I almost feel like this interview needs to come with one of those "results not typical" disclaimers. Everyone dreams of landing their first sale right out of college, but Victoria Aveyard is the extremely rare person who actually did it. About a year after graduating from USC, her first manuscript (as in, first manuscript she ever completed)
RED QUEEN was optioned by Universal Pictures.
The novel is set for publication in 2015, the first in a trilogy.
Getting that second sale is almost as hard as the first one for a lot of writers, but less than two months ago, Aveyard crossed that goal off her to-do list with the
sale of her spec script ETERNAL to Sony Pictures. The only information released so far about the project is that it will involve a modern re-interpretation of Greek mythology.
Despite working on a number of projects, Victoria was generous enough to answer some questions about what has been a year that every aspiring writer would envy.
Aspiring writers often ask me what I think of
getting a degree in screenwriting. I usually tell them that the most
important thing is that they keep writing and take advantage of a lot of
free resources out there. As a graduate of the USC Screenwriting
program, I imagine you might have a different take. What can you tell
us about the program and how it specifically benefited you?
Keep writing and take advantage of your resources
definitely still applies within SC, but the writing is more guided and
the resources are arguably better/cost tuition. I'm a big cheerleader
for SCA (School of Cinematic Arts) and the Writing Program especially.
It turned me, a kid from the middle of nowhere, into an actual
professional screenwriter, which is crazy. I think without the prospect
of USC, I would've never been brave enough or equipped enough to make it
in the industry. It was sort of like training wheels for a Hollywood
career, if the wheels were made of gold and had a football team. I got a
crash course in pretty much everything, from pitching to structure to
film business, which gave me the tools to make my own career. And I
cannot say enough about the professors. I seriously can't choose a
favorite because I learned something incredibly valuable from every
single one.
You don't come out knowing everything, but you definitely
have a leg-up if you've done the work and used what SC gave you. Plus,
SC isn't just a film school. You get the benefit of a huge
university along with a specialized school. It's the best of both
worlds. I think a lot of people think writing all day, every day, in
every spare moment is the way to succeed. I don't agree. At least for
me, that results in dead writing. I'm much better when I have time for
real life. I definitely learned that balancing act at SC.
One piece of
advice I always give (that I got from SC) is read screenplays. And not just the Academy Award winners. Read everything. SCA has a script library I would frequent and if you get a chance, check out Home Alone. Worth every page.
Since you ended up at USC, I assume
you had an interest in film from the start. How far back does your
interest in screenwriting go and when did you become interested in
writing Young Adult fiction? Are you a particular fan of that genre?
Movies are sort of a family thing and have always been.
I probably went to the movies with my parents and my brother at least
15 times a year, every year since I was about 7 and my brother was old
enough to sit still. It started when I accidentally saw Jurassic Park
when I was 3 and that was it. I clapped when the Rex ate the lawyer and
my parents were like "so she's going to be weird." Totally hooked on
movies, especially Star Wars, Indiana Jones, basically the
pantheon of Lucas and Spielberg.
But actually making movies seemed
impossible to a girl from a small town in the middle of nowhere
Massachusetts. It wasn't until I watched George Lucas get the AFI Life
Achievement that something clicked. There was a big segment about his
time at USC and their film school, and I realized that was my in. Film school. I've always loved writing and movies, and finally put 2 and 2 together. I could write movies.
Come senior year of high school, I applied to 7 colleges. Only the film
schools accepted me, so my parents were sort of Shanghai'd into letting
me go. They pushed for NYU, but USC was the first and only school I
wanted to go to.
Novel-writing was always in the back of my head during this, but I never thought I could do it. First it was
Lord of the Rings
that really affected me (still affects me), and I tried my hand at epic
fantasy too many times to count. Not the best attempt for a 16
year-old. Back then, I didn't quite realize YA was a whole genre unto
itself, even though I was also reading a ton of YA books. I read the
Twilight
books in high school, and I will still go to bat for the first novel.
There is definitely an art to its addiction (mirroring Bella's Edward
addiction, blah blah blah), but the other three are more than a little
off the rails. I was also very taken by
Ella Enchanted. I guess my foray into YA came pretty naturally. Something in my head just clicked.
"I'm 22. I'm a good writer. I want another YA to read - I'll just write it myself."
Best part, now I can buy books without feeling guilty! It's my job!
I know RED QUEEN was your first novel, but how much writing had you done before you began working on it?
I
never finished a novel until after college, until I had a few
screenplays
done and realized I might actually be able to complete a book too. My
parents' house is probably filled with scraps from all my abandoned
novels (so is my computer). On the screenwriting side, I left SC with 5
features and 2 pilots under my belt, and the knowledge that I can
actually accomplish
something in the writing world. I was also
sifting through the Amazon self-published pile for an internship, and
realized that, at the very least, I could self-publish something better.
How did you get your screenwriting agent?
I
actually don't have a screenwriting agent, but I got repped off of one
of those awesome USC resources: at the end of senior year, all the
Writing grads participate in First Pitch. Basically, speed dating, but
you're pitching movies for 10 minutes to about 10 execs, agents,
managers, etc. over the course of a night. It was probably the most
nervous I've ever been and makes any meeting seem like cake in
comparison. I actually didn't meet with Benderspink on the night of, but
they emailed everyone they missed for portfolios. They liked a pilot I
wrote and brought me in for a general. I pitched a few more tv and
feature ideas, and then kind of said 'fuck it' to myself and told them I
wanted to write an awesome YA novel. I didn't have much more than a
kernel of an idea, but they wanted me to run with it. Now I'm managed by
Benderspink and Suzie Townsend is my publishing agent.
Was RED QUEEN based at all on any
screenplay ideas you were developing? I understand it was your first
novel, so what made you develop it as a book rather than a screenplay?
RED
QUEEN was definitely a book from the very beginning. I pitched it as a
book and always imagined it as a book, maybe with a movie one day. I do
think that my screenwriting background made it a lot more accessible to
the film industry, which is why it made a splash when it first made the
rounds. It's very visual, quick, and has a structure people understand,
which definitely helps a lot.
Because I'd written screenplays before, I knew their
limitations. I knew, for a newbie, to create the world I wanted with the
depth I wanted, I had to go the book route, and I'm very glad I did. I
don't think RED QUEEN would've gone anywhere as a standalone script,
simply because the novel allowed me to really sink into the world and
characters. A script would've only scratched the surface back then.
Take us through the journey of RED QUEEN manuscript from the time you finished it to it being optioned by Universal.
After
pitching and getting the thumbs up to work on the manuscript, I knew I
had a choice. I could stay in LA and go the assistant route to support
myself, or move home to Massachusetts and really power through the
novel. I'd make a pretty terrible assistant - I'm forgetful, I have a
temper, and I would definitely snap at someone and burn bridges - and
knew the assistant life would be too much for me personally to handle.
People who can do that and still write are pretty much gods in my eyes.
So I moved back home, novel outline in hand, and finished the first
draft in January 2013. That was a scary month. Benderspink passed my
manuscript on to Pouya Shahbazian at New Leaf, who passed it to his
co-worker Suzie. I first realized things might be good when Suzie
followed me on Twitter and got my hopes up. And more than a year later,
she has never let me down. After a revision, Suzie signed me to New
Leaf. After another revision, we went on submission to publishers. We
lost about 40k words off the manuscript at this point. Even with
screenwriting training, I tend to write long.
We were on submission for
two weeks before we got an offer from HarperCollins, and two weeks after
that, an option from Universal. Because I was still in Mass for all
this, there were a lot of harried phone calls. I was driving kids home
from school for cash at that point, and took a lot of phone calls with
shushed kids in the back seat.
So timeline: book pitched in May 2012, officially started
in June, sold to Harper in April 2013, Universal in May 2013. Kind of a
wild ride.
One thing that I
and a number of other screenwriting personality types have been pushing
for is greater clarity in what the reported deals actually mean. We're
in a business where script options are reported as sales and that gives a
very distorted picture of what a writer actually makes.
For example, if RED QUEEN was a spec script and Universal had
bought it for six figures, what that really means is that the writer
usually pockets only 10% of that until the film goes into production.
So my question is, how does that work with book options? Is it similar
or does the writer of the underlying material see more payment up
front?
I definitely see what I define as a great deal of money
up front for the Universal option, but it's against a lot more for a
purchase. If we go through the full options (18 months, plus another 18
if Universal wants), I get a bit more than 10% of the total purchase. I
don't have any experience with the screenwriting option side (ETERNAL
was an outright sale), so I don't know how the book option money
compares to screenplay option. I'm sort of waiting for the shoe to drop
because everything and everyone has been great so far.
Are you writing the screenplay for RED QUEEN? If so, have
there been any interesting challenges in adapting your own work? What
are some things that work well in one medium that have to be altered for
the other? And is the screenplay for RQ impacting where you're taking
the novel storyline in the remaining installments of the trilogy?
I'm actually not writing the RED QUEEN screenplay.
Gennifer Hutchison, an amazing writer who will probably do it way more
justice than me, is taking the book to screen. A few people think this
might be a touchy subject because I'm a screenwriter too, but it's
honestly not. Books and film are two very different mediums and I'm
probably too close to RQ at this point to do what film requires. I
couldn't cut characters or scenes, and we'd end up with a 200 page
screenplay. Plus Genn's phenomenal. This wasn't a factor when writers
were interviewed, but I'm personally very happy a female writer is
taking the reins. I feel like a fan myself and can't wait to see what
she does!
So about a year after the option, where does RED QUEEN stand as a Universal project?
Well,
the manuscript that went out last April is definitely not the final
product. There have been a few rewrites since then, and copy edits were
finished only a few weeks ago. But now that the first book is pretty
much locked in terms of content, the engine can start moving.
I'm sure there are plenty of envious
aspiring writers wishing they could have your luck in selling your first
manuscript. Most writers aren't that good on their first try, so I'm
guessing your writing background gave you an edge. So it's with that in
mind that I ask: what was your first screenplay about and how likely
are you to parade that around as a writing sample?
Oh man. Full disclosure, I still love that script.
It will probably never see the light of day, but I love it. It's exactly
my style and taste and tone, and maybe one day...then again maybe not.
It's called RAW HIDE and it's a zombie western. Logline: In 1876, Wild
Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane attempt to outrun an undead plague
overtaking the Old West. My first time out of the barn and I got to have
a zombie/cowboys/Native American battle in a white-out blizzard in
downtown Deadwood. My class probably thought I was nuts.
Looking back, can you see a turning point in your growth as a writer? How many scripts did it take for you to figure this out?
I've
sort of always been on the same trajectory in terms of style and genre
(I like big worlds, big characters, and big explosions), and I think I
had a lot of little turns instead of one big hard right. Revising my
first screenplay, learning to FINISH, learning to pitch, all affected my
writing immensely. At first I kind of resisted the sort of tenets of
screenwriting, because I thought myself a sort of touchy-feely, make my
own rules kind of writer, but through college I learned how to take what
I was learning and absorb it to the point where I wasn't thinking about
it anymore. The work still came out with my flow, but it was more
refined, more structured. I still absolutely hate outlining but senior
year I finally got good at it and it shows a LOT. I think I finally hit
my stride with my second TV pilot, the one that got me in the door at
Benderspink. That script was where I really showed my taste and my tone,
but filtered into something accessible.
Let's talk about ETERNAL, which Sony
acquired in February for an undisclosed amount. Was this a project you
developed after RED QUEEN or is it a script you'd been working on
for a while?
ETERNAL came about after RED QUEEN, after a summer of
back and forth with Benderspink trying to find a project idea we all
loved. I remember sending a bunch of ideas, knowing ETERNAL was my
favorite, and then they came back with "we love ETERNAL." It was really
exciting to get back into screenplays, but also a bit rough. I remember I
forgot sluglines for the first five pages. I was like a baby learning
to walk again, but it went a lot faster this time.
Was this the first project you had
developed with your reps? Did your team play any role in guiding you
through the process or deciding what to write?
Yep,
this is our first project together. The team was great to narrow down
my ideas, then get my outline in shape, and then the screenplay itself.
I'm not really good on the phone, but somehow our phone meetings are
working out much better than my usual phone panics do. Benderspink and
Pouya from New Leaf were also awesome at getting me on the right
generals, in the right places. I think I went on about twenty meetings
last fall, and each one was pretty rocking. Really great way to ease me
back into the film industry.
How many drafts of ETERNAL did you go through before your reps felt it was ready to send out? What was that process like?
ETERNAL
went through three revisions total, so technically three drafts? The
last one was pretty minor. The entire thing took about 3 months once
were out of the outlining stage, from September to December 2013. It was
really great timing, since I was between edits on RED QUEEN, and just
gearing up on the second book. I definitely needed to write a different
story in between books, or else I'd be sick to death of the RQ world.
Because ETERNAL concerns the Greek gods, kind of a big deal to my 10
year-old dorky self, it was a real passion project and I had a ton of
fun working on it. Not to say it was easy, but it was always fun. Any
time you can throw a minotaur into a ferris wheel, I suggest you do it.
When everyone came back from Christmas break, the boys went to work
getting ETERNAL out there, and did a tremendous job. I got the call that
we sold as I was leaving to get my author photos done, so I had to
focus on not smiling too much and looking like a lunatic.
So what's on your writing to-do list currently? And have you already started thinking about what your next project will be?
Currently,
I'm all about book 2 in the RED QUEEN series, and trying to get that
done for hopefully next month. I've got another industry idea on the
back burner that I really, really love and hope to develop as soon as I
can. And of course, I currently live my life for
Game of Thrones and any news of George RR Martin's next release date.
If you could go back in time and give advice to yourself just
before you started writing your first screenplay, what would be the most
important things you'd want your past self to know?
Know
your limits. Your instinct will be to throw yourself at everything, and
that's just not right for you. Listen to all the advice, but follow
only what applies to who you are and what path you want to take. Stick
to your guns when you know you're right. Admit when you aren't (still
working on that). Read A Song of Ice and Fire slowly. Invest in Apple. You made the right choice moving to California. Keep at it.
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