Nowadays, novel writing, unless it is a work in a purely literary sense, must be in line with the market, especially in line with film and television adaptations as an important purpose. This means that the novel should be written against the script to form a script-type novel. Jin Yong's novels, similar to this kind of screenwritten novel, show more of the characteristics of the script while taking into account the benign experience of reading the novel.
From this point of view, some novels look particularly like watching film and television dramas, and some novels will give us more literary sense. From this, it can be judged that some novels are more suitable for adaptation into screenplays, and some are less suitable. How do you judge which novel is more suitable for adaptation?
01 You see how much they can act
Sometimes, when you read Jin Yong's novels, it seems that you are watching people on the stage performing. They came out one by one, talking to each other, setting off the intention of writing one after another, quite rhythmic and beautiful. Why?
Mainly the characters depicted by Jin Yong appear to be vivid. Why is he so vividly portrayed? There are many reasons, one of the main reasons is that his depiction has a sense of stage. For example, the following paragraph of this chapter reflects this feature in a concentrated way.
Guo Jing saw that the man was wearing a black tiger skin short fur, as if it was a Hua Zheng thing, and he looked at it again, but who was Hua Zheng? He couldn't help but lose his voice and exclaim, his mouth moved, and Zhu Cong, a scholar with a bright hand, reached over and held it down, and said in a loud voice: "Mei Chaofeng, this evil demon, as long as he crashes into the hands of my mound machine, he will never fight with her!"
Mei Chaofeng was shocked to hear that there was a voice above the cliff, and when he heard Zhu Cong call himself Qiu Zhiji and mention her name, he was even more surprised, and he shrunk down behind the cliff and listened. Ma Yu and the Six Monsters of Jiangnan could see clearly, and although they were on guard all over their bodies, they couldn't help but laugh at themselves. Guo Jing was suspenseful about Hua Zheng's safety, and his heart was burning.
Han Baoju said, "Mei Chaofeng has laid out the white bone skeleton array here, and will definitely come later, so let's wait here." ”
Mei Chaofeng didn't know how many masters were gathered here, shrinking behind the stone, not daring to move slightly.
Han Xiaoying said, "Although she has done many evil deeds, the Quanzhen Sect has always been compassionate, so let's give her a path of self-renewal." Zhu Cong said, "Pure and scattered people are always soft-hearted, no wonder Master has repeatedly said that it is easy for you to become enlightened." ”
...... Han Xiaoying said, "Brother Tan, what do you say?" Nancy Ren said, "This man's sins are beyond reproach." Zhu Cong said, "Brother Tan, your finger and pen skills have been greatly improved recently, and when that demon woman arrives, please take a shot and let the brothers open their eyes?" Nancy Ren said, "Or let Master Wang perform the Iron Foot Technique, kick her down the cliff, and fall to her soul." ”
Ma Yu and Zhu Cong waited for you to say everything, and everything they said was discussed in advance. ...... The more Mei Chaofeng listened, the more shocked he became, and he thought to himself, "It turns out that all the seven sons of Quanzhen are here, but with a bull's nose, I may not be able to win, let alone the gathering of the seven sons?" If I hide a little, where is my life? ”
At this time, the moon is in the middle of the sky, and the light is full of cliffs. Zhu Cong said, "Tonight the clouds are thick and you can't see your five fingers, so you should be careful not to let that demon woman escape in the black." Mei Chaofeng whispered in his heart: "Fortunately, the black paint is a mess, otherwise their eyesight is strong, but they are afraid that they will have seen me long ago." Thankfully, the moon doesn't come out. ”
Later, they said a lot, all of which were mutual dialogue, basically a question and an answer. The questions and answers here are different from other places, showing very direct dialogue, which seems to be a few people on the stage, you say I say, constantly moving with each other.
From a point of view that is closer to the sense of performance, the description of Jin Yong's novel here is painted with color, full of emotion, and full of dynamics, which is simply a script cloaked in the cloak of a novel. With that said, it can even be summed up as a screenplay-type novel part. This is reminiscent of many film critics who think that Jin Yong's novels are more like scripts.
Saying that Jin Yong's novel is more like a script, many people may not have a clear feeling. Let's review, for example, the famous scene of the seven monsters in the second chapter "Seven Monsters of Gangnam" and their fight with Qiu Chuji is not very similar to performing on stage? For another example, the fight between the double brakes and the seven monsters described in the fourth "Black Wind Double Brake" is simply a live drama staged in front of the reader.
Many scenes show the same characteristic, that is, the sense of stage and the sense of performance. That is to say, Jin Yong's novels have a special sense of stage and are suitable for actors to perform. That is to say, Jin Yong's novels are particularly like scripts. So, we must explore a phenomenon, that is, how to write a novel closer to the performance script?
02 Why explore novels that are suitable for adaptation
The question that arises here is what kind of novel is suitable for adaptation into a screenplay? This is actually a very important question. Especially those who write novels as a profession, they should pay more attention to this problem. If novels are easy to adapt into screenplays, then their novels are prone to additional income.
Why is Jin Yong's novel easy to be made into a film and television drama, but Gu Long's novel and Liang Yusheng's novel are not so easy? In addition to factors such as different artistic standards and expression methods, Jin Yong's novels have a sense of lens and a particularly strong sense of dialogue, which is also an important factor.
The reason why we should explore novels suitable for adaptation into plays is because novels are spiritual food, spiritual consumer goods, and the basic purpose of writing it is to satisfy the spiritual needs of readers and to seek income and fame.
Pure fiction is to explore social issues through novels and give readers profound enlightenment. It bears the historical responsibility of expressing the height of literature. Is this good? Absolutely. Exceptional. But the vast majority of fiction writers can't do it, because everyone must first survive to survive well, and then get to the historical high position of calmly exploring the problems of life.
We cannot ask everyone to run fast when they have not yet learned to walk, so it is not required that the vast majority of people live as gracefully and calmly as the nobles when they have not yet had enough to eat. Therefore, ordinary novel writers still have to get profits, after all, in the era of market economy, who can pay for labor in vain? What lies before them is also the most important thing to explore, how to integrate literature and commerciality.
But the fundamental thing is to have profits and fame. So, how can you get more benefits and fame? A very important way is to use film and television to amplify the effect of novels and feed novel writers. This direction is not contemporary, Jin Yong is the predecessor of Ji Dacheng.
Without the 1983 version of the TV series "The Legend of the Eagle Hero", Jin Yong's novel could not have achieved so much success in the mainland. It can be said that film and television dramas have greatly promoted the rapid spread of Jin Yong's novels, so that there is a grand situation of "wherever there are Chinese, there are Jin Yong". The adaptation fee gave Jin Yong a lot of extra income, and at the same time, it also drove his novels to sell more.
Not only when Jin Yong was in his prime, but also in the past when Mr. Jin Yong has become ancient, his novels are still being remade and affect more and more people. So, why can Jin Yong's novels be sold through film and television dramas? Why can't some writers of martial arts novels do it?
The fundamental reason is that his novels are well written. But there is also an important reason that cannot be ignored, that is, his novels are more likely to be adapted into film and television dramas. Why? Because he himself is a screenwriter, when writing novels, he invisibly substitutes the characteristics of the script into the novel, so that his novel naturally has a stronger adaptability. This is one of the basic reasons why his novels are particularly easy to adapt into film and television dramas.
Especially in contemporary society, starting from the "Langya List" in 2015, the climax of the adaptation of online texts into film and television dramas has been set off in China. More and more online articles have been adapted into film and television dramas, which has become a major landscape. Adapted into a film and television drama, it provides a great income for online writers, gives them a great sense of survival and stability, and encourages more people to calm down and create high-quality works.
Now some people, such as the writer Red Lady, have clearly put forward the concept of "film and television novels". The concept means that a novel written for film and television is actually a fictional script. Such a novel itself can also carry a good story, and at the same time, it can become a good script as soon as it turns around, and it can flow across domains flexibly and freely.
Since such fiction writing is very important, to be close to the script, it must be understood, what is the script?
03 What is a script
The so-called script refers to the theatrical text with lines and stage instructions as the basic elements. The script is mainly divided into literary scripts and photographic scripts. Literary scripts are scripts that highlight literary nature, that is, scripts that highlight the interactive plot of characters in the environment, and the language requirements are not particularly strong.
A literary script is not intended for performance, or is not suitable for immediate performance, because it is not actionable enough, and the verbal dialogue does not necessarily occupy the vast majority of the space. The photographic script directly takes film and television shooting as the basic direction, so it is far away from novel writing. More to discuss here is the literary script.
The script has many characteristics, the most prominent feature is the strong action. Strong action, embodied in the various behaviors of the characters is very obvious and clear, can give the reader a very strong perception of the immediate view. This requires their movements to be sound, textured, and continuous. In this way, the feeling of action can be highlighted. Specifically, this kind of action should be reflected in the tone, demeanor, eyes, body movements, character movements, etc., and should be expressed by factors such as voice, taste, and face changes.
In addition, the script also requires a lot of dialogue. Character interaction, dialogue is the first. Dialogue, monologues, and even narration need to be applied. Sometimes language cues such as voiceovers are also used. In short, the conversationality of language is another major feature of the script.
The dialogue here must be closely related to action in order to be truly enriched. Dialogue and action are actually two inseparable parts of a character's activity. Acting while talking, this is in line with the logical needs, and it will make the reader feel that such a script is credible.
In addition, the characteristics of the script require a strong sense of lens. Although the literary script does not require prominent sub-shot descriptions, it should be related to a stronger sense of lens. Long shots, long shots, close shots, etc. are constantly transformed, and the same scene and event are described from various perspectives, which will produce a strong sense of visual impact and bring readers a good reading experience. A script that can bring a sense of lens is a really good script.
Also, the script needs a very direct dramatic conflict. The script cannot be as general as a pure novel, the description of events is more general, it requires direct and clear fierce conflict. It is very clear who the parties to the conflict are, how they will be conflicted and what the outcome of the conflict will be. This is very different from traditional fiction writing.
In short, the script is a text with the basic purpose of theatrical stage performance. The literary script is closer to the dramatic novel that this article explores. It requires strong action, dialogue, a strong sense of lens, and the ability to directly show intense conflict.
After understanding the above situation about the script, you can pay attention to integrating the script requirements into the process of novel writing. The best result is to be able to write a screenplay novel, or a film novel. With the direction, how should we do it?
04 How to write a sense of script
To write a screenwritical novel, there are several aspects to pay attention to. First, ensure the temperament of the novel. The author must first know that there is a qualitative difference between the novel and the script. Confusing the two will lead to the evil consequence of writing a novel as a four-part. Therefore, it is still necessary to ensure the reading experience of the novel first. Otherwise, when readers read your novel, they are simply reading the script, and they will be very uncomfortable, and they will probably abandon reading it in the end. That's not the purpose of our writing.
How to ensure the sense of novelty? Still have to work on the characters, environment and plot. There are many objective descriptions, and the character actions and dialogues are integrated into the subjective and objective environment, so as to effectively expand the thickness of the novel and make the objective narrative present more imagination space. This is very different from the stage imagination based on the closedness of the stage of the script.
Second, write close to the script. Under the premise of ensuring that the sense of novel is sufficient, it is necessary to design and create as close as possible to the script. Because only by writing in this way can the novel be more adaptable and maximize the value of the novel's various cross-domains.
If you want to create close to the script, the author must have a conscious sense of the script in his heart. With this self-awareness, the author will describe the action more, set up more dialogue, and produce enough sense of stage. The novel produced in this way will invisibly produce greater drama.
Third, when writing novels, we must always have a sense of stage. Whether the environment is closed or open, the author is required to have a sense of stage, that is, to put the characters on the stage of the area to write, rather than the kind of loose, ordinary image description. The author will see the stage scene in front of his eyes, watching the characters on the stage perform and interact in line with their own characters.
The sense of stage is very important. The script requires that space and time be highly concentrated, and that time, characters, plots, and scenes be highly concentrated within the scope of the stage. This requires the author to have a sense of stage in his heart. He must have the consciousness that writing is to write stories that happen on stage after stage.
Although the characters described by the author seem to be talking and acting, in fact they are performing on a stage, that is, on the stage of writing, which will produce a natural sense of closure, tension and gathering. If the author has such a sense of stage, the writing will reflect more sense of aggregation, rather than the loose feeling of ordinary pure literary novels.
Novels that produce more sense of aggregation will lead the reader's thinking to follow the rhythm of the novel more closely and continue to move forward. Such a sense of aggregation will effectively maintain the reader's mood and rhythm, rather than the reader's sense of reading compactness.
In short, the screenplay novel can combine the advantages of the two literary genres of novel and script, which will cause the reader to look very enjoyable.
Jin Yong's writing provides us with such a model. Taking the first part of the quotation as an example, it occurs on the top of the cliff, has a sense of stage that seems to be open but is actually closed, and has a gathering in time and space. On the stage at the top of the cliff, it has very clear action, and there are many continuous dialogues, and even the light and dark dialogues that Mei Chaofeng wants to say while there are six monsters. Therefore, whether it is action or language, it is very strong, reflecting a strong script.
This part can be said that if the environment and other factors are removed, it is easy to be adapted into a script character dialogue. That is to say, it has a ready-made dialogue pattern in itself.
At this time, the cliff top is no longer the cliff top, but the stage starring the actors of both sides. If the reader imagines the cliff top here as a drama stage, then Ma Yu, Jiangnan Liuwei and Mei Chaofeng and Guo Jinghuazheng, their performances have the condensation and timeliness of drama.
To sum up the above, if you want to write a screenplay novel, the general method is what the script needs, and the novel can be written in this direction. Specifically, make sure you're writing a novel, and then write as close as possible to the script to create a strong sense of stage. The novels written in this way are scripted novels, and they can more efficiently obtain various writing dividends.