Video Games, Movies, and Novels: You Can't Tell Stories The Same Way

Stories are stories are stories. Good prevails. Evil falls. Telling your kids 'Cinderella' and seeing the Disney movie and playing a game where you do puzzles to determine how much food to cook for the dwarves are not the same thing. Put this way, it seems obvious, but it's not.

I've often read, on the blog Murderati among other places, that you can use a movie or play's three-act structure to think about plotting novels. Yes, maybe you can. And you can likely see that same three-act structure in books, two. Act one: set-up. Act two: difficulties upon difficulties. Act three: Everything-on-the-line success-or-failure and denouement.

But how many times have we adored a book, gone to theaters, and walked out in a huff? How many times have we turned to someone and said 'The book's better' and had them believe it? How many people trust novelized movie adaptations, with 'based on the movie' on the cover? I sure don't. And, to compare and be fair: I enjoy the Lord of the Rings trilogy movies. The books put me to sleep.

This is for one very simple reason: these mediums have very different ways of interacting with the reader/viewer/player, and cannot be treated the same way.

The Hunger Games, book one/movie one, came out in theaters/DVD recently this year. The book was told entirely in first person, and included the heroine's paranoia about numerous events, her gradual working-out of different points, and her fears. The movie cannot see into her head, and had it tried, the effect would have fallen flat. Instead, the movie took advantage of the fact that the premise revolves around the games being televised, and-- in vital moments-- cued in commentators, sports-match style. It cut to a scene of people watching, shouting at the screen. If they'd tried to put those moments in the book, they would have fallen through, but they worked. Fans will vary on if the movie truly measure up, but I enjoyed them both.

The book-to-movie and movie-to-book controversy has a counterpart: I've never found a book-to-video game or movie-to-video game I've enjoyed. I think gamers have more caution, actually, because these knock-off games tend to be significantly worse than similar games that are not based on other media. And that has to do largely with the way these mediums are set up, and how they interact.

Let's look at plot, just to begin with. We'll give a very basic story premise: Mike's little sister Lucy goes missing, and his family recieves an ominous note saying they can have her if they find her. Mike learns Lucy is being held at the abandoned house on the edge of town, and sets off to rescue her alone.

You can have that plot in a movie, book, or game. Let's settle a few other things: Mike is 15, Lucy 7. Mike gets in a lot of trouble trying to invent things, fixed his family's car and toaster at least three times, and buys Lucy ice-cream every time he aces a test. Lucy hates dresses, loves playing baseball and hopscotch, and often helps her big brother with his projects. You can put any of these things in movies, games, or books.

But how would those books, movies, and games start?

Tell you what. Next week, instead of a blog entry, I'll post three openings to that story. One novel, one movie, one game. And when I do, I hope you'll tell me how you would react to the three examples.

Happy Writing,

-Alaina

The Writing Committment: Finishing Your Work

This week I wrote 1441 words on a project.

Some of you are looking at that number and saying, "That's nothing." Others see at that number and say, "That's a lot." Here's the important thing: in one respect, the number doesn't matter.

What matters is that it's progress.

The most important step to publication is getting something complete, from beginning to end, that makes sense. It may not be good, but it makes sense. A person could read it and turn to you, frowning, to say "Lisa Stone vanished without a trace on page 107, and I wish I had some idea how the phases of the moon determine the strength of unchanged werewolves, but I love how they had to use the moon to trap the werewolves and launch them into space, since the main character's a rocket scientist and they spent the first half of the story trying to solve the werewolf murders."

...I'd actually like to read that. Maybe I should try to write it, once I have fewer projects.

But to get back to the point: completing a draft is the hardest part. It's the part most people fail at. To get from 'Chapter One' to 'The End' without leaving long sections blank, without saying 'Rocks fall everyone dies.' And the best way to get from point A to point Z is to make a commitment.

There are plenty of writing books and guides out there that advocate writing every day. That doesn't work for everyone. What matters is you make a commitment and stick to it. That commitment can be anything, so long as it's something you can stick with.

Stephen King, in his book On Writing, advocates reading for 3 hours a day and writes every morning until he gets 2000 words. I've had my 2000 days, but doing that every day leaves me exhausted. So instead, every day, I get my 100. I don't do it at any set time-- possibly a good thing, since I work fast food and never have a set schedule-- but I get my 100 words. That's just a paragraph, not even a long one; I can get that, surely. And almost always, I get more than 100, because just sitting down and writing leads to more writing. That's an every-day approach that works for me, and I think it's recommended to new writers because it's so easy to fall into. Small numbers, no pressure. It's not like blocking off 5-7 PM every Wednesday, something I tried that lead me to spend 90 minutes staring at my ceiling. But it guarantees 700 words each week... and sometimes more.

I currently have four projects. I'm ignoring one; I can't edit until it's sat for another month or two. Another is in the final stages of editing before being queried. The last two are works in progress. Rough drafts. Unfinished. One less than 5000 words; the other less than 15000. They were started at the same time, but one of them I decided-- months ago-- to focus on. The other gets a word or two... when I feel 'inspired'. This week, it got 253. I doubt that one will ever get finished. For the other? 100 words a day is 3-5% of a novel a month, depending on length... but once I start, it's hard to stop.

If I only ever wrote 100 words a day, I would finish a novel in 2-3 years. That's a long time, but it's a finish. And it's a commitment that I can keep.

Try finding something you can keep to. Make your stance. Start writing.

And enjoy it.

Happy Writing!

-Alaina

What It's About

There are two main themes I'll be discussing in this blog.

One is writing and publishing. In an upcoming series of posts, titled The Writing Commitment, I'll explain my process-- and give outside examples-- of how to stay on track as you write and publish a book. Since I'm currently unpublished, the later posts will include much more outside reference than the first few. But, here's the thing: you can't control if you get published. You can control if you write-- and write well.

The other theme is plot in various media. There are the obvious: books, movies, television, video games... yes, video games. I'll have them as a focus. The way you approach plot, and the way the world is shown, is different depending on your medium. Video games are largely overlooked, but they tell amazing stories... and they're usually stories that traditional media can't, or won't, tell.

I'll update this blog every Sunday, EST, until further notice. Since my schedule is erratic, you'll be better off checking on Mondays.

Happy Writing!

-Alaina

Work In Progress

Something not yet finished.

A rough draft.

Unformed, unshaped, but still out there.

My name is Alaina, and I'm an unpublished novelist. I've been researching the industry, and studying the craft, for years. I've received plenty of rejections, but among them are 'try us again' and 'keep going' personalized ones; it's kind of like being called in for a job interview but not making it to a second interview round. But I'm getting better.

If you're here, you might know me in person, you might be a fellow writer, you might want to read one of my many posts, or this may still be up at that far in the future point where I get published. Either way, you're welcome.