tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post1409147613043906871..comments2023-12-26T23:07:08.005-08:00Comments on TOMORROWVILLE: Writing Somebody Else's Books, Part IIDavid Isaakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-26466835450532984322008-08-24T12:18:00.000-07:002008-08-24T12:18:00.000-07:00Hey, Jen Ster--Ah-yup. Any time money and art are ...Hey, Jen Ster--<BR/><BR/>Ah-yup. Any time money and art are discussed together, it seems to morph into a discussion of sex.<BR/><BR/>I guess sex is just an extended metaphor for art. Or vice-versa. <BR/><BR/>But you're right about the core issues: as all writers know, details matter!David Isaakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-71192004285959640482008-08-24T12:14:00.000-07:002008-08-24T12:14:00.000-07:00Hi, Creative--{ So I'm going to be very specific h...Hi, Creative--<BR/><BR/>{ So I'm going to be very specific here and say "I think it all depends." }<BR/><BR/>I think you are absolutely right about that!David Isaakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-38905377041817881112008-08-24T12:12:00.000-07:002008-08-24T12:12:00.000-07:00Hi, Alis--Well, if I ever need anything ghosted, y...Hi, Alis--<BR/><BR/>Well, if I ever need anything ghosted, you and Sam will be the first people I'd ask.<BR/><BR/>I gather that how much you are allowed to invent plot varies a great deal depending on the kind of work you're hired for. Obviously in a straight-out novelization of a movie, you can't change the plot too much, though you may be allowed to expand it. I think in the case of sahred-universe novels, you may have a good deal of freedom. (Of course, I guess you still can't kill anyone important...)<BR/><BR/>One of the most interesting "novelizations" is probably Arthur C Clarke's "2001". In that case, he wrote the novel at the same time he was co-writing the screenplay with Kubrick. That must have been quite an unusual process.David Isaakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-11808213552988673702008-08-24T12:08:00.000-07:002008-08-24T12:08:00.000-07:00Hi, Sam--Interesting point. And I suppose you migh...Hi, Sam--<BR/><BR/>Interesting point. And I suppose you might say that taking on someone else's book or persona is in many ways just a form of acting. Indeed, it might not be that much different from when we write from different POVs.David Isaakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-2097285868224422932008-08-24T12:05:00.000-07:002008-08-24T12:05:00.000-07:00Hi, Matt--Yeah, the point you raise is entirely va...Hi, Matt--<BR/><BR/>Yeah, the point you raise is entirely valid--your career could get it it's own way...but, then, most of us have to have jobs...<BR/><BR/>I'm pretty sure I'd at least use a pen name so I wasn't trampling all over my original work. <BR/><BR/>In the case of Alan Dean Foster, I wonder if his original work is standing in the shadow of his hired work, or if his publishers wouldn't be as willing to publish his originals if he weren't writing the more lucrative novelizations and spinoffs?<BR/><BR/>Boy, am I getting off into angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin territory here, or what?David Isaakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-44877091887632275482008-08-24T11:55:00.000-07:002008-08-24T11:55:00.000-07:00Hi, Janet--Yeah, that's the problem with hypotheti...Hi, Janet--<BR/><BR/>Yeah, that's the problem with hypotheticals--you can answer hem in principle, but it might not have anything to do with reality.David Isaakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-52428736949497390582008-08-23T17:56:00.000-07:002008-08-23T17:56:00.000-07:00During one of the innumerable scandals in the Ariz...During one of the innumerable scandals in the Arizona governor's mansion, it turned out that the secretary of education, a very attractive young woman, didn't even have a high school diploma. Of course, speculation ran rife that the governor was sleeping with her, so that became a joke: "Would you sleep with Fife Symington for $80,000 a year?" (Her salary at the time.) I recollect I had to think about it: "Just once or multiple times? Does this have to happen in the Governor's mansion or can it be at my place? How much again?" <BR/><BR/>On the other hand: Last season on "Torchwood," Gwen opened a door to find "Captain" Jack Harkness smooching with his boyfriend Ianto. Terribly embarrassed, she said, "Oh, excuse me." Captain Jack said, "Always room for one more," which, come to think of it, is a rather Captain Jack-y thing to say. So the question ran around my office, "Would you have gone back in?" My unofficial poll says 90% of the women and at least half the men would have charged right back in there (sexual orientation notwithstanding). So maybe it's not a question of how much, but how good looking (or, in Jack's case, how flat-out good--he's had several thousand years to perfect his technique, you know.)<BR/><BR/>Sorry, what was the question?Jen Sterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10961079238063675246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-6779024947725883052008-08-23T15:25:00.000-07:002008-08-23T15:25:00.000-07:00Dangit, David, why did you have to get so specific...Dangit, David, why did you have to get so specific? ;)<BR/><BR/>I think this all has to do with how strong a person's needs, wants, and morals are weighted against each other. Before, I said I couldn't write for hire unless I could find a passion that would make the story mine. I don't need to write for hire, I don't want to write for hire, and I morally don't feel right about writing for hire. But, (hyperoble warning,) if the economy crashed and we went into a depression, my need would outweigh my wants and morals. <BR/><BR/>So I'm going to be very specific here and say "I think it all depends."<BR/><BR/>-ACreative Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02960292977608812418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-22755387247995830082008-08-23T05:09:00.000-07:002008-08-23T05:09:00.000-07:00I'm with Sam here - I think it would be possible t...I'm with Sam here - I think it would be possible to do something which both reader and writer would find satisfying with a ghostwriting project. I'd certainly to a project like this if it was offered - I'd enjoy tailoring the story to the voice of the stated author. But then I've discovered I quite like playing with voice so it would be a productive thing for me to do. Mind you (aka 'but') there's alawys the risk that I'd want to interfere with the plot and not being able to do so might be an issue.Alishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18406189984167289987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-7963424366789142362008-08-22T06:18:00.000-07:002008-08-22T06:18:00.000-07:00There's a fallacy you're not really considering he...There's a fallacy you're not really considering here -- that ghostwriting work has to be "hack" work, and thus has to be less reputable than original fiction. I would say that it would be completely possible to do something wonderful with a ghost-written work. <BR/><BR/>For me, it would definitely depend on the money. I've got bills to pay. But I would most likely take any decent-paying gig.<BR/><BR/>But this is all hypothetical, as no one is offering me contracts. There's a huge difference between theory and what happens when the rubber hits the road :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-15129763765025335032008-08-22T01:13:00.000-07:002008-08-22T01:13:00.000-07:00Hi, DavidWhen it comes down to it, if I was offere...Hi, David<BR/><BR/>When it comes down to it, if I was offered a writer-for-hire job for six weeks out of the year to do what I wanted for the rest, then yeah, I'd consider it.<BR/><BR/>But...<BR/><BR/>(And you know, there's always a but)<BR/><BR/>...What if that "writer for hire" job becomes too comfortable? If Faulks begins writing more Bond books or perhaps crosses into another shared universe, then readers could associate him with these books more than his earlier works. Alan Dean Foster - a fine writer - is probably better known for his Alien/The Thing/Star Wars adaptations. But he's done his own stuff too - not that you'd notice. I'm sure he was paid very, <EM>very</EM> well for them but he would probably prefer to be defined by his own original work. I know I would.<BR/><BR/>But (yep, another one), putting it in perspective, we've all got to eat and drink and be merry to have a fulfilled life. Most of us do shit jobs that we can't stand to get by - some of us don't even have that. I suppose if there's a half-way house between being a writer of leisure and working a crap day-job shuffling paper for someone else's benefit, then doing adaptations/shared universe-books etc. is far from a lesser evil (he says, beating a path to the door of Pocket Books).<BR/><BR/>Bugger. Don't you just hate it when you lose your own argument?mattfwcurran.com Web Admin https://www.blogger.com/profile/13651266491906006561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-31234418214435309922008-08-21T15:56:00.000-07:002008-08-21T15:56:00.000-07:00I would quite cheerfully write for hire, providing...I would quite cheerfully write for hire, providing it was something I could write. I am quite sure I could not write anything soap-operish, because those things nauseate me.<BR/><BR/>Mind you, the list of things I could not write because of personal aversion is probably so long as to void the question.<BR/><BR/>And I write really, really slowly.<BR/><BR/>But in theory, I'm open. The world of tech writing, in particular, could still do with more people fluent in non-geek-speak.Janethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04600030574995481267noreply@blogger.com