I had an epiphany the other day.
My dear friend Pam and I were taking a rare cross-country trip together for the first time in years. This trip, to a weekend reunion of Wellesley friends, was to be our girls-weekend-off escape from the pressures of work and life.
Just before we boarded Jet Blue, we each extracted our books for the road (hardcovers, mind you!). It turned out we’d selected the books–both mega bestsellers–with the particular goal of being a good “airplane read.”
“These kind of books aren’t even well written, but they’re perfect for a plane ride,” Pam observed.”They’re written like movies.”
Like movies.
Two hours into the flight, I opened up my book and looked at it with fresh eyes. It did, indeed, read like a movie.
What are the elements that make a novel “like a movie”?
- They are written in a highly visual style, with an overall effect that functions almost like a camera’s lens.
- They keep the reader flowing precisely in the moment from scene to scene, at the breaking surface of the action. They focus on what the character sees, hears, is feeling, at that exact moment.
- There are few digressions into back story or descriptions.
- There’s a lot of “white space,” which means the action and dialogue is flowing briskly, and the pacing is swift.
- The chapters are short–sometimes, only a page or two. Again, that helps the action and pacing drive forward.
I don’t know why the phrase “like a movie” hit me with such force. All of these elements–action, pacing, tension–are things we always strive to do as writers. But that the end goal was to write “like a movie”? That was a new thought for me.
Do you agree that most best-selling thrillers are written like movies? What are the elements you see that contribute to pulling it off?
Kathryn, I’d never thought of it in these terms, but I think you’ve captured the essence of the kind of books I like. I’m a big fan of the late Robert B. Parker, and as his writing career progressed I noticed his chapters shorten, more white space appearing, and a better flow that kept me engaged from page to page.
Thanks for the analysis. Now to see if I can do some of that with my next novel, as well. Maybe in a year or so you’ll be reading it on an airplane.
Richard, I’m glad I’m not the only one for whom it was a new thought! My friend who made the comment is a successful TV writer who has also written movies; she’s particularly good at analyzing what works about a piece. So I took her offhand remark as a valuable nugget!
Since I started as a screenwriter, my novels have always been “visual” for me. And I do think it made a difference. Readers constantly tell me the books are “like movies.”
In my TRY series I wrote in tight sections, scenes and then “cut aways.” I was thinking in cinematic terms.
The other two things i’d add that are important here are a command of structure and the ability to write killer dialogue.
Both of which, I shamelessly add, I’m teaching in my workshops.
Kathryn, you’ve just described the kind of books I love to read and write. Good job putting it into words!
Excellent points, Kathryn! For years, I’ve taught “my” students to paint pictures with their words. Your post underscores that, a couple-a times! Thanks for the insights. (And I hope your trip with Pam was a delight!)
All best to you,
Loree
Jim, can you explain what you mean by “cut aways”? I remember those from my broadcasting days–in the news biz, a cutaway would be a shot of the reporter’s face listening to the person being interviewed. Same purpose in fiction, to give a reaction “shot”?
Thanks, Loree, it was a truly wonderful trip. My college friends and I had been talking about getting together for 30 years, and it was wonderful to actually do it! A much-needed tonic for the soul.
When I initially wrote my books they were intended for audio only, therefore were written more like a script. When they were ‘novelized’ I had to make some changes but a lot of folks who read them still say it reads “like a movie in the mind”.
Likewise books that I tend to enjoy narrating most are similar in style and pacing. If I can see it in my mind as I read it is much easier to get into and stay in character. Books that are more literary or descriptive of inner thoughts tend to be a difficult trudge in the narration booth. It feels like I’m reading in one of those echoey thought bubbles like a 70’s low budget made for TV movie.
Nice observations, Kathryn. I think thriller authors DO tend to think more in terms of pace, white space on the page, page turner chapter endings, & tightly written scenes with sparse back story. I didnt realize how much of this style would infiltrate my YA books too. YA tends to be first person POV with a teen’s introspection, but I add my thriller touches & it comes across as unique, for whatever reason.
Adult books like this are fast airline reads because I want to get sucked into the story fast & escape the doldrums of travel. Crime fiction has always been a comfort read for me.
Yes, I think there’s a lot to that. I always look at Michael Crichton as an example. From Andromeda Strain forward, his books had that movie feel, scene followed by scene, reel by reel. If I could write that way, I would, at least one mega-seller’s worth. And while my writing tends to go along that way, it does take a little diversion here and there into the human condition. That’s what makes it fun to write and, in the long run, a better read. One hopes.
Kathryn, what I mean by “cut away” is ending one scene abruptly and cutting away to another. Snipping out transitions whenever they’re not needed. The effect is like a new “shot.”
Or is it that the movies picked up on what was working in the emerging thriller book market, and the tried and true disaster movie grafted its cinematic techniques onto a more riveting type of story?
That said, I have yet to find a thriller author whose books I want to stay up late to read, much less attempt to focus on during an airplane trip.
Kathryn, I also find that when I am reading these sorts of novels it’s like a movie in my head- the writer really establishes the scene quickly so you’re imagination can go there without any effort. This last bit is key – readers don’t won’t to work at being entertained- they want it to come easily and quickly (so they can gobble it up like popcorn!)
Thanks all for the comments! Clare I think you’re right about readers wanting the easy–and compelling–entertainment…especially on a airplane!
Then, when a book is made into a movie, why do we usually say “The book was better.”?
Don’t books provide perspective and depth movies can’t touch. For example, I just finished “Till We Have Faces.” A wonderful book that could probably never be described as cinematic.
Am I missing the point?
yep, I do agree, Kathryn — the best commercial fiction keeps us spellbound just like a good movie — go check out author, Alexandra Sokoloff’s blog The Dark Salon – she was a screenwriter first and teaches workshops on “Screenwriting Tricks for Author’s” — she has some amazingly helpful tools over there — and you can grab her book of the same title from Smashwords
Christy
Absolutely true. If I sit and tell you the backstory of my character, it’s like reminding you that I’m just making it all up—there is no such person, so I can say anything I want. But when I put my character in a predicament, only certain subsequent actions are logical and possible, so the reader suspends disbelief, caught up in plausible action.
My first novel, a political thriller, had lots of backstory for the main character, and was a modest success. My newest novel, “Senseless Confidential”—a comedic thriller that won’t even be released until Aug. 1—has been a bigger success in two weeks of prerelease than the first one was in two months on the market!
Right away I started thinking Elmore Leonard and his ten writing “rules.” He’s my inspiration as I lipo the excess and the droll out of my story. However, on my last flight the guy across the isle suddenly pitched his book (hardcover this) into the isle of the plane and announced in a very loud voice that this was the worst book he every read. He was really irate and I thought, “here come the air marshals.” The book in question was a blockbuster novel by someone we all know. Take a guess 😉 But it was nobody on this blog.
John, you are absolutely right. Books and movies are two entirely different beasts. What I’ve noticed, however, is that many of the best-selling books (and I’m talking about commercial thrillers here, not literary works) share the qualities of film. Not to say that there can’t be other approaches!
Thanks, Christy, I love Alexandra’s work! Her screenwriting tips for writers are incredibly helpful. Jim, sounds like your book-tossing friend must have read the work of a burnt-out writer. I’ve heard that so often, about writers who achieve success, get put on a production line and toil under constant deadlines. They simply wear out. Or worse, they farm their books out to other writers, and it shows.
Martin, good luck with SENSELESS CONFIDENTIAL!
Grace, I think the entire culture is becoming more visual, with a shorter attention span. So my first thought would be that novels are being impacted by movies, TV, and now the Internet, rather than the other way around. I’ve gotten to the point where I click away from any online add that lasts longer than 8 seconds.
Short chapters and cliffhanger cutaways, especially to a different POV, make for exciting writing. I do this a lot.
Some of my more literary-fiction-oriented critiquers complain that they don’t like the choppiness, and want more backstory and description.
It’s not a style that appeals to everyone, I’ve found.
But then again, each of us knows our audience – usually readers who like the same things we do.
Great post!
Thanks Paul! I have a friend who was heading off on a hideously long flight to New Zealand. I looked down at the book she was taking on board, and it was called BUDDHIST PRINCIPLES FOR LIVING, or something like that. I shuddered, and pressed a copy of THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY on her. I wasn’t sure she’d even read it, so refined are her tastes! But it turned out she couldn’t put it down, and later gave it to her mother, who also loved it. You never know!