I’m really enjoying the whole audiobook conversion of Tedrick. Listening while Larry turns words on a page to a gritty Sam Spade in my ears is a phenomenon. The first run, Borobo Reef, was exploratory and a heck of a ride. I wasn’t really sure what I’d be getting into, what the end product would be, how it would all come together.
I guess I needn’t have worried, right? Larry, in his professional way, made it easy. This time around, each of us having more experience, it ran very smoothly indeed. Chapter after chapter, I say enthralled as the characters came to life, as Reginald recited octopus poetry, as Bill found his wrestling mojo after getting drunk, as Caspar pontificated while thrusting a stinger into our protagonist.
I found myself eager to get on with the next chapter, and the next, despite the clock nagging me to go to bed. And that got me thinking – if this is what it’s like when a book is turned into an audiobook, what would happen if it was turned into a screen-play?
No, really. Of course, it can’t be live action. There are no trained octopuses that I know of. It would need to be cartoon, or cgi, or a blend. But, damn, imagine that! Imagine an underwater, chiaroscuro scene of beauty and peril and murder and mystery, of colourful characters in the literal sense, of octopus fights and a descent into the inky darkness of the Abyss to face the demons. Imagine that.
And I did. I poked about online, doing research, seeing what that would require. Turns out I’d need a Screenplay. I have heard of the term and I have seen examples before. Seems straightforward enough. There is a particular format that needs to be adhered to, and guidelines and all of that. But… could I write one of these things?
From the outset, it doesn’t appear to be too different from writing a novel. There are drafts and more drafts and even more drafts – writing and re-writing and getting feedback. That’s fine, except that the layout seems to be that the story is of an imperative nature. The examples given seem to fall into 90 and 120 page plays to fit in with an hour and a half to two hour film. So rather than having the luxury of building characters and settings over, say, eight hours, a lot of that has to be trimmed down, condensed and distilled, and a lot of it thrown away.
Well, that’s my first take on it. With that in mind, I’ve just added another goal for 2022 – I’m going to make a Screenplay of Tedrick Gritswell of Borobo Reef before the next year is out. I’ll keep you posted as things progress.
With all that said, I forgot to mention two very important things:
- The Audiobook of Tedrick Gritswell Makes Waves has been finished and is undergoing the final QA at Findaway. When it hits the shelves, I’ll let you know.
- To celebrate, and for anyone who has Apple or Chirp, up until the 10th of October, 2021, Tedrick is FREE at Apple audio
https://books.apple.com/au/audiobook/tedrick-gritswell-of-borobo-reef-tedrick-gritswell/id1574007201
and only 99c at Chirp:
https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/tedrick-gritswell-of-borobo-reef-by-jeremy-tyrrell
Grab it, enjoy it with my compliments, and be sure to leave feedback to let others know how cool octopus detective are!
