Getting Your Project to the Screen

Writers write for a variety of reasons. They write to entertain themselves and/or to entertain others. They write to make money, or they write because they have stories that they feel they must tell. They write to express their feelings or to hide them. The reasons go on for miles.

Whatever the impetus, the result is the same….all writers want to share their stories with others. Accomplishing that goal can be a great conundrum. Choosing your medium is crucial. Whether telling your story as a novel, TV sitcom, screenplay, short story, poem or a play, you are making one of your most important decisions.

As a professional literary agent, personal manager, novel reader and novel consultant, I’ve often read projects that were in the wrong medium, and because of this the project failed to see the light of day.

People often hear the expression, “follow your gut,” regarding their creative work, but it also applies to the type of writing you choose as well as the business aspects of your creative life.

I’ve seen many changes in the entertainment business and one that struck me the hardest was discovering that novel agents and publishers themselves want books that can be sold as motion pictures.

The harsh rules of business have intruded irrevocably on you esthetic world. Movies want to sell their soundtracks and turn their movies into video games, DVD sales, board games and toys. The “backend” monies can be huge to a Studio.

The movie business has become so complex that it may seem impossible to navigate vis a vis knowing who you want to please. My experience tells me that writers should always please themselves first and foremost. The quality of your work will rise along with your passion for your project. When you write only because you want to get a sale, it will show in the work. All of us who have and do read vociferously to find the great project, are searching for the special one that rarely comes along. That special one can be the writer as well as the written piece. Sometimes the writer is hired for a different project and their submitted property is not sold at the same time. Remember that there is always the possibility of an afterlife for your work.

If the story is wonderful and the characters even better, we will know it and we will find you. The people who are looking for the perfect screenplay will often find the novel, short story, news article etc., that they can translate into a script.

The last thing you want to do is spend your time and creative energy in writing the same project in more than one genre. You need to always be moving forward and on to your next beloved project.

The simple answer is and always has been: Write what you love.