Screenwriter or Novelist...or Both?

August 20, 2009

I anticipated today, my day off, so that I could continue writing. Instead, I busied myself with menial chores - laundry, baking, pulling weeds. I was thinking about my beat sheet all day, however, and am still puzzled as to how to maintain only 15 beats. I think what I have written thus far is more of an outline than a beat sheet. I need to rethink the beat sheet. The outline will serve me later. For now, I will read more sample beat sheets to try and get a feel for how they are written so succinctly.

Another thought occurred to me today, too. Why am I writing a screenplay rather than a novel? Most screenplays are developed from novels, aren't they? So why don't I write a novel first? Hmmm? That seems to be much more difficult to me. Although a good novel helps the reader "see" the action, a film actually portrays that action. Maybe it's because I lived this story that I want it portrayed in film exactly as I remember it. A book, after all, requires the reader to paint the picture of the scene, the characters, and the setting. I may not be a good enough writer to do that. In writing a screenplay, it may be easier to control these factors. In my head, for example, I've already chosen someone to play the part of my mother (Drea). So maybe that is why I'm drawn to writing a screenplay. I wonder if anyone has ever written a screenplay AND a novel at the same time...?