On Writing: Novel or screenplay? (and how the summer sucks for writing)

I had made my decision to move from writing for film to writing a novel a while ago. I wish I had come across this article first: it would’ve sped up my decision making process. The article clar­ifies my instincts and expresses what I felt about the distinction between the two mediums.

I feel satisfied that I started my screenplay, as it can be the spring­board for my novel. I had orig­i­nally planned on writing my screenplay first, and then expanding it into a novel. Then I concluded it would probably be easier to create a larger work, and then carve out the screenplay from it. Not only that, consid­ering that I am an idealist who doesn’t believe in subscribing to an arti­ficial system of commer­cial­ization based on a power structure (read Hollywood), I feel that the novel will be my best bet in putting myself on the map. Once I establish myself as a serious and published writer, I will have the necessary foothold to pursue my vision of my novel as a film.

Having settled defin­i­tively on writing my “portrait of lone­liness” as a novel, I find it frus­trating that I can’t seem to immerse myself in the lone­liness that is necessary. The summer time is just too bright and sunny. I am feeling too cheery, and my happiness is distracting me from my work. As such, I’m finding it difficult to stay in char­acter. Well, I find it difficult to get into char­acter for that matter. I remember being in a good writing mood when it was cool enough to drink hot coffee, and even better when it was cold enough for me to wear my long coat. I suppose the autumn and winter time are best suited to my attempt to capture lone­liness, but I hate to be sitting without a writing project.