David Nicholls: The Author of ‘One Day’ on Writing for Viewing Audience, Reading Audience, OTT Platforms
‘There is a lot being produced and only few shows break it through and that could be quite scary.’
Before the bestselling novel One Day was published in 2009 and subsequently made into a film in 2010, David Nicholls had published two novels: Starter for Ten in 2003 and The Understudy in 2005. But One Day brought him more popularity and wider recognition.
David Nicholls was trained as an actor and played small roles, and wrote the play Aftersun in 2005 before switching completely to novels and screenplays. His TV credits include the third series of Cold Feet, Rescue Me, and I Saw You, as well as a much-praised modern version of Much Ado About Nothing, and an adaptation of Tess of the D’Urbervilles, both for BBC TV. His most recent script for television was the BBC drama The 7:39.
The novel One Day stayed in the Sunday Times’ top ten bestseller list for ten weeks on publication. David Nicholls also wrote the screenplay for the movie One Day. One Day is directed by Lone Scherfig starring Jim Sturgess as Dexter Mayhew and Anne Hathway as Emma Dexter. One Day is a story about the lives of people spanning over two decades but one day in a year. It begins with one day, on 15th July 1988, when Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew meet on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this day next year? And the year after that? And every year that follows?
I interviewed him when he visited Gothenburg Book Fair 2019 in Sweden. He shared about his journey, on OTT platforms — Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms refers to film and television-related content ranging from serials and documentaries among others that are broadcast through high-speed internet connection to watch on the screens of desktops, laptops, mobile phones — and on writing for viewing audience and writing audience.
How has the journey been after writing five novels, and Sweet Sorrow this year?
“Well, I’m very proud of this one (Sweet Sorrow published in 2019). It took a while to find attention to write but it is my favourite book … it has been six years since my last book and ten years since One Day. It has taken time to find head space …’
How are you able to juggle between as a novelist and screenwriter, as novelist and playwright?
“Well, I sometimes have to put the writing fiction on hold. When screenplay gets realised you have to make it, you have to be available, you have to do it then and there. With the novel you know there is always the possibility of delay but I like to be little more productive.”
When you write a novel, do you imagine it to be a movie, or do you write it for the reading audience, or do you write it for the viewing audience?
“I write the best possible book, you know, I write, I concentrate on prose to make it as good as I can but at the same time as a novelist I am very much influenced by film and television. I want that to be a narrative drive, I want that to be … characters, compelling characters and good dialogue and all the elements of screenwriting. There is always an overlap but I am always keen to write the best possible book.”
With the arrival of web-based viewing platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Now, do you think the prospects for story writers like you have enlarged?
“I think so but at the same time it is hard to get noticed because there is only so many viewing hours that each person has and there is so much out there. There is a lot being produced and only few shows break it through and that could be quite scary. But it is definitely there are more opportunities.’
As David Nicholls noted that there are also opportunities for story writers with the arrival of web-based viewing platforms, a new research reveals that on OTT platforms’ market and revenues will broaden and enlarge. “The global over-the-top market is anticipated to generate a revenue of $438.5 billion by 2026, increasing at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 19.1% in the forecast time 2019–2026,” says a new report published by Research Dive, a market research firm based in Pune in India, after the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic.
For story tellers either in print or on screen, there are opportunities and challenges; the compellingly narrated stories will definitely gain traction and appreciation from the audience.
