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I would not like my stories made into films

Does anyone else feel this way? I write about a character and can describe him as best as i could but if ten people all read it they would all see ten different people. I like to think that every reader feels their version is the correct one and seeing it on screen is different then your vision.

I also use crazy imagery such as incomprehensible and impossible landscapes, otherworldly beings beyond our understanding, and things that no naked eye can look upon without succumbing to madness. How could you ever portray that on a screen? I don't think you really can.

As much as i like things like the Cthulhu mythos, i think that level of mystery and alien nature of it is what alured me to it. Yes while the Art of Cthulhu is very nice, i think real horrors are things you wouldn't be able to see or explain. If places and creatures i have created where made on screen i would always feel like it could have been done better justice. It's like counting to infinity, no matter what number you stop at you could always add more.

Or maybe I'm just crazy? The world may never know...
 

Penpilot

Staff
Article Team
Honestly, if someone liked my stories enough to make a movie out of one of them, I'd be honored... right after they showed me the money. :D

Yeah, I'd be a sell-out.

But really, the way I'd look at it is I already got to tell my version of the story. The books will exist regardless of if a movie is made. And regardless of if the movie is good or not, it will push people to check out the book. In addition, if the money I got from the movie rights allows me to write more books--maybe books that require a degree of risk--without fear of keeping a roof over my head, why not do it?
 

Russ

Istar
I know a number of writers who have had had their books made into films or TV series.

With very limited exceptions they found the experience enjoyable and gratifying and found pleasure in learning about a new form or writing and how that different medium worked.

With only one exception they all tell me they were moved in a very positive way the first time they saw someone else's vision of their MC portrayed on a screen based on someone else's vision.

I would commend the process to anyone, and just say "approach it with an open mind."
 
Does anyone else feel this way? I write about a character and can describe him as best as i could but if ten people all read it they would all see ten different people. I like to think that every reader feels their version is the correct one and seeing it on screen is different then your vision.

I also use crazy imagery such as incomprehensible and impossible landscapes, otherworldly beings beyond our understanding, and things that no naked eye can look upon without succumbing to madness. How could you ever portray that on a screen? I don't think you really can.

As much as i like things like the Cthulhu mythos, i think that level of mystery and alien nature of it is what alured me to it. Yes while the Art of Cthulhu is very nice, i think real horrors are things you wouldn't be able to see or explain. If places and creatures i have created where made on screen i would always feel like it could have been done better justice. It's like counting to infinity, no matter what number you stop at you could always add more.

Or maybe I'm just crazy? The world may never know...

Lovecraft's stories are not suited for film. Stuart Gordon's films are a perfect example of this. He basically turns Lovecraft's amazing prose into mindless b-movie horror.
 
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