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Book before the script?

September 10, 2003 Adaptation, QandA

I’ve heard it being said that one of the ways to get producers interested
in your screenplay’s story is to do it the long way and write the book first.
Do you agree, and is it harder to get a book published than a screenplay bought?

–Brian

Wow. Writing a screenplay, and then writing a book based on the screenplay,
seems like a tremendous amount of misdirected work. Yes, some producers do
like to read novels, but the vast majority would prefer a script to a novel
any day of the week. After all, a script is a lot closer to being a movie than
a book is. Plus it’s shorter, and you can throw it across the room without
damaging your walls.

My advice is to pick the format you’d prefer to write, hopefully the one that
best matches your story. If you choose to write a book, make it the best book
possible — don’t go overboard trying to load it up with "this would be
a great movie!" moments. If you choose to write a script, trust that the
quality of your writing is all you’ll need to sell it.

I recently adapted a book called BIG FISH by author Daniel Wallace. Meeting
with him for the first time, I was surprised to see he had never thought of
his book being a movie. The moments I thought were cinematic, he thought were
just good storytelling.

As for your second question, I’m not sure whether being published is easier
or harder than selling a script. My gut instinct is that it’s easier to be
published, simply because there are so many different publishing houses, and
frankly, so many books. But there’s a big difference between being published
and making money.

Related Posts

  1. Script adaptations
  2. Optioning a book
  3. Are characters based on people you know?

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