The Film Novelist: Writing a Screenplay and Short Novel in 15 Weeks

<i>The Film Novelist</i> is the first primer on writing film novels— whether you are a beginning novelist, a seasoned writer wanting to cross over into script/novel writing, or a creative writing teacher looking for proven ways to launch new writers. <br/><p>So, what is the difference between a screenplay and a film novel? Screenplays indicate solely what the audience is to see or hear on screen. Film novels are short, and take about as long to read as a feature film takes to watch. The description, dialogue, and narration of a film novel can simply be lifted out and used as the description, dialogue, and voice-over narration for a script. <br/><p>The author has devised a fifteen week program starting from a one-sentence pitch to the novel itself, which includes filming a scene from your script/novel. He grounds the discussion of early film novels, like <i>The Maltese Falcon, Of Mice and Men</i>, and <i>The Misfits</i>, to provide historical and theoretical background while detailing the practical, sequential approach for completing a short novel and script. </p>>

"Packard has, miraculously enough, come up with something that is truly new—a practical, pragmatic guide in getting scripts and novels on the page that can be marketed to both communities—literature and film—at the same time, with a sale in one market enhancing and expanding the opportunities in the other." -Prof. Richard Walter UCLA Screenwriting Chairman

The Film Novelist is the first primer on writing film novels— whether you are a beginning novelist, a seasoned writer wanting to cross over into script/novel writing, or a creative writing teacher looking for proven ways to launch new writers. So, what is the difference between a screenplay and a film novel? Screenplays indicate solely what the audience is to see or hear on screen. Film novels are short, and take about as long to read as a feature film takes to watch. The description, dialogue, and narration of a film novel can simply be lifted out and used as the description, dialogue, and voice-over narration for a script. The author has devised a fifteen week program starting from a one-sentence pitch to the novel itself, which includes filming a scene from your script/novel. He grounds the discussion of early film novels, like The Maltese Falcon, Of Mice and Men and The Misfits, to provide historical and theoretical background while detailing the practical, sequential approach for completing a short novel and script.

Introduction Stage One: Warming Up Chapter l: Sentences—Week OneChapter 2: Scenes—Week Two Chapter 3: Subtext—Week ThreeStage Two: SummarizingChapter 4: Pitch—Week Four Chapter 5: Synopsis—Week FiveChapter 6: Scenario—Weeks Six and SevenStage Three: ExpandingChapter 7: Script—Weeks Eight to TenChapter 8: Novel—Weeks Eleven to ThirteenChapter 9: Film—Weeks Fourteen to FifteenConclusionAppendix Suggested ReadingsThe Possibility of Film NovelsAcknowledgementsBibliographyEndnotes