Star Trek Into Darkness by Alan Dean Foster

[Greg Cox]

Tell us all your Into Darkness secrets, Alan! We promise not to tell...

JJ has sworn him to enternal secrecy

That's pretty standard these days. When I was writing the Batman novelization, I had to sign various confidentiality agreements, keep all the files encrypted, and I wasn't allowed to read the last fifteen pages of the script until right before the book had to go to press.

I didn't even tell my friends and family what I working on. Only my girlfriend and my agent knew.

In fact, I let people think I was working on a new Star Trek book, just as a red herring!

 

[Timewalker]

So you had to do the ending of the book right before press? How much time did you have to finish it?

(personally, I'd rather you had done a new Star Trek book - non-Batman fan here)

 

[Greg Cox]

So you had to do the ending of the book right before press? How much time did you have to finish it?

(personally, I'd rather you had done a new Star Trek book - non-Batman fan here)

Honestly, the last 10,000 words were written in a hotel room in Burbank over a period of three days or so. Lots of coffee and Subway sandwiches!

And don't worry, I wrote a new Trek book afterwards!

(It comes out in March.)

 

[Tiberius]

I never could have done that.

I mean, how can you write without knowing what you are writing towards?

 

[shanejayell]

Well, they were working from the scripts, one assumes, so there's some guidence.

Unkess the scripts were awful.

 

[Tiberius]

Well, they were working from the scripts, one assumes, so there's some guidence.

Unkess the scripts were awful.

But he wasn't even allowed to read the last fifteen pages until shortly before the book needed to be finished! I would find it impossible to work like that.

 

[Timewalker]

So you had to do the ending of the book right before press? How much time did you have to finish it?

(personally, I'd rather you had done a new Star Trek book - non-Batman fan here)

Honestly, the last 10,000 words were written in a hotel room in Burbank over a period of three days or so. Lots of coffee and Subway sandwiches!

Yikes!

The last time I was in a pressure situation like that, I was doing an anthropology term paper.

And don't worry, I wrote a new Trek book afterwards!

(It comes out in March.)

Yay!

I never could have done that.

I mean, how can you write without knowing what you are writing towards?

How do you think soap writers work? They frequently start storylines they have absolutely no idea how to finish - especially when it's a murder mystery or kidnapping.

I'm assuming that in the case of novelizing a script, the script has to at least generally point to a reasonable conclusion that wouldn't require too much rewriting if the novel zigged a little somewhere.

 

[Tiberius]

I never could have done that.

I mean, how can you write without knowing what you are writing towards?

How do you think soap writers work? They frequently start storylines they have absolutely no idea how to finish - especially when it's a murder mystery or kidnapping.

Ah, but that's different.

Soap opera writers can write towards any ending they want, and they can adjust their plot depending on what happens. (And I'd argue that if it is a murder or similar, they MUST know where it is going, otherwise how are they going to leave clues? It's nearly always obvious when writers are just making it up as they go. Look at Lost.)

In the case of novelizing a story written by someone else, it is finished and you have to be able to lead to the ending that is already determined, even if you don't know what it is. Knowing where it is leading to can give the author a chance to build up something to make for a particularly powerful ending. I'm reminded of "The Never Ending Story" (the book, not the movies), in which the line, "But that's another story, and shall be told another time" was repeated. That allowed it to be particularly powerful when used as the last line of the book. If it had never been used before, it would seem like a complete cop out.

Another example is in my own novelization of "The Best of Both Worlds", which ends with Picard still hearing the voice of the Borg Queen in his mind (a change from the episode, but a justifiable one, and a lead in to First Contact). But without knowing that I was going to end the story with that, I might not have included the Queen in it at all (she was never in the episodes), so that ending (which works quite well, even if I say so myself) could not have worked. As it was, I was including the Queen anyway, even before I decided on that ending, because I wanted to have Picard speaking to her during the "Death is irrelevant" scene in Part 1, so that bit worked out, but I got lucky.

I'm assuming that in the case of novelizing a script, the script has to at least generally point to a reasonable conclusion that wouldn't require too much rewriting if the novel zigged a little somewhere.

True, but such would really only be the case in rather bland storytelling style. It would be like trying to tell a joke without knowing the punchline. You wouldn't know what bits of the build-up to actually build up!

 

[Christopher]

^But writing a manuscript isn't always a linear, front-to-back process. If you come up with some new idea or plot element toward the end, you can then go back and revise the earlier chapters to tie into it.

I'm not sure if Greg would've had time for that, though. Nobody's claiming that the extreme restrictions that film studios impose on their novelizers these days are in any way beneficial to the novel-writing process. The studios' main concern is to try to keep spoilers from getting out at all costs.

 

[Greg Cox]

I never could have done that.

I mean, how can you write without knowing what you are writing towards?

You just follow the script and trust the screenwriter.

Although I did go back and do some last-minute revisions on a few earlier scenes . . . .

I should probably mention that this was hardly an unusual scenario. I've often had to write novelizations without knowing the ending--or had to accomodate last-minute reshoots and new script pages.

 

[tomswift2002]

And even then, some revisions are made after the novelization has been released. (Star Trek Generations - 1994 hardcover had the original ending with Kirk being shot in the back, while the 1995 paperback reprint had the whole ending changed in order too make it be the same as the final film version.)

 

[Greg Cox]

All of which is pretty much inevitable. At the end of the day, you're writing a 300-page adaptation of a movie that is usually still a work-in-progress at the same time that you're writing the novelization. It's a moving target.

 

[Tiberius]

^But writing a manuscript isn't always a linear, front-to-back process. If you come up with some new idea or plot element toward the end, you can then go back and revise the earlier chapters to tie into it.

Oh, yes. You just don't wanna be pushed for time when you do that!

I'm not sure if Greg would've had time for that, though. Nobody's claiming that the extreme restrictions that film studios impose on their novelizers these days are in any way beneficial to the novel-writing process. The studios' main concern is to try to keep spoilers from getting out at all costs.

*nods*

Harmful to the novel writing process, and you gotta wonder why they don't simply have the author sign an NDA.

I never could have done that.

I mean, how can you write without knowing what you are writing towards?

You just follow the script and trust the screenwriter.

Although I did go back and do some last-minute revisions on a few earlier scenes . . . .

Musta been hard. How much time did you have between actually getting the script for the last few pages and needing to have manuscript off? A week? More? Less?

I should probably mention that this was hardly an unusual scenario. I've often had to write novelizations without knowing the ending--or had to accomodate last-minute reshoots and new script pages.

Generally speaking, how much earlier than the release date do you need to have your manuscript finished? Say the movie is released on Christmas. Hat date would the generally want the book in their hands?

 

[Greg Cox]

It's usually pretty down to the wire. With Batman, I had most of the book done by Thanksgiving last year, but I made the final revisions in May. (I believe I worked on Riese and few other projects inbetween.)

And I remember having to do the final revisions on Ghost Rider over a weekend . . .

 

[Brikar99]

I never could have done that.

I mean, how can you write without knowing what you are writing towards?

You just follow the script and trust the screenwriter.

Although I did go back and do some last-minute revisions on a few earlier scenes . . . .

I should probably mention that this was hardly an unusual scenario. I've often had to write novelizations without knowing the ending--or had to accomodate last-minute reshoots and new script pages.

This sounds super stressful. Do you have to take time off after to unwind?

 

[Greg Cox]

I never could have done that.

I mean, how can you write without knowing what you are writing towards?

You just follow the script and trust the screenwriter.

Although I did go back and do some last-minute revisions on a few earlier scenes . . . .

I should probably mention that this was hardly an unusual scenario. I've often had to write novelizations without knowing the ending--or had to accomodate last-minute reshoots and new script pages.

This sounds super stressful. Do you have to take time off after to unwind?

Depends on the next deadline!

Although I made a point of getting the first draft of Batman done before Thanksgiving so I could enjoy the holiday dinner without any stress or guilt!

 

[bbailey861]

I am looking forward to this book. I bought a signed copy of is '09 adaptation from Premiere Collectibles and will see if they offer this one as well.