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Is it easier to write a novel or a screenplay?

There is no doubt that novels are difficult.

The biggest difference between scripts and novels is that the charm of novels can only be expressed through the author's own writing ability, while the charm of scripts is more through the tension of the crew, scenes, special effects, and actors' performances, etc. manifested together.

As long as you are in the atmosphere of the crew, you can really complete the screenwriting of a movie relatively easily.

If you look at Hong Kong stars in the past, many of them could direct and act on their own. Not only could they be directors but they could also be screenwriters. For example, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Wong Jing, Stephen Chow and many other stars could do it. There are many other screenwriters. In Hong Kong in the 1990s, there were 200-300 movies a year. To make a movie, there must be a screenwriter, but can they write a complete novel?

Look Liu Zhenwei's most successful movie is this movie. This movie was decided to shoot at the last minute. Director Liu Zhenwei, who directed and screenplayed at the same time, combined his shooting experience and completed it in 27 days. So far it cannot be surpassed.

What’s more, in this era where a hundred flowers are blooming, a mainland TV series basically has several screenwriters online at the same time to create all kinds of procrastinating and bloody plots.

In addition, there are various short videos on the Internet. Various short stories are staged every day, gaining tens of millions of fans. They are all directed, acted and written by netizens, but they can easily Write a novel?

As a screenwriter, if I give you a crew and actors, you can really easily complete all kinds of reveries, and then come out with a bloody TV series or various short videos,,, but novels are different , even if I sign a contract with you for 1 million, and I ask you to complete a novel of 800,000 words within a year, you may not be able to complete it. The hardships involved can only be achieved by those who have carefully written the words. clear.

The main differences between novels and screenplays are the following two points.

1: Threshold difference.

The threshold for screenplays is high, but the threshold for novels is low.

The threshold for screenwriting is high. Only those who study this related major, or are constantly exposed to this industry, or even have background connections and connections, will be more likely to join the crew as a screenwriter. If you are not well-known, don’t worry. You can submit short videos online or find a group. The demand for short videos is very high now, so it is especially easy for screenwriters to submit short videos easily to sell, but competition It’s also big, which makes the price a little lower, so people in this industry will naturally understand this industry very well, but most ordinary people are not engaged in filming and performing. Most of them have never seen it from birth to death. For those who have read scripts, I can't find any scripts on the Internet, and there is no special script app, so the scripts give people an inexplicable sense of mystery and seem a bit high-end, so netizens all follow the same words, as long as the first one Speaking of difficulty, the people who followed me said that scripts are difficult, but everyone knows about novels. You can search for them on the Internet and read them at will, download an APP at will, and there are a lot of novels. . . So compared to novels, scripts are not difficult, but the threshold is relatively high. Let’s put it this way, as long as you are a normal person, you will have imagination, right? If you are a screenwriter and have a strong shooting team behind you, really... I can give you a random TV show name... maybe you can make the original 10-episode TV show into 100 episodes... otherwise why are there so many bloody dramas in today's TV series... so many boring dramas? ,, the vast majority of screenwriters are just playing tricks. Screenwriters also get paid to do things. As long as the money is available, the screenwriter can write 1,000 episodes for you. There is no limit to the number. Anyway, there are all kinds of tricks and forced twists. , all kinds of illogical,, right, anyway, now TV dramas are about actors and popular stars,,,,,, but novels are not good, novels only have imagination will never work, what novels need more is extremely powerful Writing ability, because imagination is too common for people. Everyone has their own imagination. You may be able to express your imagination in TV series through the crew, but you may not be able to express your imagination in words. Write a novel in the form of a novel. Really, I know you have a rich imagination, because as long as you are an individual, you will have your own imagination, but the ability to organize words really requires extremely strong and incomparable perseverance.

The threshold for novels is low.

With the spread of culture, human growth is closely related to literature. Even if you have not read many famous novels, you have heard them. It can be said that they are as young as eight years old and as old as eight years old. At the age of ten, as long as you can type, write, and read, everyone can write a novel. The threshold for novels is so low, but the difficulty of novels is that they are difficult to complete. Let me not say whether the novel you wrote is good or not, even if it is If you can finish writing a complete 800,000-word novel, you are already unique among ten thousand. . Did you know? There are more than 1.4 billion people in China, and there are basically no illiterates now. Although the threshold for writing novels is very low, in this era where everyone can write novels, do you know how many people will be selected into the National Writers Association in 2020? Let me tell you, they are 663 There are 663 people out of 1.4 billion, which means the probability of less than 5 people out of 100 million. ,,. Only 40 people from Guangdong, with a population of over 100 million, were selected this year. Nowadays, major novel websites do not require any threshold for uploading novels. You see how many passionate people secretly vow to write a novel that shocks the world every year, but I Let me tell you that 10,000 novices will run away in less than 9,999 a month. There is no threshold for writing novels, but the completion rate is extremely low. Most people cannot persist,,,, although I don’t know how many new script writers are added every year. There are so many newcomers, but as of 2021, more than 140,000 people are working as screenwriters in China. You must know that the screenwriting industry itself is a side industry.

2: Narrative difference.

Novel faces all human beings, and novels can only rely solely on words to express. Novels require strong text organization skills, while scripts face the crew, and what the script requires is clear dialogue between time, place, scene and characters. , how to shoot, what preparations need to be made, what lines the actors have, the charm of the script is mainly achieved through the scenes, special effects, lenses, the tension of the actors’ performances, etc.

Scripts are not limited to one form. There are many forms of scripts. Most of the scripts in the past were purely dialogue-based scripts, because it was the era of dramas and sketches, that is, from beginning to end. The kind of lines, really, there are several pages of pure dialogue, without any description of body expressions, etc. Those depend on the actor's performance ability. If you are not a drama actor, then you really can't stand it. , it’s not that I can’t understand it, it’s just that it’s too boring and boring. Most people can’t read a few lines. We’re not a dramatist, so why do we have to read these few pages of pure dialogue? ,, with the development of the times, there will be some film, television, and TV series scripts, these scripts will have more scene descriptions, and even about the soundtrack, when the movie title will be included, and even descriptions of camera shots will be provided. Suggestions, etc., anyway, there is no unified form for scripts, as long as you like it, as long as the director likes it, it's fine. You just need to remember that the function of the script is to shoot it better, instead of worrying about other people making fun of it.

Let me give you an example. (The following is my improvised original work)

(Novel - So-and-so (novel title))

After get off work, as usual, Xiaohong walked to the two o'clock and one line Road, "Huimei Overpass". The structure of this overpass is nothing special. It is the same as most overpasses in other places. It is a slightly arched reinforced concrete structure with a simple glass roof on the top.

Xiao Hong looked at her watch, it was a little after 6 p.m.

Although it has been more than a year since Xiaohong graduated from university and started working, for Xiaohong, whose life tends to be dull and does not like to socialize, if the company does not work overtime, she will basically come here. It’s all at this point in time.

The sun is setting in the west at this time, but unlike in the past, the sunset today is particularly brilliant, reflecting the golden sunset.

I haven’t seen such a beautiful sunset for a long time.

Xiao Hong stopped walking and stood in the middle of the overpass, leaning against the railing, looking at the brilliant sunset in the distance. Her mind fell into deep thought. The breeze gently played with the hem of her white skirt, and the golden sunshine gently The bright eyes against Xiaohong's fair cheeks were extremely moving at this time.

Under the overpass, there are cars and cement dragons.

"Time flies too fast and will never come back again, and I gradually understand that love requires care~~~"

Just as Xiaohong was fascinated by the scene, she A burst of singing came from not far away from Hong.

Xiao Hong turned her head.

It turned out that at some point, on the overpass less than ten meters away from me, there was a young man wearing black short-sleeves and beige cropped pants, playing guitar and singing at the same time.

Maybe there was this person when we were on the overpass, but I just didn’t notice it.

Xiaohong knows this song. This song is called Many Years Later,

"Ah, hurry up, hurry up, do you see it? It's right there, our university The most handsome senior who sings the best has already started. "

"Ah~~It's so handsome~~"

At this time, the two girls held their own hands. Holding a bouquet of flowers, she shouted and ran quickly to the singing boy.

The flying figures of the two little girls passed by Xiao Hong like a gust of wind.

It seems that if you take a step too late, something terrible will happen.

Wow, it would be great if these little girls had this energy in studying.

Looking at the backs of the two little girls, Xiaohong couldn't help but sigh in her heart.

Script

(Script form 1)

Scene 1:

Xiao Hong is looking at the beautiful sunset from the overpass.

Singing guy: "Time flies too fast, it will never come back again, and I gradually understand that love requires care~~~"

Girl A: "Ah, , come on, come on, do you see, right there, the most handsome senior in our university and the best singer has already started?"

Girl B: "Ah~~ He's not too handsome at all. "La~~"

Xiaohong's inner monologue: "Wow, these little girls, it would be great if they had this energy in studying."

(End of this scene)

Script

(Script form 2)

Scene 1:

Time: 6 p.m., location: on the overpass, characters: Xiaohong, two young girls holding flowers, and singing brother.

Xiaohong walked about in the middle of the overpass, stopped on the side, and began to look at the beautiful sunset lovingly.

After a while, the singing voice of the guy next to me was heard.

"Time flies too fast and will never come back again, and I gradually understand that love requires care~~~"

Xiaohong's thoughts were interrupted.

At this time, two girls holding flowers appeared and ran quickly past Xiaohong.

Girl A: "Ah, come on, come on, see, right there, the most handsome senior in our university and the best singer has already started."

< p>Girl B: "Ah~~You are so handsome~~"

Xiaohong's inner monologue: Haha, these little girls, it would be great if they had such energy in studying.

(End of this scene)

(Script form 3)

Scene 1:

Time: 6pm, location: On the overpass, the characters appeared: Xiaohong, two young girls holding flowers, and the singing boy.

The camera takes a panoramic view of the city.

Then switch from the panorama to Xiaohong who is walking.

Xiaohong walked about the middle of the overpass, stopped on the side, and began to look at the beautiful sunset lovingly. The camera moved from far to near, slowly taking pictures from Xiaohong’s feet to her face, and then stayed at Xiaohong’s face, focus on Xiaohong’s face and a close-up of her eyes.

A short piece of tender piano music can be added here.

Insert the title of the film on the piano soundtrack: so-and-so.

At this time, the camera can take pictures of the cars coming and going under the overpass.

As the title sequence ends.

The singing voice of the guy next to me rang out.

"Time flies too fast and will never come back again, and I gradually understand that love requires care~~~"

Xiaohong's thoughts were interrupted.

At this time, two girls holding flowers appeared and ran quickly past Xiaohong.

Girl A: "Ah, come on, come on, see, right there, the most handsome senior in our university and the best singer has already started."

< p>Girl B: "Ah~~You are so handsome~~"

The camera returns to a close-up of Xiao Hong from the backs of the two girls.

Xiaohong’s inner monologue: Haha, these little girls, it would be great if they had this energy in studying.

(End of this scene)

This is the difference between novels and scripts.

Novel needs a lot of words to express the scene, but the script does not need to worry about all kinds of modifiers. Happy is happy, super happy is super happy. You don’t need too many words to describe it, the actors will interpret it. Come out, the script is more about clearly sorting out the various characters, events, props and dialogues that need to be played, and the story logic should not be confused. Most of the current TV dramas are compiled based on novels. Original scripts There are very few TV dramas (but there are many original scripts in dramas. In theory, there is a script behind every drama), so when screenwriters compile scripts based on novels, screenwriters need to pay special attention to the story. Don’t mess with your own logic, because today is different from the past. We are now in the fast food era. It is impossible for a director to read a novel quietly and then think about how to make a movie or TV series. This would take too much time. Efficiency, if you want efficiency, then you must find a screenwriter. If there is a screenwriter, the screenwriter will be good at capturing the key points of the novel. The screenwriter will sort out the key points to be filmed in advance, and the time cost of filming will be greatly reduced. Editor A capable screenwriter can organize for you the filming of different contents in the same scene in a movie, including which costumes, characters, moods, lines, and which scene. What are the different characters' lines and so on? Once they are all sorted out for you, the director will shoot them and then edit them later. ,,,. Therefore, a good screenwriter may be able to express an ordinary novel at a higher level, while a mediocre screenwriter may be able to turn an epic novel into a crappy drama. This is the case with many popular novels. When it was adapted into a movie or TV series, it received a lot of bad reviews, and the screenwriters were all criticized on the barrage,,,