Is My Idea Better Suited to a Novel or a Screenplay, and How Do I Decide?

So, you’ve got an idea that won’t let go. It keeps rattling around in your brain, and you feel like this is something you could see taking all the way to…somewhere. Is it a movie? Is it a novel? How do you decide, especially if you’re not naturally drawn to either?

The good news is, once you ask yourself a bunch of questions, the answer may hopefully become a little clearer.

If we step back a moment, it’s important to think about the goal of your writing. Why do you want to write this idea? What is it you love about writing? Why is this idea speaking to you, when all the other ideas, like the one about the cow who learns to fly a plane, ‘Cow Air’, didn’t get past the cool title stage? Seriously, why this one?

Then there are the questions you can ask about your own strengths and weaknesses as a writer, and how they may apply to this idea. What aspect of writing do you love best, and hate the most? Not only will this stuff help you decide what to do, but it might actually help you decide whether your idea is worth pursuing at all. Undertaking a script or a novel is a big deal…so the more time you spend now, taking your idea, and you’re writing seriously, the less time you will spend on the bad days…and there will be bad days…wondering why you bothered to do any of this, when you could’ve been knitting.

In many ways this is all about your relationship with being ‘present’. Writing takes up a lot of time, imagination, and brain power. Whatever the format. So, take a minute now, and try to focus on the type of writing you actually enjoy, because your days/spare time will be dominated by this idea…and you never want to wish that time away.

There are differences between scripts and novels…obviously. For novels, the big two for me are world building, and internal character motivations. And language use…OK that’s three. If you love the first two, and embrace the idea of a story being not just about what happens, but about how it’s told, think about a novel. With screenplays, there are way more rules, guide rails, restrictions, and forced collaborations. If all of that sounds awesome, and you also like writing dialogue…and a novel seems scary long…a screenplay might be for you.

This decision doesn’t have to be agonizing, but in today’s entertainment climate, it’s definitely worth pondering. Whatever you choose, make sure one thing is absolutely true…you are exploring this idea because it’s something that excites you, not because it’s in a genre you think will sell. Give that fantasy up right now. All you need is the thought that spending days, weeks, months or even years bringing this idea to life fills you with maybe a little mild fear, but definitely a solid sense of joy. Otherwise, I hear knitting is quite satisfying.

Join Tim in his webinar on Thursday, May 14 where he will go into all of this in much more detail, offer more tips and suggestions to help you choose, and even give you a chance to pitch your idea to get some advice on where it might fit best!