Last time I wrote about when folks change source material for another medium, but what happens when that source material runs out? This was one of the issues with Game of Thrones, and it is more prevalent than one thinks. Although lots of TV shows and movies are based around certain source material, relatively few sequels are, and TV has a nasty tendency to outrun what a writer can come up with.
Things can get real dicey when that book we love becomes a movie or TV show and the material it's based on runs dry. From World War Z(and its thankfully abandoned sequel) to The Walking Dead, many writers simply have difficulty keeping up with demand. Voracious fans and unrelenting production schedules insist that new material be constantly forthcoming. Not only do writers just not write that fast, but as anyone who has written anything knows, the creative process is sometimes a fickle creature who doesn't respond well to folks screaming that they want more.
I know this is a writing blog, but with so many popular books becoming shows or movies, it's only fair to ask what happens and how can things be kept fresh. For one thing, I don't think it's enough to have a fan-boy be the vehicle for freshness if the original author is still alive and kicking. The author's vision is what drove interest in the first place, so keeping the author heavily involved is paramount. Further, a great deal of "new direction" must be kept out, no matter how much the studio or producers wail. It seems like studios forget what made something popular in the first place, and they change things to fit what they would've written. Well, harsh as this is, there's a reason the folks adapting a piece of work don't have much original success to their names.
As fans, we have to be willing to be patient. I know, I know...I may as well wish for world peace while I'm at it since fans will gobble up what they can as fast as they can. But listening to fans bitch and moan about the degraded quality of stories as source material runs dry and new material must be created grates on me. You can't have it both ways - either you get lots of new stuff of questionable quality, or you get great stuff that has been painstakingly crafted. Which would you prefer?
Things can get real dicey when that book we love becomes a movie or TV show and the material it's based on runs dry. From World War Z(and its thankfully abandoned sequel) to The Walking Dead, many writers simply have difficulty keeping up with demand. Voracious fans and unrelenting production schedules insist that new material be constantly forthcoming. Not only do writers just not write that fast, but as anyone who has written anything knows, the creative process is sometimes a fickle creature who doesn't respond well to folks screaming that they want more.
I know this is a writing blog, but with so many popular books becoming shows or movies, it's only fair to ask what happens and how can things be kept fresh. For one thing, I don't think it's enough to have a fan-boy be the vehicle for freshness if the original author is still alive and kicking. The author's vision is what drove interest in the first place, so keeping the author heavily involved is paramount. Further, a great deal of "new direction" must be kept out, no matter how much the studio or producers wail. It seems like studios forget what made something popular in the first place, and they change things to fit what they would've written. Well, harsh as this is, there's a reason the folks adapting a piece of work don't have much original success to their names.
As fans, we have to be willing to be patient. I know, I know...I may as well wish for world peace while I'm at it since fans will gobble up what they can as fast as they can. But listening to fans bitch and moan about the degraded quality of stories as source material runs dry and new material must be created grates on me. You can't have it both ways - either you get lots of new stuff of questionable quality, or you get great stuff that has been painstakingly crafted. Which would you prefer?
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