Desk of Amy Suto

TV writer who eats danger for breakfast

Novels vs. Screenplays and Why Writers Should Try Writing a Novel

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You should write a novel.

I know, I know, you’re a screenwriter. You’re a movie person. Why write anything that doesn’t have a chance of appearing on the big screen?

Here’s why: you can learn quite a bit from studying different mediums. (This goes for novelists, too!) There’s power in crosstraining. That’s why professional football players do ballet and yoga in their offseason.

Not to mention that dabbling in a different medium can help you strengthen your story skills:

  • Screenwriters can learn from novels in terms of pacing, building suspense, character development, and strong narrative structures.
  • Novelists can learn plenty of lessons from studying great screenplays, such as: story structure, showing instead of telling, and creating atmosphere.

[If you do decide to write a novel for National Novel Writing Month, be sure to download my free, full-color manual on how to write a novel in a month]

Writing a novel can also open more career doors for you. I know several screenwriters who, after writing their first novel, decided that they enjoyed novels more than screenwriters. Same thing happened to a novelist I know who tried his hand at a screenplay.

In all honesty, there are pros and cons to both mediums: [Read more…]

Writing Research & Adventures: Amy Fires a Nuclear Missile

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Today was like any other day: I woke up, descended thirty-five feet underground, and turned the key that launched a Titan nuclear missile in Tucson, Arizona. Y’know, Monday morning. Daily grind and all. Don’t know how I do it sometimes.

Does this look like a deactivated missile to you? Hmm?

MY ADVENTURE SERIES

For those of you who don’t know, the “screenwriter” job title is an official excuse for me to plan spontaneous adventures around the globe in the name of research. Last Monday, I fired 500 rounds at the largest indoor shooting range in the country and sat down with an expert who taught me everything I know about guns and how to accurately incorporate them into my movies.

This week, I descended underground to visit a decommissioned missile silo, was dubbed commander, and got to participate in a mock missile firing. So if this whole writing gig doesn’t work out, I’ll always have a job firing deadly missiles at America’s enemies.

Red buttons are meant to be pushed. [Read more…]

8 Tips for a Successful Writing Marathon

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In the novel writing community, word sprints and word wars are common practice, especially during National Novel Writing Month month of November. On forums and Twitter, novelists set word count goals and race other writers to that goal. One word war I participated in had a goal of 7,000 words within 24 hours.

The screenwriting community doesn’t partake in these hyper-caffeinated rough draft shenanigans probably because our first drafts are barely 1/4th the size of a novel wordcount-wise. The average script is only 25,000 words. However, I am still a proud crusader of getting through a rough draft of a screenplay within seven days, and I’m here to share my secrets!

(By the way, if you need a guide on how to write your novel in a month for National Novel Writing Month, go here for my free full-color manual!)

Why Speed Writing is a Good Thing

Done write, a successful writing marathon taps into the part of the brain responsible for divergent thinking (the creative process responsible for raw creation) and allows for uninhibited storytelling.

Writing is like pottery. First, you have to create the clay through the creation of your rough draft. Subsequent rewrites and edits help shape your writing into its final draft form, but without the initial brain dump for the rough draft, you don’t have any clay to start with!

8 Writing Marathon Tips [Read more…]

15 Twitter Accounts Screenwriters Should Follow

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During my quest to unearth the best resources for screenwriters, I turned to the lovely world of Twitter. From industry news and statistics to anonymous members of Hollywood offering cash prizes to those who uncover their true identity, Twitter is packed with opportunities to learn and become inspired.

Here are fifteen Twitter accounts you should go follow right now:

  1. John August (@johnaugust). One of my favorite screenwriting bloggers, you can find a wealth of witticisms sprinkled throughout his twitter feed. Go forth and follow him!
  2. Script Chat (@ScriptChat). The best resource for live twitter interviews, where filmmakers and other industry insiders will
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    answer your burning questions. [Read more…]

Writing About Guns: 7 Screenplay Do’s and Dont’s

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I’m an action/thriller writer with an emphasis on the spy and assassin subgenres, so most of my scripts have guns. Scratch that: ALL of my scripts have guns. That’s why my research brought me to the largest indoor gun range in the country, where I got to learn all about firearms from one of the experts in the industry. (You may also want to read — more ways to write about things you don’t know)

Here are some of the rules I learned when putting firearms in the hands of your characters:

  • DON’T confuse “magazine” and “clip.” When loading a handgun, the section that holds the bullets is called a magazine because it encases all of the bullets so that you can only see the top one. 90% of the time you will use the term magazine. “Clip” only refers to the kind of ammunition holder that has exposed bullets, and clips are commonly used with rifles or guns from World War numero dos. So please, use the term “MAGAZINE” or else the gun-toting community will walk out on your movie and write you off as somebody who doesn’t care enough about their script to do the research.

 

  • DO know what type of gun your characters would carry. Police units prefer Glocks not only because they’re nearly indestructible and have a passive safety, but also because standardizing on firearms means that during intense or prolonged shootouts, they can easily trade *magazines* if one of the officers gets hit and is unable to use his gun. Glocks are also lighter and more practical, whereas something like the 1911 is more showy and has the greatest number of possible accessories and add-ons because it’s design hasn’t changed in over one hundred years. Berettas, despite their mystique and position as the oldest firearm out there — the Beretta has been around for the past five hundred years — they aren’t as reliable as Glocks when it comes to certain parts breaking or not working properly. The HK (aka: the Jack Bauer gun) has a cult-like following and people who use HK’s often refuse to use anything else. It is more on the expensive side, but it’s one of my favorites because the kickback isn’t as intense as the Glock because the Glock is made out of plastic, and the HK I used is steel. (See photo below.)

Being a writer is a pretty cool gig!

  • DO know the standard technique for firing a gun: Is your character firing the gun sideways, holding it with one hand, and yelling “KILL SHOT!” as they run around, trying to hit a moving target? [Read more…]

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