In the course of your career as a writer
you will probably, perhaps, if you're lucky
be writing for a number of different media.
And each one of those media will have its own advantages
and its own drawbacks
and you should make yourself very, very aware of them.
Working for different media, it's not interchangeable skills.
Each medium has its own unique laws
its own things that it does splendidly
and its own things that it can't do at all.
This is probably one of the reasons why
I'm so unreasonably cranky about the idea of adaptations.
Sometimes adaptations work fine, but not very often.
I really don't see the logic of taking something
which is perfectly realised
as a comic book, as a novel
even as a film
and then realising it in another medium.
The only advantage to that is surely a financial one.
This is nothing to do with the aesthetics
it's nothing to do with art anymore. It's trying to see
if you can squeeze a last few drops of money
out of this idea by realising it as a computer game.
No. Different media are not interchangeable.
So if you are writing a comic
write it to the best of your ability as a comic.
Write it using those things that only a comic book can do.
If you're writing a novel
then write it using the things that only a novel can do.
If you're doing a film
concentrate on the things that film does
and no other media can do.
This is fairly obvious.
And yet I do tend to see
a number of people who are obviously writing their novels
with one eye on the film adaptation...
which, I would say
that's probably not going to work.
They're probably not going to make a film of your novel
because you had a cinematic opening scene
where you could imagine one of the characters
as looking just like Jodie Foster.
No. They are probably going to...
actually ignore the novel
because it is not playing to its own strengths.
The things that a novel can do that nothing else can do.
For example, we were talking earlier
about William Goldman's book, Magic.
Now, this worked brilliantly as a book
with all of that wonderful misdirection
that I was telling you about.
The film of Magic really didn't work at all.
At least, in my opinion.
Because you can't do that misdirection in a film.
It's obvious from word one
that the character who is referred to
as the dummy planted in the audience
is a literal dummy.
So it doesn't work.
One the other hand
something like David Lynch's Eraserhead
cannot be imagined as anything but a film.
There would be no point doing a graphic novel adaptation
of Eraserhead.
Why? It's perfect as a film.
So try and play to the strengths
of the medium that you're working in.
If it's a movie
then perhaps try to play to the visual spectacle
that a movie is capable of.
Try to play to the things that a movie can do
which will be almost talking to the audience
without using words.
The things that silent sequences
in movies or in comic books can achieve
where words aren't being used.
This is all stuff that a novel can't do.
However, there are tons of things that a novel can do
that no other medium can.
So it's important.
Study the medium that you're working in
and identify for yourself
yes, this works well in this medium.
This? This doesn't work so well.
And play to the strengths of the medium.
One of the things that you will perhaps find
if you do this, if you work in a number of fields
is that it is...
actually quite enriching
to your basic writing abilities.
Transferability of skills is a very important thing.
If you're working in a number of fields
you will find that, say, for example
if you've been working as an actor or as a performer
as well as working as a writer
you will find that there are ways in which
you can develop character
where you can learn a great deal
from the stuff that you've learnt as an actor.
You will find that working upon films
working upon a film screenplay
will give you a better sense of cutting and pacing
that you can hopefully transfer to your other writing.
Essentially by covering
a number of different disciplines
a number of different media
you can actually become better at all of them.
This is...
one of the huge advantages
to not staying within your allotted area.
If you get the chance, play around.
Play around in other fields.
If there's a field that you don't fancy much
because you've never tried it
then try to overcome your apprehension
and plunge into it.
Plunge yourself into the water
and, as D H Lawrence, I believe, said...
immerse yourself in the least welcome element
and then swim
which is very, very good advice.
You will probably find that you are much better
at all of these things than you imagined you were
simply with the skills that you have acquired
through working in a variety of media.