I work in the film and video industry, when I am not writing speeches, social media content, articles or a novel. Although the novel thing is rather new.
(Okay, it’s not really new, but it’s been recently that have I written the first draft of the only novel I want to edit. So that’s new.)
As I am transitioning from film to fiction, I have run into a host of problems: the biggest being a serious lack of B-roll.
B-roll, for those of you who don’t know, is the supplemental footage that editors use as establishing shots and filler footage to show what cannot be seen through main footage. It’s the supplemental footage that makes up the transitions between scenes and the spaces between dialogue.
B-roll is what is missing from my manuscript at present; or in novel terms, I am missing description and setting. It reads more like EXT NIGHT followed by dialog than a seamless description of setting and details. My film background is causing problems.
The bad news is that I am not showing much of anything—not clothes, not locations, not details that set the scene. As I read through the first draft I am finding a brief mention of the location followed by dialog.
You see the first thing you learn as a scriptwriter is never to say in narration or dialogue what you are showing. That is, after all, the point of the images. You don’t want to describe what viewers are seeing because it is condescending and redundant (and a pet peeve of mine in poorly produced shows).
The problem is that there are no images in a novel, not beyond early readers anyway. As the writer, I have to paint the picture with words, and despite having read voraciously for decades (no, I am not going to tell you how many and how dare you ask!), I am struggling with describing clothing, expressions and details. It is baffling and frustrating…and a huge item in my editing plan.
I also think it is a common problem. Not necessarily the description and setting issue, but finding a particular area in one’s writing that needs work. When writers write there are always going to be parts of the process that come easy and others that have a learning curve. The important thing is to keep writing and editing until the work is right.
This is nothing more than the equivalent of doing pickup shots to supplement a scene. The converse rule to the one above is that you cannot tell without showing something on the screen, which would be the equivalent of having a voiceover with a black screen–not exactly engaging for the audience.
So as I begin to edit my novel, description of all manner is on my list. Not the first item—that belongs to story flow and organization. I need to make sure that my scenes are in the best order and that the story flows in a logical and emotional way. But after that is complete, I need to fill in what I have with the details that, until now, have been in my head—what my characters look like, what they wear, where they live, and more. Beyond the bare basics that exist now.
It’s exciting and a challenge, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
What is your biggest challenge in writing?