Authoring & Playwriting

I'm not sure if the link will work for you guys. I'm kind of new to this.

Hi, Anne! Those are the best stories. When you can find humor in the darkest moments. Brava!

Hi Anne, have you gotten any of your plays produced?

Hi Margaret Y. Buapim-West. Thanks for asking The first two were as a result of playwriting courses hosted at Theatre Royal, Plymouth, UK. Each time the whole class could submit their play at the end of the course and six were chosen (from about 15-20 students). In 2012, mine (Running Wild Across Barren Ground) was chosen and it was then performed (script in hand) along with 5 other shorts on a single night in 2013 (Platform 2013). I was then invited to attend the next course in 2014 (I needed to learn more!) and I was again lucky to have my play (Coming Clean) performed in 2015, two nights at the Drum Theatre (part of Theatre Royal). For both of those plays there was a Q&A after the shows when we had to go on stage and (you guessed it) answer questions. Then, it was as a result of a course at Bridport Arts centre where I wrote When I have Fears. That's been performed twice (both times script in hand) - once at Bridport Arts Centre (2107) and then as part of a charity event in Kingsbridge (2019), near my home in Salcombe. That second one was performed by the Salcombe Players, an AmDram group, They liked it so much they challenged me to write more which they'd then be happy to perform on stage as their Spring production. It has to be 6 times as long/ I'm still writing it ... but they will produce it, once it's done. I know the producers well and am pleased they liked my writing enough to spur me on. I'm very new to this. I use Scrivener ... I am AKA ScrivenerVirgin.See my website www.scrivenervirgin.com

Totally agree try to laugh through the darkness well done best success

That's wonderful Anne! Glad to meet you. Best Success to you and I will check out your website.

Alex, I've wrestled with that question as well and have no clear answer. I've been a published author for nearly a decade, but am new to screenwriting. I have some story ideas where I'm waffling between the two as well. Right now, I'm focusing on screenwriting, but if I get to a point where I'm no longer actively shopping my screenplay, I'll probably rewrite it as a novel. I have the luxury of having a publisher that likes my writing. I sell enough books to keep them happy. So, I'm almost assured to get each of my novels published. This gives me a solid fallback plan if my screenplays fail to garner attention. I don't know if any of this helps, but good luck with it all.

Huge congratulations and wish you every success I adore seeing people bring the power of words to a reader

Maybe carry on writing as a book, and afterwards turn it into a script? Congratulations on your success so far! I have huge admiration for people who can do both and what a brilliant way to diversify creatively x

Well said daisy so empowering

Congratulations on publishing your first book. I don’t think it’s either/or, it’s both/and. Just decide which stories work best as narrative fiction and which ones are better served as screenplays. I’m also an author and a filmmaker. There’s a lot of overlap between the two, since many books are adapted into movies.

I have always believed that fantasy can be the catalyst to moments of definitive truths in the universe. Which universe? Only fantasy can take you there. I'd love a review of my loglines. Love and Strength to All!

Evelyn von Warnitz My pleasure! Keep me posted if you update them or add more!

Ingrid Goldberg I got you! I will have a look!

Hello. Have a variation of things you might be interested in. :-)

Hi Christopher Poet! Are you okay? Did you forget me? It wouldn't be the first time that I have been forgotten. It definitely won't be the last.

it's over now.

Correct, Eli Jakeman. Winners will be announced tomorrow!

Hi Jeff. I didn't do the registration, going on the on the basis of this comment from the site:

When is my work protected?

Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.

Also from here, https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf, I didn't feel the strong need to register, but am open to alternative views on that. I think you have way more experience than I do!

Hi Jeff. Quick update - did a search and decided to register. Thanks for pointing it out!

If you're in the UK, you don't need to register your work under copyright. It's copyrighted from the moment it is created, as you detailed. I found proof-reading on a Kindle or via the Kindle Viewer on a PC was a really good way to edit out any errors etc. KDP will find some spelling errors, when you upload your final manuscript, but generally I find it's not a great way - and very time-consuming - to edit. There's tools out there which can help with the conversion process. Smashwords is an excellent site for distribution and for creating different formats. Reedsy is okay - though seems to have taken a backwards step in the way it formats documents lately. Another site that is very good is Draft2Digital.com - I've used that a number of time, particularly when my documents contain images. As for creating covers, I've utilised Photoshop actions to create mock-ups, but for creating the original I initially use Canva and then bring the result into Photoshop to take advantage of better manipulation of fonts and shadowing, texturising, etc.

You can check out my works at https://www.amazon.co.uk/David-E.-Gates/e/B0142E16ZC/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk... or at www.davidegates.com

Good to know, Kevin. You can't prove the work is yours, and you cannot prove you own the rights without a registered copyright.

Wow I didn't know that - I don't have anything copyrighted, but someone told me you can just email the ms to yourself and hold it on file instead? Congratulations on the novel - looks great!

It was a huge undertaking. But early reviews from beta readers are all extremely positive.

You certainly can, but pitching to publishers and literary agents is just as difficult. But it’s cheaper to self publish than make an independent film.

I did it with three of my screenplays. I'm presently turning on of the novels into a series bible/pitch deck for streaming. What I did was take each chapter and write it up as a scene - then expand and add in whatever is missing. Long process - but very fun.

I've wondered that as well. I think either way you go, it's about putting in the work and getting the content out there. Keep at it and see the project through! If you believe in it, someone else will too. :)

Yes it's possible. I've done it both ways. Book to script - and script to book. Heck, I've even gone short script, to feature, to graphic novel (6 issues).

But as always, it's about being able to either self market, or get some agent or publisher excited enough to take on the marketing. It has to be that good.

You may be able to register the written form with the U.S. Copyright Office if you can't find the originator. You should contact the U.S. Copyright Office for advice or have a lawyer determine.

Thanks Jeff, currently not wanting to incur extra costs. Obviously it may come to something like that so I totally appreciate that suggestion, just hoping there’s an easier, less costly option!

A joke is only a few sentences long. Not long enough to 'be' a film. As you mentioned, at best it's going to be a short film.

"A guy walks into a bar, with a duck on his head..."

You mean you want to use the PREMISE of the joke? An entire film around a guys relationship to the duck, that likes to ride around on his head?

I'm not clear on what you're asking. There's not going to be a simple answer.

Richard - yes, you're correct, it's not a 'film' but a short film... in fact to be more precise, a short, short film! :) I not only used the premise of the joke, but ultimately the verbiage of the joke as I know it to be, to write a script... All of the versions I have found of this joke online are different in many ways but all tend to keep the primary punch-line which makes the joke what it is. So I basically scripted out the joke so that it could be acted out and filmed... I did this as an exercise in scriptwriting and as a way to experience the entire process of filmmaking, from scriptwriting to final production and everything in between...

My current question revolves around not wanting to get into trouble once I have a completed short, short film and then want to post it online for all to see. As I said, I'm, primarily doing this as an exercise in learning and experience but if, when I post it (someday), I can actually make some money on it then I assume that I will need to have this issue resolved. Is this joke/the premise of this joke something I can use without attribution or permission if it is in the public domain, which I believe I could make the argument that it is, or do I need to fully dig to try to find the original author and then secure rights to produce it as a film, however short it ends up? And further, how does one determine wether an idea or concept is in the public domain or not? And even if it is in the public domain, can I use it as it is or would I only have the right to use the idea but still need to change the words of the joke?

Thanks for asking for clarification, I hope this helps and I look forward to whatever advice/input you can offer.

Hey ya'll - I just realized that I posted this question in the wrong thread, I meant to post it under screenwriting so I'm going to repost (with greater detail) in the screenwriting thread. Probably makes sense for anyone with input to use the other thread instead of this one for the sake of keeping it altogether... thank you and my apologies to the moderators...

Book writing is more flexible, plus it allows you a certain degree of leverage and creative control. Script writing is a stricter discipline and doesn't have much room for sentimentality if you're attached to the story or characters.

Book writing.

Define 'success'.

Richard P. Alvarez I mean to say which is easier to write, market, and sell

I've published several books and written a full-length feature screenplay - and a short film screenplay. I've published my feature screenplay on Smashwords and Amazon. I now concentrate on my books. If someone shows enough interest, I could be convinced to turn them into screenplays too.

Respect to all of you doing both - I can just about keep focus on the books ;-)

I started out writing prose (speculative fiction) and have several short stories, novellas and novels professionally published. I got interested in script writing because I started reading scripts of my favourite films. Once I studied the craft and started writing scripts myself it actually changed my prose style. I go through phases, but at the moment I'm focused just on writing screenplays.

ps, I often work out story by writing it in prose first, feeling it out (writing from the outside in I think is the term)

I wrote my first children's book in 2015 and got it published the same year. The next year my second book in the same series was published. Surprisingly enough, I imagined screenwriting to be this mythical artform that I was afraid to even attempt. You would think having two published books would give me the confidence to try but it didn't. It wasn't until a few months ago, I went all in on writing my first screenplay. A screenplay that I just finished editing and completed this week. While it is different from writing a book, there is a beauty to it that I instantly fell in love with. Next up, I intend to make a screenplay of my book series.