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should i write a novel or a script? or both? let's see.

hello guys, had to come back to gather opinions. :)

i love books but i have a problem: i start reading and then i catch myself in the 5th line, remembering nothing from all what i had read so far. it's just impossible for me to focus, idk why. i had this problem since junior high.

i am also a filmmaker wannabe. i wanna write, act and direct my own films. the problem is that i hate to write scripts according to the industry format. i prefer to write down on paper my entire film. writing the dialogues, describing the surroundings, writing little notes on the side that are directing tips and parts (for example, pan camera, zoom out, etc.).

so, could i write my film in a form of a novel and then me being the one (cause i don't want my story to be altered at all) who converts it into a script? also, in which language should i write it? (i'm greek but i don't wanna stay within the walls of my turf.)


thank you for your precious time, fellas. cheerz! :cool:
 
i am also a filmmaker wannabe. i wanna write, act and direct my own films. the problem is that i hate to write scripts according to the industry format. i prefer to write down on paper my entire film. writing the dialogues, describing the surroundings, writing little notes on the side that are directing tips and parts (for example, pan camera, zoom out, etc.).
If that's the way you want to write then write that way.

People tell you to use the standard format because that's what cast
and crew are used to using. But if writing using the industry format
stops you from writing then write it YOUR way. Be prepared for other
people to take issue with your way and to comment on it. But nothing
should stop you from writing exactly the way you want to write.

Once it's finished you can always convert it to the industry format.

so, could i write my film in a form of a novel and then me being the one (cause i don't want my story to be altered at all) who converts it into a script? also, in which language should i write it? (i'm greek but i don't wanna stay within the walls of my turf.)
Yes, you could write your film is the form of a novel and then convert it
into a script. You want to end up with a script that is in the language of
your cast and crew. If you are making the movie in Greece with a Greek
cast and crew who do not read English it seems counterproductive to
write in English. But if most of the people involved can read English and
you prefer to write in English you can write write it in English.
 
If that's the way you want to write then write that way.

People tell you to use the standard format because that's what cast
and crew are used to using. But if writing using the industry format
stops you from writing then write it YOUR way. Be prepared for other
people to take issue with your way and to comment on it. But nothing
should stop you from writing exactly the way you want to write.

Once it's finished you can always convert it to the industry format.


Yes, you could write your film is the form of a novel and then convert it
into a script. You want to end up with a script that is in the language of
your cast and crew. If you are making the movie in Greece with a Greek
cast and crew who do not read English it seems counterproductive to
write in English. But if most of the people involved can read English and
you prefer to write in English you can write write it in English.



xmmmm, my goal is to be known out of Greece, so i guess i'll have to write everything in english. better go take some lessons tho, cause my english are rusty and they suck.

anyway, novel it is. and when the time comes to convert it into a screenplay, i'll put the notes in the script. or i'll just keep a separate small textbook for them.


thanks! :D
 
Just write. It doesn't matter is it in form this point. when you think the story is ready you can always put it on the right form and fix the details. I think when I make first draft it is wast of time to put it in the form If I don't know even how the story goes.
 
Just write. It doesn't matter is it in form this point. when you think the story is ready you can always put it on the right form and fix the details. I think when I make first draft it is wast of time to put it in the form If I don't know even how the story goes.


i already started taking notes today at work. :yes: down on paper cause i love the feeling of handwriting with ink. :lol: speaking of which, in what form should i write my novel/script? handwritten or typed from a computer? :huh:
(i prefer handwritten, even if it takes me years.)




I've done the same thing for youtube videos


yeah, a good thumbnail and a catchy title can do magic. :yes:
 
If you've ever read the book "Writing Movies for Fun and Profit: How We Made a Billion Dollars at the Box Office and You Can, Too!" by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, there's a great chapter in it called "Why every Hollywood studio movie sucks donkey balls" and it explains clearly exactly that. Every major script in its final form over the past 20 years-ish follows Cambell's story structure and Blake Snyder's screenplay structure. But most of them are horse-shit. Do you really think if you took a look at the raw copy of a Tarantino script(someone who also writes, directs and stars in his own films) it would look anything like the raw draft of a seth rogen movie? If you have a vision write it in a way that makes sense to you. Trying to shove an idea into a box that it doesn't fit into will require you to cut bits off. That's just my opinion anyway :)
 
If you've ever read the book "Writing Movies for Fun and Profit: How We Made a Billion Dollars at the Box Office and You Can, Too!" by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, there's a great chapter in it called "Why every Hollywood studio movie sucks donkey balls" and it explains clearly exactly that. Every major script in its final form over the past 20 years-ish follows Cambell's story structure and Blake Snyder's screenplay structure. But most of them are horse-shit. Do you really think if you took a look at the raw copy of a Tarantino script(someone who also writes, directs and stars in his own films) it would look anything like the raw draft of a seth rogen movie? If you have a vision write it in a way that makes sense to you. Trying to shove an idea into a box that it doesn't fit into will require you to cut bits off. That's just my opinion anyway :)



cool, i'll check out that book! :D

indeed, (most) blockbusters suck. :lol:
 
If you've ever read the book "Writing Movies for Fun and Profit: How We Made a Billion Dollars at the Box Office and You Can, Too!" by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, there's a great chapter in it called "Why every Hollywood studio movie sucks donkey balls" and it explains clearly exactly that. Every major script in its final form over the past 20 years-ish follows Cambell's story structure and Blake Snyder's screenplay structure. But most of them are horse-shit. Do you really think if you took a look at the raw copy of a Tarantino script(someone who also writes, directs and stars in his own films) it would look anything like the raw draft of a seth rogen movie? If you have a vision write it in a way that makes sense to you. Trying to shove an idea into a box that it doesn't fit into will require you to cut bits off. That's just my opinion anyway :)

That's because a ot of people seem to think that al they have to do is follow the hero's journey and they'll be as successfull as the first Star Wars trilogy... while a certain structure doesn't automaticly make a great story.
It's like applepie: all tasty applepies contain apples, but not all applepies, which obviously contain apples, are tasty.
 
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