Tux Toledo
One of the Regulars
- Messages
- 115
- Location
- Silicon Valley
I had this problem about a year ago. The current novel I was working on was giving me fits, and I had another novel I'd started earlier that kept tugging at me. So I eventually abandoned the problem novel and went back to the other one...which is the one I'm working on now. However, I think I'm going to tackle the problem novel after I'm done with this one. I really like the story and my characters...
I've just about decided to go with my "franchise" character, The Lovable Rogue, and focus on my mystery novel. I can retain more control over it than I could with my screenplay. Making a movie is a very collaborative effort (which I enjoy) however that also means that your work is subject to significant revision, whether you like it or not. A screenplay, like the pirate's code, is more or less a guideline. And regardless of what the purveyors of online screenwriting courses and seminars tell you, to be a screenwriter you need to live in L.A.
The novel, for the most part, will be mine. Perhaps no one will like it and no one will read it. But it will be mine and it will have my name attached to it (not always a good thing!). It will be the story that I want to tell, not one a Hollywood producer wants to make. I'm not giving up on the screenplay, just going to put it on the back burner for a while.
Now, on to improving the plot and characters. Tally ho!