Let’s talk about Script Frenzy.
I’m currently at 23 pages, over twice the recommended quota for this point in the month. It turns out that writing an adaption is surprisingly easy when you’ve already written the book. It also helps that I love writing dialogue, which makes the script zip along quickly. I wrote the bulk of the script in the last two days through online writing sessions with others, notably Syaffolee‘s writing sprints.
A few things I’ve noticed about the adaptation so far:
1. While it looks like I’m on pace to finish the script at around 100 pages, this probably won’t be the case. I’m at around a fifth of the way through the novel and approaching a fourth of the way through the script. The next few scenes are very dialogue-heavy in the novel, so I’ll be taking even more liberties than I already have to include them in the script. The question is how many more liberties I’ll be taking with this adaptation.
2. I’ve definitely been taking advantage of the fact that this is an adaptation. I’ve cut several scenes that will probably stay in the novel (at least for now) just because they’d be boring in a movie. Of course, that may mean they’re boring in the book as well, but that’s for later consideration. I’ve introduced different ways for characters to meet, and the script lets me play with scene transitions in a different way than the novel does. Most notably, one continuous scene in the script is broken up into three parts in the novel and is narrated by three different people. This insight may help me organize that scene better when rewriting them.
3. I still haven’t thought of some very important aspects of the novel yet. At the rate I’m going I’ll have to think of them soon. This concerns me because the hints toward some of those aspects are coming as quickly as the next scene. I may find myself pantsing the script of a novel I’ve already written.
4. It is now very likely that I will finish before the thirtieth even if I do go over 100 pages, as I’m trying to keep this script at a reasonable script lengt. Considering I’ve neither finished before the 30th nor gone over 100 pages by more than two pages, this is an accomplishment. Hooray for accomplishments!
In other news, a few Screnziers (including one of my Twitter followings) have already hit 100 pages. Congratulations!