{Guest Post+Giveaway} Ann Whitely-Gillen: Novel or Screenplay: What are You Writing?

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I already love my books. But I've always been fascinated with how books become movies. And there are quite a number of times when I've watched a wonderful movie only to find out that it's based on a book. And how glorious it is when a book you love translates so well onscreen!

Today, I have the pleasure of hosting author Ann Whitely-Gillen who just came out with her literary fiction debut novel Last Train to Omaha. Not one to rest on her laurels, she is taking the next step and writing a screenplay based on her novel!

Also, two lucky winners get a chance to win a copy of Last Train to Omaha (open US/Can [paperback copy] and INT [e-book]).

Welcome to guiltless reading, Annie!

Novel or Screenplay: What are You Writing?
by Ann Whitely-Gillen

Whether you’re writing the outline of your next novel, or fleshing out the treatment for a new screenplay – respecting the difference in each art form is the only way to succeed. How do I know this? I don’t pretend to be an expert but I can say from experience how vastly different the process is for both of them.


When I first had the idea for Omaha, I had the concept running in my mind by means of several visuals and angles. I wanted to develop my characters and watch them move throughout the sequence jumping from screen shots to plot points and then ultimately to the end of the resolution. One hundred and twenty pages and voila! – a movie is born. Syd Field, the ultimate guru of screenplay writing calls it the “art of visual storytelling.” So I set out to do that. How naïve it was of me to think that I could possibly achieve this without considering the facts.

First – I wasn’t completely aware of the complexities of formatting a screenplay. I only knew that I had a great story that needed to be told. Second, I had no idea that what I really needed to do was to write in detail and at length, about my characters. Afterall, they’re primary purpose was to allow me to escape from my own challenges at the time – fighting breast cancer. I created them in order to build a new environment for myself – an escape – a journey. I needed to make them as real and robust as possible and I believe I achieved this.

Ultimately, the result was a novel and in the end, it appears that it was always meant to be that way. Now, it’s time to take it to the next level and create that visual of shots and plot points that move stories move out of the realm of literature and into the mass of film. I’m looking forward to the learning process of screenplay writing and to developing the best possible sequence of events in one of arts most effective mediums – and oh! What a journey that will be.

Stay tuned.

I’d love to hear from you; feel free to email me at info at anngillenbooks.com

Annie

About Ann Whitely-Gillen
Website: www.anngillenbooks.com Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Ann resides in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada with her husband and four children. She is currently working on the screenplay for Last Train to Omaha and the storyboard for her next novel entitled Egan's Will.

GIVEAWAY TIME!

Annie is giving away 1 paper copy (open US/Can)

1 iBook (for Apple products only) (open INT)

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Synopsis of Last Train to Omaha: After a horrific accident claims the life of his best friend at the age of eighteen, James Milligan is changed forever. For the next seventeen years, he lives as a ghost of his former self: shutting out those who love him most, navigating his life in a veil of solitude and drowning himself in anxiety and guilt. When a chance encounter introduces him to Martin Diggs, an enigmatic war veteran, and palliative care nurse Rebecca Doyle, his life is changed irrevocably. Rebecca reignites emotions he thought he’d lost forever, and Martin challenges him to accept his shattered past and move forward. Told with compassion and wisdom, Last Train to Omaha is the story of a broken man gaining the strength to let go of the crippling blame and doubt that plague him, pick up the pieces of his life and put them back together.