How Did You Transition from Film to Books?
This month’s question comes from Alex Dolan.
Alex: What was it like for you to transition from film into books?
Nina: Like many of the professional choices I’ve made, writing a book was less a conscious well-organized plan and more a whimsical choice to give something I didn’t know all that much about a shot. (A pattern I should probably examine in another time and place. Perhaps therapy. But I digress.) After a demoralizing TV pitching season in which I felt dispirited by the behavior of people around me, and my love of writing began dissolving, I decided to write a thriller. I chose the genre in part because I was feeling angry and I thought it might help me blow off some steam. The commitment was private; I didn’t even tell my closest friends.
Writing a novel had always been on my life “wish list,” but like many people I’d never attempted it for countless reasons: lack of time, self-doubt, fear of not finishing it, lack of knowledge about how to get it published if I actually did finish it … the list goes on.
When writing what became my first thriller, Just Fall, I let go of all expectation of outcome. I made the experience a purely personal exercise intended to recover my love of my craft. As a result my writing was very free; I’ve described it as kind of a howl. I defied structural conventions after years of being bound by the strict structural requirements of film and TV. I went for a deliberately pulpy tone and set out to subvert a handful of carefully selected societal norms and cultural tropes. I had a hell of a lot of fun.
Answering this question has taken me right back to the theme of this month’s dispatch: gratitude.
No one was more surprised than I when Just Fall sold at auction to Ballantine. I’ve since had the pleasure of adapting the book for Starz with producer Mark Canton. I’ve just published my second thriller, The Burial Society, which I also hope to adapt for television, along with its planned sequels. All I’ve ever wanted to do is tell stories as a means of entertaining, understanding, challenging and educating others and myself. Over the years I’ve explored many different mediums including dance, filmmaking, theatre, collage and painting. Through art I seek to understand the world and my place in it. So I think I’ve had less of a transition to books and more of another turn in my evolution, one that keeps taking me in circles back to that core desire, regardless of medium.
Have a question about a Hollywood term? Submit them here.
Hollywood Decoded is where I answer your questions based on my 20 years of writing and producing in film and television. My answers will be included in my monthly newsletter and on my blog.
