An Interview with Peter David, Author, “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”

Peter David is the author of the official novelization of the movie Transformers: Dark of the Moon, but that  barely scratches the surface of David’s incredibly productive and varied career. He’s written for just about every medium you can imagine, maintaining a quick turnaround time and consistent level of quality that many writers would envy. Yesterday, David spoke with me about his favorite Transformer, what it’s like working with such a popular series and his secrets for a long and successful writing career.

Peter, you’ve had a very long, very prolific career. What’s your secret?

Versatility. I’ve written material in just about every venue there is: books, TV, comics, movies, and now video games. The key to a long career is being employable in as many areas as possible.

You’ve written a plenty of original fiction in addition to tie-in novels. Can you talk about some of the challenges inherent in both of these?

In terms of tie-in novels, the main challenge is coming up with creative ways to take a 120 page script and turn it into a 300+ page manuscript. You have to build on what’s there without contradicting anything. As for original fiction, the main challenge is selling it in a marketplace that’s becoming increasingly constricted.

With a background that includes not only scads of novels, but also writing credits for TV shows like Babylon 5 and Space Cases, comic book icons like Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, and movie scripts for horror power house Full Moon Entertainment, a title like “Renaissance Man” hardly does you justice. How do you feed your imagination and keep your creativity up?

It’s just a matter of looking a the world in a certain way and saying, “What if this happened? What if that happened?” The ideas come naturally; the rest is execution.

A related question: what was the young Peter David like? Did you drive your teachers and family crazy with wild stories and wondrous ideas?

Drive them crazy? No. I think they thought it was cute. I doubt they thought I would turn it into my life’s work, though.

Let’s talk Transformers. What kind of research did you do to prepare to write Dark of the Moon?

Hasbro was kind enough to send me a ton of visuals and reference from the movie, so that filled in whatever gaps I had in my Transformers knowledge.

Typically, how does the studio, author and publisher coordinate their efforts when it comes to launching a novel tied into a new movie?

Hey, they come to me, they tell me what they need and the time by which they need it. When it comes to further coordination, that’s all up to them.

Does a director’s visual style affect your writing style? Do you ever find yourself thinking, “WWMBD?” (What Would Michael Bay Do?)

No, not really. The book is the book; the movie is the movie. I have to write in a way that makes the script work as a novel, just as Bay has to make it work as a movie.

Have you had fans driving you nuts with questions about the movie and what happens?

Whenever they ask, I just remind them that I’ve signed an NDA and am not at liberty to say.

Speaking of fans, when it comes to handling such a beloved line of toys and characters like the Transformers, I am reminded of Yeats’ “Tread Softly, for you tread on my dreams.” Do you wonder and worry about how fans will respond to your depictions?

Since it’s a novelization, I’ve got it covered. Anything they say they like, I take a bow and say how much I appreciate it. Anything they don’t like, I can just say, “It was in the script; I didn’t have a choice.” Heck, I can even say that if it wasn’t in the script.

What is it like to see a movie that you’ve already adapted to a novel beforehand? Is there any curiosity about seeing how the director handled a certain scene or character?

Oh, definitely. And sometimes there are sequences in the script that are flat out unclear. I then do the best I can with it, but sometimes I see the film and say, “Oh, is THAT what’s supposed to be happening there.”

Do you have a favorite Transformer?

Bumblebee. How can you not love Bumblebee?