Tag Archive for: screenplay

Statistics

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by Bethany Maines

Recently, I’ve been experimenting with some partnered
writing.  This goal of this partnership
is to write a novella and turn it into a screenplay.  As this will only be the second screenplay
I’ve written, I’m guessing at some of the mile-markers that let me know if the
project is meeting our goals or if we’ve wandered completely off-track.  As a result, I’ve become slightly obsessed
with the statistics of the work.  I’m
tracking how long chapters are, the character’s vital information (age,
occupation, relationships, descriptions), how often each character appears in
scenes and how long the screenplay is in comparison to the novella.
Some interesting statistics have emerged.  From a forty-thousand-word manuscript it
looks like we need to achieve a twenty-thousand-word screenplay.  For those familiar with basic math that’s
HALF!  That has forced some necessary contractions
in the story.  Some characters have
merged, some scenes got trimmed, and an entire sub-plot got deleted.
But as the process has progressed, keeping a sharp eye on
the length has given me insight into where the story is running long and where
it was going to need to be cut. 
This has been an interesting tactic for writing because knowing that
you’re writing something that’s going to be cut later makes motivation a bit
hard.  However, it does free me to write
more elaborately and descriptively then perhaps I might ordinarily for the
novella since I know that scenery description is not generally included in a
screenplay.
In all, writing for a specific goal has streamlined the
process in many ways, but also created some interesting  constraints. 
Hopefully, with information gleaned from this project my next attempts
at screenplay writing will be easier still.
***

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***
Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous
short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some
serious butt with her black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her
daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

It’s Fra-Gee-Lay!

/in /by

by Bethany Maines
In the Christmas classic, A Christmas Story, the father wins a “major award” which turns out
to be a leg lamp that arrives in a large box marked “fragile.” His love for the
major award is only matched by his wife’s hatred for the fishnet clad leg and
the battle between the two has never stopped being funny.
This week, I was reminded of the leg lamp when I won my own
“major award.” I recently converted my story Blue Christmas to a screenplay and
submitted it to some screenplay contests that provided feedback to all
entries.  As a first time screenplay
writer, it was the feedback that I was pursuing.  In novel writing, it’s hard to find a beta
reader that can help identify problems. 
Most readers are not analytical and are really just there to enjoy the
book (and that is just fine and there’s no reason to change!), but to advance a
project it sometimes requires someone be more critical.  I’ve been fortunate to find a handful of good
beta readers for my novels, but when it came to a screenplay I was at a loss!
So I was excited to get feedback from genuine screenplay professionals.
The first contest said my script was “VERY close” and
provided some valuable insights.  And
this week I received notice from the second contest that I had been selected as
a winner! The only way I could be prouder is if it came with a leg lamp.
Winners have their screenplay’s opening scenes read by professional actors in a
“table reading.” Which is pretty much what it sounds like – actors at a table
doing a reading of the script.  The table
reading is filmed and posted on the contest site, so obviously I will linking
that here when the video goes live.  I
can’t wait to see actors saying words that I’ve written!  And I’m excited to continue my adventures in
scriptwriting.

And case you want a sneak peak at this action-packed romantic comedy before it hits big screens (I wish!)…

$1.99 – Amazon · Barnes & Noble · Kobo · Itunes

High-rise burglary to pay for her grandmother’s cancer treatments might not be ideal, but Blue Jones is determined to do what it takes to get her grandmother the best care possible. She just didn’t plan on being tackled by gorgeous Jake Garner. Jake, drunk and recently dumped, mistakes Blue for the dog sitter and begins shoving his ex’s belongings at her including her French Bulldog—Jacques. But soon Jake is being pressured to return the dog and Blue is being targeted by mysterious attackers. Can Jake and Blue stop these mystery men without also getting Blue arrested for theft? For Blue, Christmas has never been quite so dangerous. For Jake, Christmas has never been quite so Blue.

***

Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her fifth degree black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

No More Changes

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by Bethany Maines
Recently, I took a workshop on how to convert a novel to a
screenplay. It was a fascinating workshop that gave practical tips on how to
deconstruct and then reconstruct a novel into a new format. Plot, structure and
character development are all core elements of any story telling method and it
was interesting to see how a different mode of storytelling could affect a
story.
I chose to experiment on my 2018 Christmas novella Blue
Christmas. Blue Christmas is about a down on her luck college student, Blue
Jones, who is determined to do whatever it takes to pay off her grandmother’s
medical bills – including burglary. So obviously it’s a romance and there are
diamond thieves and a dog.  Because… Christmas?
As I worked my way through my story, I saw several things
that I would like to improve. And it was not so very long ago that I loved
every bit of that story!  What the heck
happened to my perfect little morsel of criminal Christmas?! Why is it that an
author / creative person can’t stop improving on a work?  I mean, we all hate George Lucas for going
back and adding special effects and scenes to Star Wars, don’t we? When are we,
or should we, be forced to say walk away? 
My personal feeling is that once a work is in the public, then except
for correcting typos or other blatant errors, that an author should not make
any “improvements”. People end up loving specific works and changing even a
sentence or two can affect someone’s perception of a work.
Of course, none of that prevents me from making those
changes in my screenplay.
**
Buy Blue Christmas from Amazon * Barnes & Noble * iBook * Kobo

Blue Jones just stole Jake Garner’s dog. And his heart. But technically the French Bulldog, Jacques, belongs to Jake’s ex-girlfriend. And soon Jake is being pressured to return the dog and Blue is being targeted by mysterious attackers. Can Jake find Blue and Jacques before her stalkers do? For Blue, Christmas has never been quite so dangerous. For Jake, Christmas has never been quite so Blue.

**
Bethany Maines
is the author
of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous
short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some
serious butt with her fourth degree black belt in karate, she can be found
chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You
can also catch up with her on YouTube, Twitter
and Facebook.