Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bianca Filoteo on November 10, 2009 at 2:14pm

I'm actually a bit new to screenwriting (I'm also an actor). I've been reading a lot of scripts, so I have learned a couple of things from that alone. I'm also in a screenwriting class (which I am loving!), so I'm really excited to working on a feature film script right now.

Were you thinking of taking some of your text and putting that into a video to promote your work? If it's for a book, one thing you can do is to maybe create short web episodes or a fictional blog of a character, where the web episode or blog post would have content that isn't in your book - it would be more like supplementary material. Perhaps an insight to the personality of your character, or a little incident that happened to that character that can further illustrate that character's story in your book. That could draw in the reader/viewer even more and make them want to read your book :)

The idea of putting text from a book into a short video is pretty neat. I guess it just depends on how it's executed. I can't help but think that viewers/readers might want to see the rest of the book on video (which could be time-consuming and costly if you were to decide to do this)

From what I'm learning right now, writing a script is completely different from writing a novel or a short story. I would think that adapting a book into a screenplay will be just as tough (maybe even tougher). It's as if you're translating things into a different language almost. There is a certain format to follow with scripts - it's a different way of writing a story that I'm learning to adapt to as opposed to writing fiction. For example: you can't write what John Smith is feeling in a scene. You need to write what he is doing, the description of the place that he's in, what he's wearing, etc. The writing on a screenplay is literally all descriptions of what you can see.

When I first started out, I would write something like: "John Smith felt the need to walk over to Jane Doe, but he couldn't because he was scared. As a result, he just stood there." However, it should be more like this: "John Smith sees Jane Doe. He takes a step with his right foot, but then freezes. He looks at Jane again. He remains standing at the same spot for five minutes as Jane leaves the room."

If you are considering creating a video, go for it! It'd be an added bonus for your readers :)

Margy Rydzynski said:

Yes, very interesting. I'm fascinated by your background in screenwriting. I've been playing with the idea of trailers and realize that straight text doesn't quite cut it. You have to incorporate visual as well as textual elements. I'm still trying to figure out how to do that. Any thoughts or suggestions, based on your background?


Bianca Filoteo said:

I too have thought about creating a fiction blog. Since I'm also a screenwriter, I've been planning to create a web series and incorporating a blog written by one (or some) of the characters of the series, as well as creating a Twitter account for one or more characters. Creating a Facebook Page would be great to promote it as well.

Things do seem to be going online. Even if I love the feeling of reading a book in my hand, the web is very powerful tool to at least showcase your work to a lot of people.

Here is an example of the great opportunities social media can bring to us writers: http://mashable.com/2009/11/09/from-twitter-to-tv/

I've been following @shitmydadsays on Twitter for awhile now, and thought that it had some pretty funny/awesome tweets. It turns out that Justin Halpern, the guy who created @shitmydadsays has not only landed a book deal, but an option deal from CBS too!

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Permalink Reply by Margy Rydzynski on November 10, 2009 at 4:56pm

I like your insights into screenwriting vs. fiction. You're right, of course. It's a different way of thinking about telling a story. It's a challenge, but one worth taking on.

I'm still trying to figure out how to "video" a story. Podcasting is one thing: it's a direct outgrowth of reading a story out loud You imagine the scene in your head. The video provides the visual image, that's somehow got to be incorporated into a story.

Thanks for your insights!

Margy

Bianca Filoteo said:

I'm actually a bit new to screenwriting (I'm also an actor). I've been reading a lot of scripts, so I have learned a couple of things from that alone. I'm also in a screenwriting class (which I am loving!), so I'm really excited to working on a feature film script right now.

Were you thinking of taking some of your text and putting that into a video to promote your work? If it's for a book, one thing you can do is to maybe create short web episodes or a fictional blog of a character, where the web episode or blog post would have content that isn't in your book - it would be more like supplementary material. Perhaps an insight to the personality of your character, or a little incident that happened to that character that can further illustrate that character's story in your book. That could draw in the reader/viewer even more and make them want to read your book :)

The idea of putting text from a book into a short video is pretty neat. I guess it just depends on how it's executed. I can't help but think that viewers/readers might want to see the rest of the book on video (which could be time-consuming and costly if you were to decide to do this)

From what I'm learning right now, writing a script is completely different from writing a novel or a short story. I would think that adapting a book into a screenplay will be just as tough (maybe even tougher). It's as if you're translating things into a different language almost. There is a certain format to follow with scripts - it's a different way of writing a story that I'm learning to adapt to as opposed to writing fiction. For example: you can't write what John Smith is feeling in a scene. You need to write what he is doing, the description of the place that he's in, what he's wearing, etc. The writing on a screenplay is literally all descriptions of what you can see.

When I first started out, I would write something like: "John Smith felt the need to walk over to Jane Doe, but he couldn't because he was scared. As a result, he just stood there." However, it should be more like this: "John Smith sees Jane Doe. He takes a step with his right foot, but then freezes. He looks at Jane again. He remains standing at the same spot for five minutes as Jane leaves the room."

If you are considering creating a video, go for it! It'd be an added bonus for your readers :)

Margy Rydzynski said:

Yes, very interesting. I'm fascinated by your background in screenwriting. I've been playing with the idea of trailers and realize that straight text doesn't quite cut it. You have to incorporate visual as well as textual elements. I'm still trying to figure out how to do that. Any thoughts or suggestions, based on your background?


Bianca Filoteo said:

I too have thought about creating a fiction blog. Since I'm also a screenwriter, I've been planning to create a web series and incorporating a blog written by one (or some) of the characters of the series, as well as creating a Twitter account for one or more characters. Creating a Facebook Page would be great to promote it as well.

Things do seem to be going online. Even if I love the feeling of reading a book in my hand, the web is very powerful tool to at least showcase your work to a lot of people.

Here is an example of the great opportunities social media can bring to us writers: http://mashable.com/2009/11/09/from-twitter-to-tv/

I've been following @shitmydadsays on Twitter for awhile now, and thought that it had some pretty funny/awesome tweets. It turns out that Justin Halpern, the guy who created @shitmydadsays has not only landed a book deal, but an option deal from CBS too!

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Permalink Reply by Dominique Millette on February 9, 2010 at 4:55pm

Right now, I've turned my Twitter account into my writing (http://twitter.com/grokerati). I've been a satirical columnist in the past and it's something I love to do so now I'm a micro-columnist. Not doing much non-fiction, however, though this is a concept. There are several satirical Twitter accounts based on fictional characters, like Littlest Hobo (used to be a Canadian series about a wandering husky dog). One writer I enjoy following quite a lot is Douglas Coupland. Unfortunately he's the only Canadian fiction writer I know of on Twitter, and he hasn't tweeted as much recently as in the past, but sometimes his tweets are priceless.

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