Thread: Should I Just Make My Trilogy Into A Movie? Or Is It Better To Start It As A Book?

Ok so write now I'm trying to write a alternative history trilogy in book form. I've asked some questions on the other forum for writing tips, so if anyone wants to know the background on what I'm doing go here;

http://www.writingforums.com/tips-ad...-dialects.html

The reason why I decided to make a book out of it is because that is the medium I've been planing on doing for a long time. But I ultimately want to make it into a film. An in fact that is what I might be majoring in college (I'm undeclared now). I might as well make it into a movie, not only because I maybe majoring in filmaking in college, but I have experience with movies than books. In fact I haven't read many fiction books to begin with, alternative history or otherwise. Despite this, I do read a lot (philosophy, science, art, non-fiction type of stuff) so I don't necessarily have a handicap in writing. Nevertheless, I am so much more of a movie buff I guess, maybe I should just write a movie script. The problem is that I have less of an idea on how to exactly go about writing a movie script, despite being a big movie buff. And maybe it would be better to start this out as a book, since it might provide more foundation.....you know like Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings series (one of the few fiction trilogies I've read that was later made into movies). Then again maybe I can make the book later and concentrate on the movie now. Yeah maybe I should do that. After all more people watch movies now a day and if I create masterpieces it may create a sort of nostalgia that will only make people want to read my books of it later on. Of course the opposite maybe true as well, I'm not sure.

Grrrrrr.......I don't know.......it's so hard for me to decide. I have so many ideas buzzing around in my head and I just can't decide on which is the best course of action. But I do feel like I am getting closer to deciding what I should do....well one progress I've made is I am sure about the epic I'm writing, I've fluctuated a lot in the past but now I'm sure this is what I want to work on. Now I'm sure on what story I will do, but what should the medium be?

Please help me decide. Thanks to all who read and even more to those reply!

And BTW, would the same advice offered on my Tips & Advice thread for my trilogy on language be applicable for movie scripts?

At the heart of it, whether it's a screenplay or novel, it's still a story. Why don't you focus on telling your story in your outline and long synopsis. Once you get that down, you can start writing the book and at anytime you can switch to the screenplay if you need to. The book is what you really want to do, as you've stated, so do it.

Write in whatever format is going to get the story out onto the page. You can adapt it in either direction later. If you're a stronger prose writer, write it prose. If you're stronger writing for the screen, write a script.

Don't get bogged down in format, whatever you do. Just tell the story and worry about formatting it later.

B.

Either way, your first task is going to be cracking Book One out of your trilogy. This can be tough. It has to stand alone, whether as a novel or a film. (Even if the "aloneness" is shaky, as in LOTR)

You're going to have three self-contained stories, which also support the overall story arc. Say what they will about JK Rowling (the jealous yowlers) the Harry Potter series is a really good, accessible example of that.

It doesn't matter whether you are "stronger" at prose of screenplay (or if you even know yet), what's more important is that the nature of your choice fit your writing needs at the moment.

One thing about a script--it really enforces having a tight story. If you are familiar at all with scriptwriting, it might be a good place to start--especially if you're a little hazy on where to break up the trilogy and what goes where.

The advantage of doing a script first is that it strips things down. They write faster and can give you an idea of the shape of your plot quicker. And then, converting to novel is a matter of ADDING things, rather than chopping them away.

On the other hand, if you aren't familiar with screenplay format writing but have a pretty good idea of your story shape, there is the advantage that writing novel first gets it all out. And the script can (possibly) be adapted fairly quickly once done.

It's impossible to tell without knowing who you are or what you're working on, but all else being equal, I'd say that taking the script on first means you can start out with the easy part as far as writing, tackle the tough part first as far as plotting and shape...and make your early mistakes in the shorter, quicker format. If you're going to have to ditch a chapter or episode or rewrite it, would you rather it be a 10.000 word novel segment full of carefully crafted description, or 10 pages of script?

Having run this both ways, I find doing the script first then adapting to be MANY times easier. Even pro writers get fits trying to break a novel down into screenplay form. Adaptation is know to be a buggger.

One thing you might do...if you can produce a section of either one, adapt it immediately to get a feel for it.

Good luck

BTW it's easier to get decent critique on a script than a novel.

It's easier to sell a novel than a screenplay.