And then, about a million levels below bad there are movies like The Grudge, Paranormal Activity and Grave Encounters...
Nick A On Jul 28, 2012 12:07 PM, "Raymond Feist" <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Jul 28, 2012, at 10:52 AM, Paddyjack <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Ray, > > > > A weird idea struck me this morning and I thought you may have some > > ideas about this. Let's say John has this great idea for a book but > > can't even write an Happy Birthday card correctly.... can he sell the > > idea to a publisher, or even directly to a writer so that it would be > > written by someone else who knows how to do it? It seems to happen for > > movies sometimes, and I was wondering if it happens also with books? > > > > Thanks, > > > > PJ > > > > > > You're jamming a lot of stuff into one basket. > > First, ideas can't be copyrighted. Only the unique expression thereof, so > whatever John might dream up, he'd have to be pretty convinced it was > something special. > > OK, so let's say it's a really nifty concept. He could try to find a > co-writer, but the fact is, without front money he's not going to find too > many pros willing to listen. We need ideas like we need our taxes raised. > There are books I want to write I'll never get to, because they'll always > be the third or fourth choice of what to do next. If he found a writer, at > that point it would be as if he wrote it himself, i.e. finding a publisher > and all the rest of that. > > As for movies, you're probably seeing "Story by" followed by "Screenplay > by" someone different. That's a different thing. In screenwriting there's > a stage called the "story pitch." So let's say I have a pitch meeting for > my movie idea, "Really Nifty Stuff," and they like the idea, but don't like > my first draft screenplay. They might buy the idea and hire another writer > to do it. So, in short, John would have to be able at least to write a > pitch and have a story bible (as it's known in the biz). > > Really there are no "good" ideas or "bad" ideas in stories. Only good and > bad executions of storytelling. > > Best, R.E.F. > ---- > www.crydee.com > > Never attribute to malice what can satisfactorily be explained away by > stupidity. > > > > > > > >
