Why Screen Novellas?
Many readers believe that all well-received stories are made available through print booksellers and that perhaps only a handful have slipped through the cracks?
What they don't know is that tens of thousands of screenplays are written each year. Of those, at least hundreds are well-received by fellow writers, agents, production companies, and other movie industry professionals. But for some reason, print booksellers haven't make screenplays available to the general reading audience. In contrast, stage plays have been considered a popular literary form for centuries — Shakespeare anyone?
So do all those well-received screenplays receive exposure through a theatrical release? No. Only a fraction of screenplays are made because of prohibitive production costs and the limited number of movies that play in the theatre. Television and cable channels have created another forum for good stories, but still, too many screenplays go unknown as movies, television productions, or novels. —I once read a screenplay with a style as good as Hemmingway's, but less than thirty people will likely ever read it.
It's time for a change.
The Screen Novella
The Internet provides the perfect forum for introducing readers to popular screenplays. While not all well-received screenplays are meant to be Oscar material, they’re all meant to be entertaining. And you've been missing them.
Converting the standard dialogue-heavy screenplay to a screen novella adds a quarter or more words of description to the story and makes it about a third the size of a novel. The general screenplay layout is maintained, but the result is a more familiar reading experience that can be zoomed through in what feels like real time, which can produce a sense of intimate realism. That shortened time frame is perfect for a plane ride across country, an evening curled up by the fireplace, when there’s too much on the to do list for a full-length novel, or any other time a reader seeks a full story in a condensed form.
As a bonus, the screen novella is the only literary form that provides readers a new experience upon a second read. Even when readers feel they have the story down pat, they may be surprised by what subtleties they missed. This is probably because the story comes at the reader fast. As a result, the subconscious fills in details since the writer isn't providing every bitty tone, texture, and attitude that a novel provides. So upon a second read, the characters and scenes suddenly lift off the page, and the visuals become more vibrant and intense. It can be a peculiar and interesting experience.
So welcome to the hidden world of the screen novella. It's a literary world filled with mystery, suspense, humor, horror, poetry, romance, light and darkness — and not to be missed.