aray, had to look that up. "New Adult" = protagonists age 18-30. Just about right for my protagonist. But my story is strictly G-rated. Maybe PG-13. For the slightly scatological Latin password.
Jeff, good advice is good advice. For example, when I'm writing a brief, I never have a problem with a slow spot in the plot. It's just high energy argument from start to finish. But in my story, I have this pretty intriguing beginning, then the protagonist arrives in his new world, and whoosh, out goes the air, and "what do I do now" sets in. Little islands of goodness separated by miles and miles of "so what." I've got an overall arc, and appealing individual character arcs. But making it real without getting lost in reality. There's the rub.
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Hey Joe, May I jump in on this discussion? You are dealing with a fundamental problem that we all face. I am an editor. The word is "cut!" Drop the miles and miles of "so what" and see what you've got left, then figure out how to connect one moment to the next. Keep in mind that every frame must engage the viewer emotionally. It is a story, not a brief, it needs to change pace like a symphony. Slow has to exist or fast will make no sense. Tease and tantalize. Then "bang" let 'em have it! Repetition is death, repetition in new ways is art. If you have fun with your story so will we. If your granddaughter keeps asking questions, you're on the right track.