# Film adaptations of your stories



## Jabrosky (Apr 27, 2012)

Do you ever fantasize about your published stories being adapted into movies? I do. I find myself more motivated to write if I imagine that after I finish and publish my book, someone is going to adapt it into a movie (preferably either animated or with a lot of CGI). Occasionally I even wonder which actors would portray my characters.


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## Sheilawisz (Apr 27, 2012)

The same happens with Me!! I want to see my Fantasy stories as a movie series even more than I want to see them in the shelves of a bookstore, and when I write, what I can see clearly in my mind is a movie and this is reflected in my fast and movie-like narrative style =)


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## Chilari (Apr 27, 2012)

Oh I do that all the time. One of the stories I was working on a couple of years ago, I wrote with a particular attractive actor in mind to play one of the main characters. That story is currently in the "inactive" pile, but for my current active story, I haven't really thought about it much. I have a few thoughts on who could play the villain, though those actors are possibly a little old even now and certainly would be by the time the thing got made into a film, so it's barely worth considering really.

In all honestly, mostly when I think about my novels being made into films, I imagine myself mixing with lots of famous attractive actors and kick-ass actresses more than I imagine what roles those people would be playing.


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## Sheilawisz (Apr 27, 2012)

I would like to add that the style of Magic, powers, places and stuff that I have in my stories would be excellent for movies full of CGI and all sorts of special effects: Mages flying on colourful crystals at 70000km/h, silver-coloured magical fire that advances destroying entire cities, crystal castles, gateways between different universes, dream-like worlds and other things similar to the 2010 Alice in Wonderland =)

My stories would be very expensive movies, but I am happy with the idea!!

I have not seen a teenage actress good enough to play Joan in my Joan of England series, but it should not be too difficult to find one that looks exactly like my character...


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## Jabrosky (Apr 27, 2012)

Sheilawisz said:


> I would like to add that the style of Magic, powers, places and stuff that I have in my stories would be excellent for movies full of CGI and all sorts of special effects: Mages flying on colourful crystals at 70000km/h, silver-coloured magical fire that advances destroying entire cities, crystal castles, gateways between different universes, dream-like worlds and other things similar to the 2010 Alice in Wonderland =)
> 
> My stories would be very expensive movies, but I am happy with the idea!!



My current WIP is planned to feature gods and lots of hostile wildlife, including dinosaurs, so it'll be heavy on CGI too.

Come to think of it, most fantasy stories would probably feature lots of CGI if adapted to film.


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## Aiden Sawyer (Apr 27, 2012)

I may be dating myself, but when I first began writing fantasy, I didn't think it was possible to do my stories justice as a film, even with an unlimit budget. In fact, I recall deciding to tone down some of the fantasy elements in my first novel Rogue's Honor (just a manuscript at the time) when I adapted it into a screen play for my final writing project in film school. The writing professor advised me not to worry about how my story would be produced ("that's for the director and producers to figure out"), but these were actually going to be pitched to a Disney subsidiary; and I didn't want my script to be discarded as being too challenging to produce, or (almost a bad) to be produced with cheezy special effects. With the technology today, that wouldn't even have been a consideration. Still, the exercise of adapting my manuscript was an eye-opening exercise, and I realized just how much would be lost (technology not withstanding) just to conform to the film medium. I still do not believe a movie would do it justice, but a series like the HBO adaptation of Martin's _A Song of Ice and Fire_ would probably fit the bill...


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## Shockley (Apr 27, 2012)

No, I don't think about that. I write the words for the sake of words, and if someone wants to put them in a film that's fine but I put it out of my head when writing.


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## Ghost (Apr 27, 2012)

My stories have a psychological bent, moody atmospheres, and plots that are either slow or melodramatic. I doubt any studio would touch them. Frankly, I'll be happy if a _publisher_ does. If I wanted to the end result to be a movie, then I'd write screenplays.

I don't dream of movie adaptations, book signings, interviews, or things like that, but I do fantasize that my favorite authors will read my books and praise them.


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## Devor (Apr 27, 2012)

Sometimes.  But not really.  I dream a little about adapting my work to a video game or tabletop RPG more than a movie.


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## Kit (Apr 28, 2012)

No. One of the reasons I've never been very interested in being traditionally published is that you have to literally sell your work- and then the buyer can warp it into something that's an obscene parody of your creation. I don't want to ever see one of my books on a store shelf with a bimbo wearing a chainmail bikini on the cover who bears no resemblance to any character in my story. Moviemaking would be even worse. How many movies have we seen that were a joke compared to the book? The money would be nice, but I'm not sure it's worth seeing my work turned into something I don't like.


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## Lord Darkstorm (Apr 28, 2012)

Just a bit of a reality check, but if you look at what the movie studios crap out on a regular basis...drama, comedy, and other forms of more or less normal people in a story (aka, cheaper films).  Comic book films (which most of us are not writing), and recreations of movies done a couple times already.  Now, when we leave the realm of comic books, there is quite a bit in the scifi realm...and then the occasional fantasy realm.  Most fantasy movies I've watch (or could manage to sit through) were not based on a novel, but some writer who feels that women who use swords MUST be in a chain mail bikini.  Ok, I guess I need to mention the current run of teen angst vampire flicks, which is almost as bad as the crappy fantasy movies.  

So, even though most of my writing is scifi at the moment, I don't have any great expectations that anyone producing a movie will come knocking...unless...it's spectacular.  Notice that books that sell in the millions (which is not that many in my browsing section of the book store) are the ones made into movies.

Dream away, but if you want a slim chance of it happening, then you will have to be a very good story teller, and get lucky enough to have a popular book.


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## Mindfire (Apr 28, 2012)

I used to dream of my book(s) going to the big screen, but realistically, I've pretty much forgotten about that. If you notice, only the titans of the genre like LOTR & The Hobbit, The Chronicles of Narnia, or Harry Potter get movies that are actually worth watching. By contrast, when books that are only reasonably successful, or that are smash hits but still not "top tier", (e.g. Eragon) get movies, they're just cheap cash-ins. Although the quality of Eragon's movie could be blamed on the fact that the book wasn't that great to begin with...

Nowadays I think my "big adaptaion dream" for my books would be an animated movie or better yet an animated series. I think that my work would transfer over well to something in the style of Avatar: the Last Airbender. Plus, TV shows in general get more time to develop characters, meaning there would be fewer cut plot threads, plus animation allows you to make a character look exactly like they need to, so there wouldn't be any worries about actors not "looking right". And The Last Airbender's success has made racially diverse cartoon characters more mainstream. I think my work would feel right at home as an animated show on Nick or Cartoon Network.


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## Kit (Apr 28, 2012)

Lord Darkstorm said:


> Most fantasy movies I've watch (or could manage to sit through) were not based on a novel, but some writer who feels that women who use swords MUST be in a chain mail bikini.



((Kit looks in her closet)) Swords: check. Chainmail bikini: nope.

If I accomplish nothing more by being on this forum than to convince *ONE* fantasy writer to not put their female warrior characters in chainmail bikinis, I can die happy.


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## Mindfire (Apr 28, 2012)

Kit said:


> ((Kit looks in her closet)) Swords: check. Chainmail bikini: nope.
> 
> If I accomplish nothing more by being on this forum than to convince *ONE* fantasy writer to not put their female warrior characters in chainmail bikinis, I can die happy.



What about a buckskin bikini? ...lol I kid. Sort of. I have a rainforest-dwelling culture. Light, mobile clothing is most practical for them and they don't wear armor really. But a bikini strikes me as out of place in my world thematically. I don't know why exactly. I just does.


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## Kit (Apr 28, 2012)

I should start a thread in research: "Ask me what a real female warrior wears...."   

The prevalence of ridiculous fetishwear in fantasy fiction really pushes my buttons (if that's not obvious by now). If you're doing fantasy fiction, make it believable. If you're doing porn, that's a different target demographic- and a different closet.

If I was headed to a real (unarmed) fight, I would put on bike shorts and a compression sports bra (and cut off most of my hair). I realize that in itself is tight, brief clothing that may be enough to stir some amount of prurient interest- but there's a big difference between brief, tight clothing as practical and brief, tight clothing as portraying a sex object.

Your clothes are a liability in a fight. Your enemy can grab your sleeve to immobilize your arm and/or pull you off balance, s/he can move you around with grips on your shirt, s/he can choke you with your own collar. Many throws and takedowns use grips on the clothing. Once your waistband starts falling down or your shirtsleeve gets torn and wraps up your own arm, your own clothing becomes a distraction at best and your doom at worst.  

Once you're rolling around on the ground, your clothing only hampers you even more down there since it can be used to pin parts of you to the ground.

A woman fighting, unless she's really flat-chested, needs more chest support than your average chainmail bikini provides.

The long, flowing hair that is depicted on many female warriors on cheesy paperback covers says one thing to me: here is a great handle, as soon as I get a handful of that hair, I'm gonna control her head and she's toast.

I've trained and sparred in all sorts of attire, and you learn pretty quickly to figure out what is practical versus what can contribute significantly to getting the crap beaten out of you. What looks good is beside the point.

Please don't put your female characters in fighting clothes that are going to be a liability to their fighting.

Sorry for the thread hijack.


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## Mindfire (Apr 28, 2012)

Kit said:


> The long, flowing hair that is depicted on many female warriors on cheesy paperback covers says one thing to me: here is a great handle, as soon as I get a handful of that hair, I'm gonna control her head and she's toast.



True, but there's an important caveat to this. Some cultures with notable warrior elements (Native Americans spring to mind) have traditionally long hair. But (I think) those cultures tend to emphasize surprise attack and guerrilla style combat. If your fighter is going to be striking from the shadows, ambushing, sniping, etc. She's going to be far less concerned about someone grabbing her, because the idea is not to be seen in the first place.


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## Kit (Apr 28, 2012)

There are cultures that consider long hair part of the uniform or magical mojo of a warrior. If the role of their long hair in their warrior culture gives them enough inspiration to cancel out the practical issues, rah rah to them.  If I was fighting one, though, I'd be goin' for that convenient handhold. They are handing me an advantage which I will be delighted to exploit. At least their hair will look good at their funeral.


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## Mindfire (Apr 28, 2012)

Kit said:


> There are cultures that consider long hair part of the uniform or magical mojo of a warrior. If the role of their long hair in their warrior culture gives them enough inspiration to cancel out the practical issues, rah rah to them.  If I was fighting one, though, I'd be goin' for that convenient handhold. They are handing me an advantage which I will be delighted to exploit. At least their hair will look good at their funeral.



You just reminded me of a warrior culture that emphasized long hair but doesn't fall into the guerrilla tactics category: Vikings! Try and grab a viking's hair. I dare you. xD


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## Lord Darkstorm (Apr 28, 2012)

Just a clarification, I refer to cheap fantasy movies.  Most novels that have women as fighters usually have them in armor or other practical attire for the style of fighting they do.  One thing that turned me away from script writing was a 'how to' book that at the very beginning made it clear that scripts are not novels.  Scripts based on novels are not the novels and can (and usually do) change to fit the film and the producer.  Hence the stupidity of the movies based on harry potter 4 and 5, of which they just did what they wanted to make it more dramatic.  

I could pull a dozen books off my shelf in a matter of a half hour and every one would make an excellent movie.  Some of them would even be relatively cheap to get movie rights for, but instead we get remakes.  

Sigh


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## Steerpike (Apr 28, 2012)

Jabrosky said:


> Do you ever fantasize about your published stories being adapted into movies?



No.


/10char


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## Ireth (Apr 28, 2012)

Kit said:


> The long, flowing hair that is depicted on many female warriors on cheesy paperback covers says one thing to me: here is a great handle, as soon as I get a handful of that hair, I'm gonna control her head and she's toast.



Heheh. not a female example, but Glorfindel in Tolkien's Silmarillion learned that the hard way. Shoved a Balrog off a mountain, only for it to drag him down after it by his long golden hair. ^^; Owie.


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## Mindfire (Apr 28, 2012)

Ireth said:


> Heheh. not a female example, but Glorfindel in Tolkien's Silmarillion learned that the hard way. Shoved a Balrog off a mountain, only for it to drag him down after it by his long golden hair. ^^; Owie.



He...got better somehow though. Shows up again in LOTR. I'm guessing after that incident he cut his hair shorter to prevent a repeat incident.


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## Ireth (Apr 28, 2012)

Yeah, he did come back to life after a time in the Halls of Mandos. Elves can do that. Though I don't think he cut his hair any shorter the next time around -- I seem to remember it being described as long and flowing when he first meets Frodo and company.

Oops, thread hijack. ^^; Sorry.


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## Penpilot (Apr 28, 2012)

Mindfire said:


> Try and grab a viking's hair. I dare you. xD



Been there. Done that. Friends call me stumpy now.... but showed him. You can't hand wash blood out of a tunic... hahhaha. Last laugh's on him.


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## SlimShady (Apr 28, 2012)

Well, my main project has been intentionally written with so many epic battle scenes that it would be impossible to film.  The plot itself is so long and complex that no movie could ever do my story justice.  (Not bragging in any way, just saying that no film could actually make something good out of it without utterly butchering it of course)  
  I don't trust fantasy movie makers anyways after seeing such terrible garbage as Conan and Eragon, both of which butchered the books.  Although, Eragon didn't have much of a chance anyways.  :tongue:


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## Jabrosky (Apr 28, 2012)

I actually enjoyed the recent _Conan _movie, though _Eragon _reminded me too much of the first _Star Wars_ for my taste.

My biggest concern with a cinema adaptation of my current story is how its heroine would be cast. She's an attractive, dark-skinned African woman (think Oluchi Onweagba or Atong Arjok), the kind of woman that Hollywood avoids casting in lead roles like the plague. That her eventual boyfriend will be a white guy on par with Robert Pattinson in the handsomeness department would almost certainly exacerbate things.

Still, I can always tell Hollywood that I will sell it the rights to my story only on certain conditions.


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## Kit (Apr 28, 2012)

You normally lose control of EVERYTHING once you sell it.

You know why Game Of Thrones is so good? Because George has decades of television experience, and so had enough experience and heft to get away with having his hand in a lot more than most authors do. He gets to help write some of the scripts, gets to help pick the actors- most authors don't get to do ANYTHING like that.

I shudder to begin to imagine what anorexic blonde surgically-enhanced model Hollywood would cast as my female warrior MC. :furious:


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## SlimShady (Apr 28, 2012)

Well Conan wasn't really a bad movie per se.  It was an average action adventure flick, but it didn't do Robert E. Howard's stories any justice.  

  Come to think of it I can really remember any good fantasy movies at all.  Lord of the Rings was good.  The Narnia ones were alright.  Harry Potter was pretty good.  If it weren't for Game of Thrones I wouldn't have any fantasy to watch at all.  (Watching LoTR over and over gets boring)


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## Jabrosky (Apr 28, 2012)

Kit said:


> You normally lose control of EVERYTHING once you sell it.
> 
> You know why Game Of Thrones is so good? Because George has decades of television experience, and so had enough experience and heft to get away with having his hand in a lot more than most authors do. He gets to help write some of the scripts, gets to help pick the actors- most authors don't get to do ANYTHING like that.
> 
> I shudder to begin to imagine what anorexic blonde surgically-enhanced model Hollywood would cast as my female warrior MC. :furious:



Sounds like bad news for me. 

What does your MC look like in your head right now?


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## Ghost (Apr 28, 2012)

Lord Darkstorm said:


> One thing that turned me away from script writing was a 'how to' book that at the very beginning made it clear that scripts are not novels.



That wouldn't bother me. I wouldn't write a graphic novel the same way I'd write a regular novel, either. They're different mediums. The thing that turns me off of writing scripts, aside from lack of know-how, is how incestuous and closed that industry is. It would be very difficult for someone like me to break into it. (Those Syfy originals make me wonder, though.)

Another thing is the amount of compromising you have to do. My impression is that other people make the final decision as to what goes into the movie unless you produce and direct the film yourself in addition to writing the script. Novels can have similar hoops to jump through, but it doesn't seem like there are as many middlemen.

Where does everyone find these books about bikini chainmail? I've seen those book covers, but I always thought it was a marketing gimmick. Are those women really IN the books? :eek2:


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## Kit (Apr 29, 2012)

Jabrosky said:


> What does your MC look like in your head right now?



I'm not entirely sure yet. I'm more interested in what she's doing and thinking than in what she looks like. It's starting to look as if she may turn out to look Chinese or Nepali, though. Which means you and I will be in the same boat!

I know what she is *NOT*- 6'2 and 84lb, blonde, with no muscles, botoxed lips like Donald Duck, and breasts the size of basketballs. Which means I'm probably not gonna like whomever Hollywood would want to cast. 

She does not wear a chainmail bikini, or anything else that makes her look like she ought to be popping out of a cake at a 1970's bachelor party.

Although having her look like I'd imagined her would be nice, I'd settle for just having a realistic body type for a fighter. Seeing women on the big screen pretending to fight when they have zero muscle mass and obviously couldn't lift a case of (diet) Coke without help irritates me almost as much as chainmail bikinis. Women who fight- even women who TRAIN, who just do kata and never compete or spar- have MUSCLES! (And you know what else- we look damn good, if that matters!) 

If they cast a bimbo with too much cosmetic surgery, but she at least had some muscle in her biceps, I might not have to commit seppuku on opening night of the film.


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## Kit (Apr 29, 2012)

Ouroboros said:


> Where does everyone find these books about bikini chainmail? I've seen those book covers, but I always thought it was a marketing gimmick. Are those women really IN the books? :eek2:



Usually not, thank the Gods!  I think the number of authors moronic enough to write chainmail bikinis is far outstripped (heh) by the number of publishers who are moronic enough to still think men won't read a book unless they put a bimbo in fetishwear on the cover.  

But doesn't it drive anyone else nuts when you finish reading a book, look at the cover and think, "Who the hell are these people on the cover? None of them look like any of the characters in this book. And how can that girl swing a sword while wearing nothing but two pieces of dental floss?"

I fear that watching a movie adaptation of one of my works would be akin to 2 hours of the same- sitting there thinking in dismay, "Who are these people, what are they doing, and who dressed them?!?"


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## Jabrosky (Apr 29, 2012)

Ouroboros said:


> Where does everyone find these books about bikini chainmail? I've seen those book covers, but I always thought it was a marketing gimmick. Are those women really IN the books? :eek2:



I don't describe my MC's clothing in my story, but I have drawn her and plead guilty to giving her an exposed midriff (although her costume still covers more than a bikini). However, Africa does have a hot climate, so neither warriors nor women wore a lot of clothing or armor anyway.

On the other hand, a Northern European chick like Red Sonja in a bikini would die of hypothermia unless she was vacationing in the tropics, in which case she'd die of skin cancer instead.


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## Kit (Apr 29, 2012)

Jabrosky said:


> I don't describe my MC's clothing in my story, but I have drawn her and plead guilty to giving her an exposed midriff (although her costume still covers more than a bikini). However, Africa does have a hot climate, so neither warriors nor women wore a lot of clothing or armor anyway.
> 
> On the other hand, a Northern European chick like Red Sonja in a bikini would die of hypothermia unless she was vacationing in the tropics, in which case she'd die of skin cancer instead.



You can get away with a climate-appropriate midriff, as long as the outfit as a whole passes the "practical for actual fighting" test.

*Kit's First Law For Fantasy Writing:*
"Thou shalt not put thy female warriors in cheesy chainmail bikinis. Visualize your female warrior in battle. Now visualize her popping out of a cake at a 1970's bachelor party. If scenario #2 looks more cohesive, you have sexually objectified your female warrior too much. Dress her in something else."


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Apr 29, 2012)

If I ever have something that someone wants to option for a visual medium, I'm afraid I'm probably going to say, "Yeah, yeah, whatever, give me a check and go do whatever you want" and then forget about it. Because, you know, money.


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## Mindfire (Apr 29, 2012)

Benjamin Clayborne said:


> If I ever have something that someone wants to option for a visual medium, I'm afraid I'm probably going to say, "Yeah, yeah, whatever, give me a check and go do whatever you want" and then forget about it. Because, you know, money.



...Well at least you're honest. xD


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## Lord Darkstorm (Apr 29, 2012)

Benjamin Clayborne said:


> If I ever have something that someone wants to option for a visual medium, I'm afraid I'm probably going to say, "Yeah, yeah, whatever, give me a check and go do whatever you want" and then forget about it. Because, you know, money.



I've given this at least 30 seconds of thought.    If you sell the rights to your book for them to make a movie, and they make something that is a hit, you sell lots of books and get major recognition.  Even if it's crappy, it is likely to sell books and make you more money.  I'm not seeing much of a downside to this.  

So, I think I have to agree, except I think I'd rather have a percentage of the profit over a one time payment.  Preferably gross profit, not net.


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## Elder the Dwarf (May 1, 2012)

Benjamin Clayborne said:


> If I ever have something that someone wants to option for a visual medium, I'm afraid I'm probably going to say, "Yeah, yeah, whatever, give me a check and go do whatever you want" and then forget about it. Because, you know, money.



Same, except that I would be so ridiculously excited that I had sold enough books and garnered enough interest to justify making even the crappiest of movies.  It wouldn't be "Yeah, yeah, whatever," it would be "Hell yeah sign me up is there anything I can do?"


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## Rhi Paille (May 1, 2012)

Jabrosky said:


> Do you ever fantasize about your published stories being adapted into movies? I do. I find myself more motivated to write if I imagine that after I finish and publish my book, someone is going to adapt it into a movie (preferably either animated or with a lot of CGI). Occasionally I even wonder which actors would portray my characters.



I used to, but after Twilight and the Hunger Games, I've realized something: when you read a book you become the characters in that book, maybe not all of them but someone resonates with you. In a movie, you watch the action but you're not living it. I guess reading is more like virtual reality than watching movies is.

Now, had they turned Hunger Games into virtual reality, I think we'd all be having heart attacks. 

"But there are much worse games to play." 

Best.End.Line.Ever.


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## SeverinR (May 2, 2012)

I picture the world I write in color, I don't try to picture it on a screen, or even consider how the film guys will portray it.
I figure let my imagination create it on paper, then let their imagination create the movie image.  
They are the amazing artist, it is our job to inspire them to go farther then they ever have before.

Besides, I think with tech the way it is, if you write for todays tech, it will be old hat by the time its printed. 

Kit: You are against ladies in skimpy chainmaille?
Is it ever wrong to have women in maille attracting attention?
The world needs more maille.

This message brought to you by a member of Maille artisans internation league. (It has a nice ring to it. -rimshot)


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## Steerpike (May 2, 2012)

Elder the Dwarf said:


> Same, except that I would be so ridiculously excited that I had sold enough books and garnered enough interest to justify making even the crappiest of movies.  It wouldn't be "Yeah, yeah, whatever," it would be "Hell yeah sign me up is there anything I can do?"



Yeah. And if you have even one hit along the lines of a Twilight or Hunger Games, you can spend the rest of your life writing whatever you want, no matter how artsy or inaccessible, and at least from a financial perspective it won't matter if anyone ever reads it. You become free.


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## pmmg (Oct 12, 2022)

I find that my desire for some type of standard to my artistic integrity would prevent me from just taking any movie deal. I would not trust hollywood, or any really, to do it justice. If I ever had such success, I would be in a quandry, but I think I want my legacy to be more than some of the stuff I fear current movie studio might do. In part, I think it would be important to hold out for the quality, because if high quality hit a screen, it would give the entire thing much greater life, and maybe enter more easily into some status that outlives me.

But... like that will ever happen...

I would not be unhappy with a graphic novel.

(Maybe there is another thread somewhere where I answered a similar question already. I dont recall, but this is my most current answer )


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## Prince of Spires (Oct 13, 2022)

I always wonder about what I'd do. It's very easy to say you value your artistic integrity (and I do) when there is nothing on the line. However, when it comes down to it, and someone offers you $10k would you still stick to that integrity? That's money you can do a lot of fun things with. What about $100k? That's life changing money for a lot of people.

Now, there are some people who would stick to their artistic vision, and I'm impressed by them. I know Brandon Sanderson has recently commented that he's gotten to a point where he doesn't need the money, and so he can stick to his artistic vision. But most people never get to that point, and then almost everyone has a price.


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