Yesterday, we had a guest speaker in our Fundamentals of Fiction Writing class. He spoke about the basics of screenwriting–that is, writing scripts for film, television, and even video games. He explained, among other things, the most essential difference between writing prose or poetry and writing for the screen: the former favors descriptive words and insightful dialogue, while the latter relies on the use of action and visuals to tell the story.

In a novel or a short story, the author must describe everything, including what the faces of the characters look like, what the characters are wearing, what objects are occupying the current setting, how a character says a certain line of dialogue, and much more. Authors clue the readers in through descriptive language and imagery.

In a film, all of these elements, which are so essential to immersing the viewer into the world of the narrative, are conveyed through the work of the film’s director, costume designers, art directors, actors, cinematographers and hundreds of others. A single frame in a movie can convey as much as, or even more than, an entire page of prose.

Don’t believe me? I’ll show you.

Here’s an excerpt from the chapter “Shelob’s Lair” from J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings: “Hardly had Sam hidden the light of the star-glass when she came. A little way ahead and to his left he saw suddenly, issuing from a black hole of shadow under the cliff, the most loathly shape that he had ever beheld, horrible beyond the horror of an evil dream. Most like a spider she was, but huger than the great hunting beasts, and more terrible than they because of the evil purpose in her remorseless eyes. Those same eyes that he had thought daunted and defeated, there they were lit with a fell light again, clustering in her out-thrust head. Great horns she had, and behind her short stalk-like neck was her huge swollen body, a vast bloated bag, swaying and sagging between her legs; its great bulk was black, blotched with livid marks, but the belly underneath was pale and luminous and gave forth a stench. Her legs were bent, with great knobbed joints high above her back, and hairs that stuck out like steel spines, and at each leg’s end there was a claw.”

And here’s a link to an image of Shelob from Peter Jackson’s film version: http://www.immersiononline.net/upload...

In a single instant, you are able to comprehend what it took Tolkien multiple paragraphs to convey. This is neither good nor bad; it is simply a difference in the medium that any writer must understand if he or she wants to write a screenplay. When writing a script, you don’t have to describe things in minute detail the way that you’re expected to in a novel or short story. There are plenty of other people who will bring that imagery to life; your job as the writer is to present the story and the dialogue in a way that translates well to a visual medium.

I’m a prose author, but that doesn’t stop me from dabbling in screenwriting. My scripts currently leave much to be desired, but I won’t be dissuaded from at least experimenting with this unique form of writing. I hope you’ll feel the same way.