What Makes a Book Cinematic?
This month’s question comes from Glen Erik Hamilton, author of the award-winning Van Shaw thrillers; the latest in the series is Every Day Above Ground.
Glen: "We often hear that a novel is 'cinematic.' What does that mean to you, and can an author overstep in writing with one eye on a future adaptation?"
Nina: Novels with rich visual imagery often are described as cinematic. World building is an important part of filmmaking and depicting any setting — whether it’s underwater or outer space — with clarity and precision can make a book feel cinematic.
Since filmmakers — particularly studio producers — aim for broad audience appeal, stories built around a solidly relatable universal truth can also be labeled cinematic.
To answer your “eye on a future adaptation” question: I find that imagining a future adaptation helps my writing process. Before I write any scene for a novel, I close my eyes and think about what each department on a film crew would have to do in order to bring that scene to life.
How would a production designer see the space? What is the lighting like? The wardrobe? The makeup? Would the greens department need to truck in plants or trees? Would we we need an animal wrangler? Thinking about the boxes I’d have to tick as a producer informs my creative process as a writer and helps me create textured descriptions.
I can’t really think of an instance where an author would overstep due to anticipation of a future adaptation. The bigger concern with an adaptation for an author is hanging on to beloved elements of a book during the development process, rather than getting ahead of oneself while writing the book.
The hard truth is that in virtually every adaptation an author has to be prepared for changes to his or her original vision, both small and monumental. Titles can be changed. Entire characters written out or new ones created. Time lines altered. And certainly the visual universe will shift as the realities of budgets and other production concerns set in.
Ultimately, what really makes a book cinematic is getting it into the hands of an executive or producer who not only sees the work’s potential, but is also willing to commit effort and resources to determining the right way to adapt it.
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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.
