I promised an update on whether it’s best to write a script and a novel simultaneously or one after the other. My first three novels, I wrote the novel first, then the script. This latest one, my co-author Amanda and I decided to develop the two in tandem, thinking that the script would tighten the novel and the novel would introduce new content for the script.
Two words: version control. If you’re great at keeping a wall up between script and novel, not to mention keeping track of each version, go ahead. But Amanda and I spent as much time trying to trace and harmonize the different versions of both novels that we could have written a second novel during that time.
Before I sound too negative, I should be clear about one thing: each form contributed to the other. The script was better for the novel and vice versa. The problem was, when we wanted to use a scene or notes from one project into the other, we spent countless hours finding the appropriate quote or scene.
We received good feedback from a producer who’s interested in turning the script into a movie. She said she’d read the first ten pages of our script and knew right away it was by a novelist turning a novel into a script. We asked was that good or bad and she helpfully said: “Bad.” Too much talking, not enough action. Longer speeches that don’t sound the way people talk. Details that make sense for a novel, which unfolds slowly, but that bog down a script, which needs to move more briskly.
We went back to the script and found that she was dead on with her criticism and are in the process of restructuring and rewriting it. But this is where version control comes into being. We spent literally hours tracking down things we thought were memorable—searching through each version of the script and novel.
I’ve just started my newest project (Amanda will be on the review committee but not co-author) and decided to go with novel first, script second. To make sure that I get the benefits of both, I’m writing the novel but keeping an open file next to it, which is where I put the things that I want to get into the script. Will keep you updated on how that goes. But again, I’d advise writing one at a time unless you’re skilled in separating similar items, both in your mind and in your files.
