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Let’s talk about focus.
I’ve met a fair number of people in my time who are just trying to do too much. They’re working on an idea that they want to be a book and a movie and who knows what else because it is so amazing. And all they want is just a little help with this magnificent idea they have from other people who get it.
There is some variance in this. While there is the obnoxious easily recognizable neophyte whose definition of “get it” is amazement at its perfection plus some tiny idea they can steal as their own to make it pop even more. There is also the person who exudes a bit more experience, really does want to work, but still doesn’t understand that getting and doing everything isn’t the way it works.
An idea is not the same as a story. A story is not the same as a book. A book is not the same as a script. A script is not the same as a movie deal. These and so many other steps in the process are individual endeavors. And if you try to do them all at once, none of them will turn out any good.
To borrow from what I hope is relatively common experience, it’s like studying for the SATs. While your final score is given to you as a lump sum, when you’re getting ready for it, you don’t study in a lump, going randomly back and forth between problems of different types. I remember when I was in Kaplan, which at the time was the biggest study prep institution, there were actually separate classes for the Math and English portions. Most of us had signed up for both, one right after the other, but you had one hour devoted to each and only that particular one.
This is the same thing. You work on one thing at a time because a large portion of the execution is fundamentally different. If you try to do an English problem like a Math problem you’re probably going to mess up. And it’s going to be worse if you try to do a Math problem like an English problem.
So let’s start with your about. It’s about an X who Y’s. It’s about a teenager who has cancer. It’s about an underfunded gentlewoman who needs a wealthy husband. It’s about an alien who tries to blend in as a human. Do you want it to be a book or a movie?
Why does it matter? Because your development approach is nearly exactly opposite. The cliché is, “The Same BUT Different.” You need both.
But film development emphasizes the first, sameness, because it’s fundamental goal is reaching as large an audience as possible. Breadth is what makes producers the most money. If a thousand people see it and say, “eh,” that makes more profit than if a hundred people see it and adore it for the rest of their lives. This is because of how Hollywood has arranged its business model. They get the most money per movie in the first two weeks. As time progresses, the studio gets a smaller percentage of the profit. So what they’re looking for is something that can appeal to the greatest number of people with the least amount of effort in a great initial push. That means complexity and depth are low concerns. If a fan says to a friend two years later, “This movie changed my life, you should watch it,” it’s too late.
Book development emphasizes the second, difference, because it’s fundamental goal is reaching an eternal audience. Yes, large initial sales are important, but if that same fan says to another friend twenty years later, “This book changed my life, you should read it,” relatively close to the same amount of money goes into the publisher’s coffers. They want breadth but they’re really looking for depth. They want something unique so the reading public has to get this book because they can’t get that experience anywhere else. The profit motive is based on the long haul not the short term. This is the real reason that ebooks are taking over. Because it means that perennial best sellers can be kept eternally in stock at almost no cost but people are buying them in the same numbers, leading to greater profits.
So you’ve got your starter idea. It’s about a teenage alien that tries to blend in with humans as they die from space cancer. How do you want to develop it? Do you want a movie? Do you want a book? If it’s a movie, then you’re trying to hit all the standard emotional tropes of this idea. You want someone to look at that idea and know 100% what they’re going to get. If it’s a book, then you’re trying to twist it into something unexpected yet inevitable, the reader should be pleasantly surprised by what they’re going to get. These are not compatible goals.
Ok, you really REALLY want both. You pick one to start. Hollywood and New York do have a symbiotic relationship. Movies that Hollywood thinks are going to be blockbusters do get book tie ins. There is, unfortunately, a decent chance you will not be asked to write the book version of your movie. It goes the other way, too. New York sells Hollywood its best successes to be made into movies. There is, unfortunately, a near certainty that you will not be asked to write the movie version of your book. There are exceptions, it does happen, but they are rare. One of the things to remember in these situations is that you are playing the numbers. And while you do have to be a little deluded just to move forward, it is worth keeping in mind that there is diminishing chance of returns for ever greater effort. Only about 2% of books are profitable. Only about that same percentage of profitable books get picked up for movies. Only about that same percentage of arrangements has the same writer for both projects. So, to give the benefit of the doubt, that’s somewhere on the order of a thousandth of a percent chance. It’s not zero. But it’s not a good business model.
So, pick the one that’s more important to you. If you really want to write a book, write a book and play the much better odds that you can get someone else to make it into a movie. If you really want to make a movie, write a script and play the much better odds that you can get someone else to make it into a book. If you’re very lucky, that someone else will also be you but you have to have that fist element first. And whichever one you pick is going to be years of work. So pick right and concentrate. The other choice is going to be a distraction.
I’ve met a fair number of people in my time who are just trying to do too much. They’re working on an idea that they want to be a book and a movie and who knows what else because it is so amazing. And all they want is just a little help with this magnificent idea they have from other people who get it.
There is some variance in this. While there is the obnoxious easily recognizable neophyte whose definition of “get it” is amazement at its perfection plus some tiny idea they can steal as their own to make it pop even more. There is also the person who exudes a bit more experience, really does want to work, but still doesn’t understand that getting and doing everything isn’t the way it works.
An idea is not the same as a story. A story is not the same as a book. A book is not the same as a script. A script is not the same as a movie deal. These and so many other steps in the process are individual endeavors. And if you try to do them all at once, none of them will turn out any good.
To borrow from what I hope is relatively common experience, it’s like studying for the SATs. While your final score is given to you as a lump sum, when you’re getting ready for it, you don’t study in a lump, going randomly back and forth between problems of different types. I remember when I was in Kaplan, which at the time was the biggest study prep institution, there were actually separate classes for the Math and English portions. Most of us had signed up for both, one right after the other, but you had one hour devoted to each and only that particular one.
This is the same thing. You work on one thing at a time because a large portion of the execution is fundamentally different. If you try to do an English problem like a Math problem you’re probably going to mess up. And it’s going to be worse if you try to do a Math problem like an English problem.
So let’s start with your about. It’s about an X who Y’s. It’s about a teenager who has cancer. It’s about an underfunded gentlewoman who needs a wealthy husband. It’s about an alien who tries to blend in as a human. Do you want it to be a book or a movie?
Why does it matter? Because your development approach is nearly exactly opposite. The cliché is, “The Same BUT Different.” You need both.
But film development emphasizes the first, sameness, because it’s fundamental goal is reaching as large an audience as possible. Breadth is what makes producers the most money. If a thousand people see it and say, “eh,” that makes more profit than if a hundred people see it and adore it for the rest of their lives. This is because of how Hollywood has arranged its business model. They get the most money per movie in the first two weeks. As time progresses, the studio gets a smaller percentage of the profit. So what they’re looking for is something that can appeal to the greatest number of people with the least amount of effort in a great initial push. That means complexity and depth are low concerns. If a fan says to a friend two years later, “This movie changed my life, you should watch it,” it’s too late.
Book development emphasizes the second, difference, because it’s fundamental goal is reaching an eternal audience. Yes, large initial sales are important, but if that same fan says to another friend twenty years later, “This book changed my life, you should read it,” relatively close to the same amount of money goes into the publisher’s coffers. They want breadth but they’re really looking for depth. They want something unique so the reading public has to get this book because they can’t get that experience anywhere else. The profit motive is based on the long haul not the short term. This is the real reason that ebooks are taking over. Because it means that perennial best sellers can be kept eternally in stock at almost no cost but people are buying them in the same numbers, leading to greater profits.
So you’ve got your starter idea. It’s about a teenage alien that tries to blend in with humans as they die from space cancer. How do you want to develop it? Do you want a movie? Do you want a book? If it’s a movie, then you’re trying to hit all the standard emotional tropes of this idea. You want someone to look at that idea and know 100% what they’re going to get. If it’s a book, then you’re trying to twist it into something unexpected yet inevitable, the reader should be pleasantly surprised by what they’re going to get. These are not compatible goals.
Ok, you really REALLY want both. You pick one to start. Hollywood and New York do have a symbiotic relationship. Movies that Hollywood thinks are going to be blockbusters do get book tie ins. There is, unfortunately, a decent chance you will not be asked to write the book version of your movie. It goes the other way, too. New York sells Hollywood its best successes to be made into movies. There is, unfortunately, a near certainty that you will not be asked to write the movie version of your book. There are exceptions, it does happen, but they are rare. One of the things to remember in these situations is that you are playing the numbers. And while you do have to be a little deluded just to move forward, it is worth keeping in mind that there is diminishing chance of returns for ever greater effort. Only about 2% of books are profitable. Only about that same percentage of profitable books get picked up for movies. Only about that same percentage of arrangements has the same writer for both projects. So, to give the benefit of the doubt, that’s somewhere on the order of a thousandth of a percent chance. It’s not zero. But it’s not a good business model.
So, pick the one that’s more important to you. If you really want to write a book, write a book and play the much better odds that you can get someone else to make it into a movie. If you really want to make a movie, write a script and play the much better odds that you can get someone else to make it into a book. If you’re very lucky, that someone else will also be you but you have to have that fist element first. And whichever one you pick is going to be years of work. So pick right and concentrate. The other choice is going to be a distraction.
