NaNoWriMo, novelizing a screenplay

Flicker Pictures

Flicker Pictures

Back in 2007 (?) I took the NaNoWriMo challenge (National Novel Writing Month) that takes place in November each year. It was a lot of fun and I actually surprised myself at how much I was able to write from scratch. No, I didn't make the 50,000 word count that is necessary for a "win" which would have been nice, but I did manage to put together 30,000 words that became Terrible Happiness; a collection of short "almost" stories that were connected by one main character, of sorts. Some of it worked, most of it didn't. Still, it was worth the time spent and it felt good to get the gears turning.

I looked at the challenge as a writing experiment, an exercise, a way to create something for free.

As November approaches (2 days!) I am toying with the idea of novelizing my horror screenplay The Sleeping Deep and approaching it with the Young Adult Fiction genre/market/demographic in mind (i.e. Twilight, The Hunger Games, Harry Potter.) I know this will take some re-imagining and reverse engineering of the story's big idea that could, if I managed to do it right, would/might result in (at the very least) a first draft.

NaNoWriMo website
http://nanowrimo.org

Terrible Happiness (the results in PDF for free)
http://www.lulu.com/content/e-book/terrible-happiness-test/11596035

books to screenplays and vice versa
http://www.writersstore.com/the-novel-vs-the-screenplay-a-tough-love-guide-for-talented-writers/

The Sleeping Deep - screenplay promotions
http://flickerpictures.com/tsd.htm

Thought I'd post here to field some feedback. Whaddaya think? Good use of 30 days? Better to write something completely different? Even better to write the "prequel" to the screenplay that already exists? Just do it and chalk it up as the "Why Not" factor?

Anyone else taking the challenge this year?

Cheers :D

Jeff
 
I think that's a great idea! Sleeping Deep is a very fun script, and a novelization of it could definitely work. Best of luck! I'll have to give Terrible Happiness a read later.

I haven't done the NaNoWriMo challenge before, maybe if I think of a good idea to develop in the next couple of days, I'll try this year. If not, I will definitely do it next. I have no doubt I could make the word count...writing something good/interesting/worthwhile, well, that's a different story!
 
Sounds very productive. I'm sure it'd be very interesting to read the re-imagined young Adult Fiction genre/market/demographic version of The Sleeping Deep. =)
 
Am leaning toward writing a prequel, since I already have a lot of notes and ideas for that story. Plus, if I'm able to cross the finish line and the book doesn't hold up, then maybe I'll turn it into a screenplay! :lol:

You're a good writer, Josh. How's the graphic novel coming along?

Richy, will keep you posted. But don't hold your breath... (gasp)
 
A prequel would be pretty awesome too! You will, of course, post what you come up with so we can all read it!

Thanks for the kind words! The comic is going pretty well (albeit slow). I saw some full page layouts in August, with final pencils at about 30%. The artist has a day job and some paid commissioned work, so hadn't been able to sink as much time as either of us would like into it (he's also DP'd and edited a couple short films since we started work on it). He wants to redo a few pages because he thinks his layout skills have improved (and give the last commission he's finishing up now, I absolutely agree). The plan is to have it finished by the local small-press expo in March (I think) and if it's done before then, maybe a short film teaser/trailer to show at the expo.

On my end (since the art is taking a long time, but time/money/quality, etc) I have a pretty complete outline for the rest of the first arc (8 issues), a rough outline for the arc after that (another 8 issues) and a draft of the script for the next issue. I've decided to sort of follow your idea, so next year I'll be doing a novelization of the story (or as much as I can do) for NaNoWriMo. Virginia's going to do it next year too, so we'll be able to (hopefully) motivate each other and write together! Should be fun!

Best of luck to you for this year! And, again, can't wait to read it!
 
I've done NaNoWriMo a number of times. The basis of my first feature length screenplay was a NoNo novel. I did Script Frenzy every year that they had it and discovered that what little writing talent I may have is in screenwriting. A bunch of people are trying to get me to attempt another novel this year. I have too much filming to do over the next month to bang out a crappy (at best) novel.

As for your questions, yes, it is a great idea to novelize your script, a prequel is also a good idea. If you novelize your screenplay and it gets published, you are in great shape to get funding to make the movie.
 
The going is slllllloooooowwww...

I'm no Stephen King that's for sure!

But I have started writing, or at the very least, jotting down broad strokes. Dug up this old Powerbook 180 so checking email and the Internet isn't a temptation. Yes, that is a natural vignette on the screen. :yes:

BYJ9a9WCEAAoGZD.jpg:large


Trying to carve out at least 2-3 hours a day of sitting down and sticking to it.

I have a feeling that whatever I'm able to manifest will be a hybrid of a very long short story and a screenplay.

Lucky, I give you mad props for taking on NaNoWriMo and ScriptFrenzy. Writing is no walk in the park!

JoshL, keep us posted with any and all progress, big or small!
 
Josh, perhaps you are having better success at NaNoWriMo than me, because I am utterly flagging with a capital F. :no:

However, I am managing to write down some new ideas, which may take root and sprout... or not.

Hmmm...:hmm:
 
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