So a few days ago someone tweeted about how authors should fight to adapt their books into screenplays if they want. It was worded badly. People got angry. And I’ve thought about it pretty much every day since.

I have thoughts, y’all. So. Many. Thoughts.

First, of course, books and movies are different. Deeply, vastly different. Everyone gets this in theory, but I don’t think you really appreciate it until you’ve written both.

I’ve written both. My books have, obviously, been published. Some of my scripts have been optioned but not yet produced. And here’s what I’ve learned:

You can write a bad screenplay a lot faster than you can write a bad book, but a GOOD version of either is always hard.

AUTHORS ARE WRONG when they tell me they think the hard part will be learning how to format everything. Ha! Formatting is the least of your worries.

SCREENWRITERS ARE WRONG when they tell me authors don’t understand conflict, or how to take notes, or how to show-not-tell. (Some authors aren’t great about that last one, granted, but a lot of us are.)

Don’t even think about writing a screenplay until you’ve read dozens of screenplays. Watching movies doesn’t count. You’ve got to read the pages, and scripts are easily available these days. (If you're not willing to track down scripts you're not willing to write a good one.)

Read screenplays by the greats, but also read scripts by people who aren’t household names. Aaron Sorkin, the Coen brothers, and Shonda Rhimes are legendary. But legends get to break the rules you’ll be expected to live by.

I wouldn’t advise attaching yourself as a screenwriter until you’ve…you know…written some screenplays. You wouldn’t want your first book ever to be the one you’ve already sold, so why would you want to do that w your first screenplay? Which means…

Write something on spec. Write a lot of things. Maybe you’ll eventually option something someplace. Maybe you won’t. But worst case scenario you’ll make some mistakes in private. (Which is where you want to make them.) At the very least you’ll have a writing sample.

Screenplays and books are different, but even bigger is the difference btwn the industries. Authors get edited. That’s the biz. To be a professional writer is to be a professional REwriter. But in Hollywood you’ll get notes from multiple people. And those notes might contradict.

Chances are the thing you write won't get made. There’s also a pretty good chance the thing you write will be rewritten by someone else. Someday you may write something your name won’t actually be on (and for which someone else will get the credit.)

It's a very diff biz.

If you’re an author and this is something you want to do, I salute you. In fact, it’s something I’d like to do as well someday.

It won’t be without its pros (you can start writing before they’d even get another writer hired). And its cons (every minute you spend adapting your existing books is a minute you’re not writing your future books).

I have a new motto I’m trying out in 2019: TIME SPENT WRITING IS NEVER TIME WASTED.

Like I said earlier, I’ve written things that have never been optioned; and I’ve written things that have been optioned but never made. But I don’t regret writing any of them because they’ve all taught me lessons that have made me a better writer in general.

My books are stronger for having studied a different type of writing. If that is of interest to you, do it!

The end.

Re-upping this thread in light of "screenplays going online for free" season!

(for example: https://deadline.com/2019/12/booksmart-movie-script-read-it-emily-halpern-sarah-haskins-susanna-fogel-katie-silberman-screenplay-1202815995/)

The #KnivesOut script is up! Thank you, @Lionsgate!
https://lionsgate.brightspotcdn.com/fb/14/23cd58a147afbb5c758ecb3dff0a/knivesout-final.pdf

The script for LITTLE WOMEN is available here. Thank you, @SonyPictures! https://www.sonypictures-awards.com/static/files/LITTLE%20WOMEN%20-%20GG%20FINAL%20(Revisions%20by%20Alessia)%20tmk.pdf

Check out the script for Avengers Endgame. Thank you, @Disney!
http://disneystudiosawards.s3.amazonaws.com/avengers-endgame/Avengers_Endgame.pdf

Very excited to read the script for How To Train Your Dragon: the Hidden World. Thank you, @UniversalPics! https://universalpicturesawards.com/how-to-train-your-dragon/screenplay/How_to_Train_Your_Dragon.pdf