Q) You’ve had a very successful career as a television writer. How is writing a novel different than writing an episode of television?
VCW: Both forms of writing require specific writing skills. What’s common to both is telling a good story. When writing for television the storyteller utilizes dialogue, great characters, action and interesting settings to convey the complexities of the story. And though dialogue is very important, television is a visual medium. Whenever possible, “show” rather than “tell” the audience. The television writer needs to know what will successfully play onscreen, in a visual sense, and what is better played in dialogue. And also, write in such a way that the director, the actors, casting, set design and everyone else involved in bringing it to the screen can visualize the world from your script.
When writing a novel, the work of the author is to use prose to create the entire world in the mind’s eye of the reader. The author does the casting, set design, special effects, location scouting, directing, the reshoots, editing (at least the first pass!), all with the power of prose.
I remember the first time I was on set for a script I’d written. It was wonderful to see it come together, often just as I’d imagined. And, I love hearing from readers who became immersed in a world I’d created in a book. It’s all good!
Katrin’s Chronicles: The Canon of Jacqueléne Dyanne, Vol. 1
posted by Valerie C. Woods
on May, 06