NOVEL WRITING FOR SCREENWRITERS— IMAX vs. Kindle
My first novel — THE 44 RULES OF AMATEUR SLEUTHING — took me one month to write…
…and 8 years to revise.
I had about 50 screenplays under my belt by the time I dove into that first novel. I had a lot of writing skillz. I was disciplined. Had a good story sense. A good outline.
But I had a lot to learn.
In this post, I’ll highlight the things that work to screenwriters advantage when it comes to cranking out a first novel and someo of the common weaknesses.
These are generalities of course. Whenever I say ‘screenwriters’ or ‘novel writers’ think ‘most screenwriters’ or ‘most newbie novel writers’. There are outliers in both worlds. Also, I’m talking about the more aspirational levels of both crafts. I’m sure the JK Rowlings have an extra specific set of skillz they could bring to screenplays at this point that are beyond us folks toiling away of coffee shops once a month.
Really, my goal here is to say YES you have a lot to learn…but don’t think you’re starting at square 1. You’re more at square 1b.
STRUCTURE
Screenwriters tend to be structure freaks. There’s a certain math to the form. We can’t deliver a 500 page screenplay and get away with it.
Novels…not so much.
We screenwriters focus on character goals, conflict, stake raisers…all of this is key to hooking readers in novels too. We shamelessly follow formulas and borrow from other stories.
I think screenwriters actually may be ahead of the game in many of these standard dramatic elements.
THE AWARD GOES TO: SCREENWRITERS
OUTLINING
Related to the above — outlining is another thing screenwriters tend to do. It’s difficult to deliver on assignment or work in collaboration if you’re not a serious outliner.
Add to this, Novel writers tend to be pantsers. They shun structure or formula for awhile. They like to discover the book. They often avoid outlines and formulas and are suspicious of too much plot.
THE AWARD GOES TO: SCREENWRITERS
BUTT IN CHAIR/FINISHING STUFF
Screenwriters are used to finishing projects. You can write a pretty good screenplay in a week (with some talent and luck). Novels take longer. Word count wise a screenplay is a good 15–20K. A short novel is almost 3 times that. But probably because of that ‘pantser’ nature…novel writers I’ve met tend to dabble and tweak more. They also tend to have a lot of abandoned projects.
That said, the successful novelists I know, the ones who have the knack, no how to finish and/or abandon a project. And I’ve met plenty of screenwriters that get caught rewriting the same thing for years and years.
THE AWARD GOES TO: SCREENWRITERS
ACTIVE VOICE/STRONG VERBS/ECONOMIC WRITING
All of the things we learn to write good screenplays will serve us well in a ‘no BS’ novel writing sort of way.
We already skip the adverbs and use strong action words. We already speak in active voice and try to cut out filler words and extra description.
Most novel writers — because they paid attention in English class are good at this too. I find a lot of my novel geeking friends come from writing backgrounds. They’re English teachers or tech writers or something.
THE AWARD GOES TO: IT’S A TIE
DIALOGUE
Yeah, most screenwriters rock the dialogue. Many aspiring novel writers I’ve met don’t put as much effort into this part. Maybe because they don’t hear their words spoken as often. There’s nothing more instructive than hearing your dialogue read at a script reading or actually produced. Novelists generally don’t get to suffer through hearing their clunkers.
THE AWARD GOES TO: SCREENWRITERS
GRAMMAR / SENTENCE STRUCTURE / STUFF YOU LEARNED IN COMPOSITION
All that stuff we forgot from English composition class — your novel friends care about that stuff. Deeply. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to catch up to them. And I’m still way off. A lot of screenwriters prefer storytelling to ‘writing with a capital W’. But my novel friends have a passion for the words, the language, the grammar.
THE AWARD GOES TO: NOVEL WRITERS in a landslide.
SENSORY DETAILS
My novel writing buds are great at incorporating all the senses. In film, we cover what the audience sees and hears only. But in a novel you have taste and tactile senses and smells. It’s easy to forget these things as a screenwriter turned novelist…and early on I was constantly being reminded that I was skimping on the sensory.
Additionally, screenwriters are supposed to show only what’s absolutely necessary for the reader to paint a picture. In prose, the writer needs to do a lot more of the painting.
Honestly, this is one of the things I still struggle with the most. Reading a lot and getting critiques form people who are good at it helps.
THE AWARD GOES TO: NOVEL WRITERS
INTERNAL THOUGHTS / INTERIOR LIFE OF CHARACTERS
In screenplays you’re really just making things visual/cinematic. Novels tend to blend sensory details with internal thoughts. It’s not enough to hit the sensory details, but you need an internal reaction to them. Describing emotional and instinctual reflexes to various stimuli is something new to us screenwriters.
THE AWARD GOES TO: NOVEL WRITERS
POV
Screenwriters break POV whenever they see fit. Novel writers don’t. Typically, every chapter is written in a POV. It takes some getting used to.
THE AWARD GOES TO: NOVEL WRITERS
WRITING IN PAST TENSE
Screenwriters only know present tense. Switching up the tense is…weird. It’s not super hard, but it’s a muscle that needs to be exercised.
That said, a ton of novels are written in present tense these days, for your first it might be a good idea to stick with it. It’s something you’re already an expert in. I didn’t do it with The 44 Rule of Amateur Sleuthing but I did do it with my most recent novel and it felt much more natural.
THE AWARD GOES TO: NOVEL WRITERS
WRITING WITH A STRONG VOICE
I find years of screenwriting has helped me find what I like in a reading experience and given me the confidence to lay my voice down in my writing.
My sparseness and white-space is part of what I like to write an what I write to read. There are still some modifications I’m often making to bring this out in the prose world.
THE AWARD GOES TO: WE CALL THIS ONE A TIE…
ONE EXTRA TRICK…
Personally, I’ve found writing in first-person a good stepping stone toward figuring out POV and voice and a lot of the ins and outs of prose writing. If you go into it like you’re writing one very long feverish piece of dialogue, you’re voice will shine through.
It also allows you to skirt some of the ‘sentence artistry’. Just get into character and let it rip.
Even if I’m not writing first person, if I first write the scene in first-person and then rewrite it in third person but leave the voice and energy in place helped me navigate a few of these things. Writing in the voice of an opinionated character helped me groove with things in a way I was used to doing in writing dialogue for screenplays.
So my screenwriting brethren, we have a ton to learn from our novel writing friends…but we also have a few things we can help them with. You’re a writer, you’ve put in a lot of work. That work counts for something and gives you a head start. But like anything, realize there’s a ton to learn. Embrace it, but embrace it with some swagger.
I’d love it if you’d check out my first novel — The 44 Rules of Amateur Sleuthing on Amazon:
