ANDRE BEGIN

As much as my writer’s voice has been very enthusiastic about spreading its wings and committing creative material to paper, it has also been subject to some occasional analysis paralysis.

The question that keeps coming up is what to do with a story idea? Or more specifically, what format should the idea take?

Is it a novel? Is it a short story? Is it a play? Is it a screenplay? Is it a movie? Is it a series?

The indecision comes from the hats I wear as a writer. I live and breathe in the blogging space. I have shovels in the ground on a few screenplays. I have the outline for a stage play waiting in the wings. At the same time, I wouldn’t rule out a novel, for a hero’s journey story that can’t be told in just a couple of hours.

For these reasons, my brain is often filing and re-filing ideas as they come to me.

My main worry is to take an idea and to start telling a story in a chosen format, only to realize later that the story might be better served in a different format. If only we had crystal ball to tell us what format an idea should take, early in the process.

As much as technology can make reassembling the puzzle pieces of a story significantly easier, the prospect of wasting time and energy and starting over doesn’t appeal. I know that this comes from my work years and being told to be vigilant in searching for efficiencies to cut down on wasteful steps in the spirit of continuous improvement.

A fair point in business circles perhaps, but when it comes to art, I would suggest that we need to respect our intuition and how our writer’s voice is guiding us.

If I write something in novel-style narrative and into development it seems to be more dialogue-driven, that may lend itself to rewriting into screenplay format.

It could also be the reverse situation. If a story starts out in screenplay format but seems like the story requires significant narration to drive it forward with elements that won’t be discussed among characters, it may need to be rewritten into novel format.

Rewriting an entire written piece sounds like a lot of work, but I keep telling myself that if I needed to, it is a great opportunity to smooth out any rough spots in the story I may not have originally seen, and to check the continuity in history and character development.

Along the way, retelling a story in a different format may even spark new inspiration and contribute some shiny new elements to make the story sparkle and take the reader’s breath away.

It also occurs to me that rewriting a story into a different format can alter the storytelling greatly, such as in accelerating or slowing down the dialogue or action, in a way that not have originally envisioned. This could also generate new opportunities.

I don’t think it’s a bad thing to start writing a story one way and having to change it at some point in the process, despite the time commitment it could entail.

I firmly believe that the answer is to just put the story down on paper, persevere, keep writing, and to let the seedlings of the story reveal what format it should take.

Suspending judgement and discovering the story as it comes to me often brings surprises and inspiration.

Either way, even though I would like to save myself some time in trying to get it written in the proper format as early as I can, I find myself easily seeing the positive of this additional layer in the writing process.

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Sincere thanks for reading!
Have a great day,
André