“Wool”: Spirit of the Spec… e-book style

Interesting deal yesterday:

After a fierce bidding war reminiscent of “Fifty Shades of Grey,” 20th Century Fox have just acquired the film rights. Ridley and Tony Scott’s Scott Free are partnering on the deal with Film Rites’ Steve Zaillian and Garrett Basch. Kassie Evashevski at United Talent Agency brokered the deal on behalf of Kristin Nelson at NLA.

In the spirit of The Hunger Games, “Wool” is a high-concept novel set in a stark future; the air outside is no longer breathable, so the last community on Earth lives underground in an enormous silo. Survival is everything, and some will do anything to ensure it. The upcoming “Shift Trilogy” is a prequel to the story of “Wool”.

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Much like EL James’s “Fifty Shades” trilogy, “Wool” has become a word-of-mouth sensation since the author self-published on Amazon.com, garnering over 600 five-star reviews and selling over 140,000 copies through e-book in just under six months. Century is the author’s only English-language publisher as the author will continue to self-publish in the US. Century will publish in hardback in January 2013 with an Arrow paperback in August. Ebook will be available immediately.

What I like about e-books and self-publishing is it’s very much in the spirit of the spec. You create the content. You put it out there. You see what happens. Clearly “Wool” has something special going for it. From what I’ve read, if an author manages to sell 2,000 e-books, they are doing well. 140,000 copies? What gives?

First off, the dystopic setting seems to be quite popular, especially with teens and young adults. And why not? This is the first generation of Americans who do not believe they will do better than their parents, indeed, polls show a majority are extremely concerned about their futures. Stories which feature a “stark future” provide a safe context onto which young people can project some of their fears and process them.

But apparently there’s more to “Wool” than a sense of dire eschatology:

Jack Fogg says, ‘Wool drew me in from the first page. It’s such an intricately realised world — both incredibly visceral and visual — but for me, and for the many fans here at Random House, what really captivated was the book’s compassion and care for its characters. Wool is many things, but at its core it is a novel about relationships and therein lays its brilliance.’ [emphasis added]

Characters. I see and hear this over and over and over again. From managers, agents, producers, studio executives, even script readers and story analysts: They are all looking for stories with strong concepts, well-constructed plots, good dialogue, those are important. But what they love is a script with great characters.

So as you write that current spec script, make sure you know your characters. Make sure you have spent enough time with them so they come alive in your imagination. Make sure each character is distinct and compelling. It’s why I emphasize the need for a character-based approach to screenwriting. You not only find the structure for your story that way, you also find its soul.

For more of the article, go here.

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