A post on (gasp) writing...

I don't normally talk much about craft type stuff, as it's just not my thang here on GottaBook, but someone asked me an interesting question the other day that I thought I'd answer publicly (particularly since I found a great video online that will re-inforce my thoughts!). Basically, someone was asking if I found my screenwriting experience helpful in writing a novel... and if so, how?

Well, it is helpful, if for no other reason than I'm used to writing and plotting complex stories. My picture books, actually, often benefit from the fact that they, like movies, are a visual medium. Also, I'm used to working on a deadline, which I suspect will help me later. But I think what's more interesting to me is how screenplays and novels are very different.

A screenplay isn't truly made to be read. Instead, it's the blueprint for a totally different finished product -- a movie. As a result, choices you make can be impacted by everything from budgetary limitations, what's possible/not possible in special effects, and, when you get into production itself, by what actors are available what days. Also, directors and actors bring a ton to the words... and, much like in the book world, a good editor can fix a badly written scene (even though the originally written scene was shot in full).

At their heart, of course, novels and screenplays have the same goal -- telling a great story. But as forms of writing... well... luckily I stumbled upon this commercial made by Canal Plus that I think sums things up rather nicely.