The path from screenplays to novels

I've written screenplays for more than twenty years - I've had the good fortune of being commissioned again and again... so why start writing novels?

I’ve written screenplays since the early nineties - I’ve been disciplined, I’ve had the stamina, I’ve loved the challenges, the commissions, the collaboration. So far, eight of my scripts have been produced, with the great ratings as the icing on the cake. So why start writing novels?

Everything I’ve done before was everything I had ever wanted to do - to write screenplays. I had discovered it for myself in 1992. I was prolific, I worked on my craft and I never neglected the business side of it. I’ve had so many blessings over the years and every maddening challenge thrown at me by networks, producers, directors and actors was a challenge I loved to rise to.

I had never thought I’d ever write novels. I have always loved the crisp, the concise - boiling something that would fill ten pages in a novel down to that perfect five word sentence. Actually, I still love that. My writing’s still crisp, my style still more cinematic than literary. By now I’ve written six novels and find myself entirely fulfilled in the creation of those worlds and characters. The challenges are those I set myself, no longer is there a question of budget and time constraints, of network concerns and wants and needs, both good and bad, from egos of every kind.

As a novelist, I am a free man.

The reality of screenwriting is that, most likely, the final product will nowhere near resemble the writer’s vision. Thankfully, in the new world of television where show runners rule, writers are far more in the driving/deciding seat. Me, I’ve always been a solid writer, a steady hand, reliable. I’ve always delivered - on rewrite requests for good and bad reasons, on rewrite demands that clearly negatively impacted the story. I would argue, I would laugh, I would find a way and make it happen... and then sometimes the network would tell me that I had been right to begin with and could we please just all go back to a previous draft. Like I said, I actually used to love that - the joyous battles on the way to the shooting script.

If you want to be a screenwriter, your heart’s got to be in the fight. It’s not just about a passion for film, it’s about a passion for collaboration with all of the good and all of the bad.

I’ve written countless drafts on dozens of projects. Of the scripts that were produced, I’m truly proud of just one. One. One time where I truly felt that, what I had set out to achieve, what I had worked my ass off to put to paper, showed up in the final product. From an end product point of view, one complete satisfaction... in plus twenty years. Some of the films I downright hated and with some of those the ratings were still stellar. But it isn’t about that - it’s not about the final product, it is about how I feel along the way. Collaborating on a film is messy and glorious and that’s the journey a screenwriter must embrace with a passion.

Writing novels harbors the same joys you experience when you write a first draft - when it’s just you, your imagination, your worlds, your characters - you and the blank page and nobody gets to weigh in. Who’s kidding who, I’ve always loved writing the first draft more than anything else. The collaborative process came in a close second - but nothing beats the solitary freedom of the first draft. That’s what I get to have, as an author, at any given moment, that freedom. I still need the same discipline, the same stamina, the same passion to write - but it’s my writing and will remain my writing and the final product, the novel, is me, every single word of it.

By the way, my inner screenwriter is alive and well in my novels. I’ve even written the second novel as a script first, just for the fun of it. And the third is actually based on a spec I had written more than twenty years ago. Oh, by the way, this is something I can only recommend - use your specs! You all have them. Don’t let them collect dust, revisit them and turn them into novels. Stories of yours can either be lost forever, or can be discovered by thousands of readers around the world (and that in turn may breathe new hope/life into one of those dusty specs).

Am I done writing screenplays? The answer’s no. If something enticing comes along, I’m game. But I won’t go actively seeking out that work - it was too often filled with the type of collaboration that was more soul-sucking than it was creative. Call it age, call it what you will, I have little tolerance for some of those shenanigans these days. Who’s kidding who, I’d love to dive into scripts again - a juicy psychological thriller, an eye-opening historical drama - let’s see what happens!

I’m at a place in my life where I look at everything and ask myself “Is this worth my time?” When it comes to writing overall, the answer will always be a resounding yes. When it comes to screenwriting, well, more than a little less so.

In a nutshell, put your energy where your heart is.

PS: People keep telling me that my novels should be turned into films... that may or may not happen one fine day. In the meantime, I’m happy.