I am very happy to introduce to you the author of one of my favorite
books, The Book of Poisons! Serita Stevens is well-published as a
novelist, writing authority, and script writer. One of her books is up
for consideration as a TV series! Watch for Red Sea, Dead Sea.
-->
Producers these
days are looking for source material – books, articles, stories, plays or
anything with other backing. They
like knowing that there is a fan base already established for the story they
are buying. So why not double your chances of a
successful sale?
Each story has its
own home; Its own best way of being told.
Some stories, however, can be told in more than one form. To do this, however, takes knowledge
and understanding of what the other forms need and how they are prepared. Each form requires a different way of
thinking and a slightly altered writing style. You can do it, but it takes thought and time to learn.
As an established
writer of both books and scripts, I do many book/film deals. One may think it is only a matter of
learning a different format, but it is truly more than that. There are many similarities since a
good story is, after all, a good story, but there are also differences.
Many hold the myth that writing scripts
are easier. I believe that is
false. It takes just as much work
to write a compelling script as it does a fascinating book, but the techniques
vary a bit.
Some of the things
that are the same in books and scripts are this –
PLOTTING
No matter what you
are writing, the work requires good structure- including inciting incidents,
plot twists and dynamic scenes; well-drawn characters – both protagonists and
antagonists - with their own goals, flaws and desires; and, of course, dynamic
endings.
CHARACTERIZATION
For all my stories
– be they books or scripts – I do a complete character biography of ALL of my
characters. These people must be
well-rounded and believable. You must understand their journey and
their arc. This includes the secondary
participants, as well, since they can often effect the plot, the theme or have
their own subplot, which can promote the theme.
Many new writers
think that physical description is crucial to the character. It’s not. It’s their attitude and what action
that they are involved in that tells us about who they are. Be sure to balance the good and bad aspects of the person. No
one is all good and very few people are all evil.
OUTLINING
Outlining, may not
be for everyone, but I find, is essential to make sure that I cover all the
plot points and plant the twists and clues in the right places. It helps me to keep the stakes high and
focus on the genre I am writing. It
also helps me to do more than one project at a time as I can see what needs to
be done on that story for that day.
It doesn't mean I stick like glue to the outline. It does mean I use it as a guide.
THE FIRST PAGES
Beginnings, the
first few pages, are crucial for both books and scripts. Today, unlike in the past when the
author could meander about history and setting, stories must start with action
and jump into your characters. We
must be hooked immediately with the problem, situation, identify the setting, and
get to know the main character, at the same time. Not an easy
task, but it can and, often, is done.
In neither case do
you get the luxury of wandering around your setting. Back stories , if referred
to here, must be only hinted at to give the reader a reason to want to continue
reading. Prologues can sometimes
be used in books, and occasionally in scripts, to set the tone, but should be
used sparingly.
TITLES
Titles are another
bugaboo for many writers. Your
title must give a hint about the genre and the story. While titles are not copyrightable, it is a good idea to research your
title and see other stories with your same title as you do not want to be
identified with a story that did not do well. One of my stories, now being done as a script, The Unborn, has been used as a title for
many films and books and in order to make mine more unique, I changed it to Unborn Witness.
UNDERSTANDING ONE’S AUDIENCE
The writer must
understand their audience. Who are they writing for? Don’t say that your story is for everyone because very few
stories are. It’s naïve to think
that all will like your work. Are
you doing a chick-flick? A
mystery? An action or thriller? Is
it something that young men will like more than women? It is something for the older
viewer? Understand who the reader
is and write for them.
PROOF READING
Grammar and
spelling must be checked no matter what you are writing. We are writers and there is no excuse for doing this
poorly. I often write my first
draft quickly and miss things but it's important to go over what you have
done. I find that even after
re-reading my material several times, mistakes can be found and I have an
outside reader to go over my material before I hand it in.
There are,
however, many differences between writing scripts and writing books.
NOTES
Script writing,
even more so than book writing, is a team effort. As a novelist, it is easier to write alone in Iowa. You might get notes from your agent
and/or the editor, but you are more autonomous as writer. Whereas being a scriptwriter, you will
find notes come not only from the producer, studio, director, actor, and others. You must understand that the script is
a blueprint for a movie. You must
understand that not everything you write is gold and if you cannot accept notes
and be willing to change, you will not get very far. There is an art
to listening and accepting notes.
FORMAT
While it looks
like format is the main difference between scripts and books, this is just the
tip of the iceberg. As for formatting, I like Movie Magic
the best because they do not charge for tech support as Final Draft does. No matter which program you use,
understand things like the use of parentheticals, slug lines, etc. Read produced scripts to see what
the format is and don’t have numbering or camera angles on your spec script as
that marks you as a novice.
PAGE COUNT
Length is one big
thing. While a book can be as long
as your publisher will allow it and most books are a minimum of 300 typed pages
or much longer, a script can be only 90 to 100 pages. (120 used to be accepted,
but lately, a shorter page account has come to be expected.) Should you turn in
a script longer than 120, you will, especially if you are an unknown writer,
have difficulty getting read no matter how protest at the merit of your
story.
APPEARANCE
White space is
crucial. The overwhelmed reader
will often flip through the pages.
If the pages are too dense with narrative, they might just put your
script down.
POV
Point of view in
the script is far more focused than a book. While in books you can alternate POV and tell parts of the
story from other characters and even go off onto subplot tangents, the script
should be mainly from the main character and that protagonist should be active
in solving their own problem.
It is said that the main character should appear in, or be part of 80%
of the scenes.
NARRATIVE
Writing short
sentences creates suspense in books, but even more so in scripts. Less is more here. Be succinct in your writing. While in books you do not want huge
unbroken descriptive passages, narrative in scripts should be, if you can help
it, no more than five lines.
The white space actually pushes the reader forward where as the longer
paragraphs slow them down.
When writing your
book, you must consider and explore all your senses. What is the character
feeling, seeing, smelling, hearing, sensing, etc? In scripts, you are limited to the visual. In both, specifics are important, but
even more so in scripts. Leave the
script’s stage dressing to the designers.
DIALOGUE
While books can
have more on-the-nose dialogue, subtext is crucial in the script. No more than five lines of
dialogue. Think of the poor actor
trying to memorize all you have written when you have a huge monologue. Try reading it out loud,
yourself. If you must have a
dialogue longer than five lines, try breaking it up with an action line.
VISUALIZATON
Books will allow
you to get into your character’s head and talk about their feelings and hear
their thoughts. Not so in
scripts. Everything, and I mean
everything, must be visual. If you
say that the character is angry, how do we know, what do we see?
BUDGET
Especially if you
are a fairly new writer, if you want your script to be produced, you have to
keep the budget in mind. The fewer
the characters, the less it will cost.
When doing an adaptation of a book, I often find that I have to combine
excess characters. Think
about the locations you have, cast of thousands, car chases, uses of animals and
use of children. It’s okay to
write them if you only want to have this as a reading sample, or if it really
is crucial to the story, but keep it to a minimum.
PAYMENT
Another myth is
that the book writer is paid handsomely for their rights. This, alas, is often false. Since the production company, often
before they sell the story, must pay to have the script written, will hire
another writer to expand and focus the story into what is needed for a
script.
The book writer -
who in today's publishing world might be lucky to get a small advance from the
publisher, sometimes must kiss their stories goodbye and let the A-list script
writers to do what they will do.
That doesn’t mean you, the book writer, can’t do a first draft of the
script. It does mean that you will
be, if you are lucky, partnered with an established scriptwriter that the
studio or production company feels more confidence in.
Books turned into
film are often vastly different from the printed word for a variety of reasons.
As I said, it is
possible to do both, but you need to be aware of the limitations of each and
what is required of each format.
It might take you longer to write the book because you have to write
more words, but the script requires just as much prep time in characterization,
plotting and research as the book does.
Good luck.
-->
An established writer of mystery, crime, historical,
thriller, western and young adult novels, as well as several produced and many
optioned screenplays, Serita also teaches writing. Her newest books include The
Ultimate Writers Workbook For Books And Scripts - based on her teaching at
USC. UCLA and other universities and Against
Her Will, a teen drama based on her experiences as a psychiatric nurse. The
script/book is now being considered by Lifetime.
She frequently lectures at both national and international
writing conferences and mentors young writers.
Trained as a forensic nurse, she helps other writers with
their medical and investigational questions. One of her popular book is The Book of Poisons from Writer's Digest for writers to get their
poisons correct when killing off their victims. Recently, it was featured on a Law &Order!!
See more about her at www.seritastevens.com or reach her at
sswriter400@gmail.com
