Novel to Screenplay: The Challenges of Adaptation

ADAPTATION 101

Brimming with confidence, you've just signed the check purchasing the rights to adapt John Doe's fabulous, but little known novel, Lawrence of Monrovia, to screenplay form. Suddenly, panic sets in. "What was I thinking? How the devil am I going to convert this 400-page novel to a 110-page screenplay?"

The answer is: "The same way you transport six elephants in a Hyundai... three in the front seat and three in the back!"

Old and very bad jokes aside, how does one pour ten gallons of story into a one-gallon jug?

In this article, we'll take a look at this challenge and a few others that a writer may encounter when adapting a novel to screenplay form.

CHALLENGE NUMBER ONE - LENGTH

Screenplays rarely run longer than 120 pages. Figuring one page of a screenplay equals one minute of film, a 120-page screenplay translates into a two-hour motion picture. Much longer than that and exhibitors lose a showing, which translates to fewer six-cent boxes of popcorn sold for $5.99 at the refreshment stand. It took the author of your source material 400 pages to tell the story. How can you possibly tell the same story in 110 pages, the ideal length for a screenplay by today's industry standards?

And the answer to this question is no joke. "You can't! Don't even try!"

Instead, look to capture the essence and spirit of the story. Determine the through-line and major sub-plot of the story and viciously cut everything else.

By "through-line" I mean, WHO (protagonist) wants WHAT (goal), and WHO (antagonist) or WHAT (some other force) opposes him or her? It helps to pose the through-line as a question.

"Will Dorothy find her way back to Kansas despite the evil Wicked Witch of the West's efforts to stop her?"

The same needs to be done for the major sub-plot.

"Will Dorothy's allies achieve their goals despite the danger they face as a result of their alliance?"

One workable technique is to read the book, set it aside for a few weeks, and then see what you still remember of the story's through-line. After all, your goal is to excerpt the most memorable parts of the novel, and what you remember best certainly meets that criterion.

In most cases, everything off the through-line or not essential to the major sub-plot has to go. Develop your outline, treatment or "beat sheet" accordingly.

CHALLENGE NUMBER TWO - VOICE

Many novels are written in the first person. The temptation to adapt such, using tons of voiceovers, should be resisted. While limited voiceovers can be effective when properly done, remember that audiences pay the price of admission to watch a MOTION (things moving about) PICTURE (stuff you can SEE). If they wanted to HEAR a story they'd visit their Uncle Elmer who drones on for hour upon hour about the adventures of slogging through the snow, uphill, both ways, to get to and from school when he was a kid, or perhaps they'd buy a book on tape.

The old screenwriting adage, "Show, don't tell!" applies more than ever when writing an adaptation.

CHALLENGE NUMBER THREE - "LONG-THINKING"

Some tribes of American Indians had a word to describe those of their brethren who sat around thinking deep thoughts. Literally the word translated to, "THE DISEASE OF LONG-THINKING". Quite often, lead characters in novels suffer from this disease.

"Mike knew in his heart that Judith was no good. Yet she caused such a stirring in his loins, he could think of nothing else. He feared someday he would give in to this temptation named Judith, and his surrender would surely bring about the end of his marriage!"

If adapted directly, how on Earth would a director film the above? All we would SEE is Mike sitting there, "long-thinking". That is not very exciting to say the least. And as mentioned previously, voiceovers are rarely the best solution.

When essential plot information is presented only in a character's thought or in the character's internal world, one solution is to give this character a sounding board, another character, to which his thoughts can be voiced aloud. Either adapt an existing character from the novel or create a new one. Of course as always, you should avoid overly obvious exposition by cloaking such dialogue in conflict, or through some other technique. Even better, figure out a way to express the character's dilemma or internal world through action in the external world.

CHALLENGE NUMBER FOUR - WHAT STORY?

Mark Twain is quoted as saying about Oakland, California, "There's no there, there". Similarly, some novels, even successful ones, are very shy on story and rely for the most part on style and character to create an effect. Some prose writers are so good at what they do, that their artful command of the language alone is enough to maintain reader interest. Such is never the case in screenwriting.

Successfully adapting a "no-story-there" novel to screenplay form is a daunting task. One approach is to move away from direct adaptation toward, "story based upon". Use the brilliant background and characters created by the original author as a platform from which to launch a screen story. In fact, if for any reason a screenplay doesn't lend itself to screenplay form, consider moving toward a "based upon" approach, rather than attempting a direct adaptation.

Congratulations! You're now an expert on adapting novels to screenplay form! Well maybe not an expert, but hopefully you have a better understanding of how to approach the subject than you did ten minutes ago. And if the subject still seems too daunting, you can always get professional help as outlined on our web page http://www.coverscript.com/adaptation.html

Lynne Pembroke and Jim Kalergis
Coverscript.com
URL: http://www.coverscript.com

About the Authors:

Lynne Pembroke is a writer, poet, screenwriter and owner of Coverscript.com, with over 18 years of experience in screenwriting and screenplay analysis helping individual writers, screenwriting competitions, agents, studios, producers and script consulting companies. Services include screenplay, TV script and treatment analysis, ghostwriting, rewriting and adaptation of novel to screenplay. Jim Kalergis is a working screenwriter experienced in the art of adaptation. Visit http://www.coverscript.com for details.

---

Childrens Stories - The Essentials

There is no specific formula for children's fiction. There are,... Read More

Six Tips for Creating More Lifelike Story Characters

Working on my first humorous novel, I started with a... Read More

Writers Block is No Longer a Problem

"If you're like me, than I'm sure you're pretty familiar... Read More

Local Knowledge: Background and Historical Setting in Novels

You're writing a story set in your local city, but... Read More

Are You Feeling Dash-ing? Using Punctuation for Effect and Influence

The dash--that curious mark of punctuation people use in their... Read More

How To Cut the Clutter and Win Readers

Most of us hate housework.Nevertheless, even the most hopeless slobs... Read More

Message to Online Writers: Dont Give Up On A Good Idea

The writing community is a strong one, with many new... Read More

Whats Missing in your Nearly Finished Book?

Bookcoaching clients come to me at different stages of writing... Read More

How to Outline your Book and Chapters with Mindmapping

Mindmapping is better than linear outlining because authors can use... Read More

Imagine The Imagination

Imagine a three hundred page book was in the author's... Read More

The Myths Of Writing: Have You Bought Into These?

There is an image most people carry of the artist... Read More

COULD YOU (not) REPEAT THAT PLEASE?

I recently read a book where everything was akimbo. Arms... Read More

A Book Note Vs a Book Report

IntroductionSince our early days of elementary education we have been... Read More

Through the Eyes of an Artist

As writers, we initially tend to be either more cerebral... Read More

Idea-Mining for Writers, 102

As many authors are fond of stating, "Ideas are all... Read More

Write Possibilities

We writers are a powerful lot. We control time. We... Read More

Writing Good Dialogue.

There's nothing that kills a scene like hackneyed dialogue. Just... Read More

How To Write for the Web

The Scanning ReaderWriting for the Web is different than writing... Read More

How To Write Cover Letters That Work

Sometimes there is confusion about the exact meaning of the... Read More

Writing Made Them Rich #2: Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens was born in Portsea, England, in1812. His father... Read More

Write With Passion: 4 Steps To Emotionally Charge A Nonfiction Article

You have just completed a draft of an article. It... Read More

When I Grow Up

I've just come back to work after nine glorious, sun-drenched... Read More

Top Ten Reasons Its Great To Be A Writer

10 - You will always have a job. As long... Read More

Should You Write a Book?

One morning, you open your inbox and find several e-mails... Read More

Friendly Critiques

When a writer is working on their next literary masterpiece... Read More

The Top Five Mistakes That Companies Make with Regard to Technical Documentation

I've seen it time and again. One of the most... Read More

Overcome Writers Block with Snake Dancing

Writer's block! Even columnist Dave Berry has it. He admits... Read More

Writing Made Them Rich #4: Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho was born on August 24th 1947 in Rio... Read More

I Am Biodegradable - My Writing Is Not

My dad was wrong. I just discovered that I am... Read More

Timer Magic for Writers

If your writing muscle isn't in shape, writing a novel... Read More

Are Writing Exercises Effective?

It was reported that the great American author Sinclair Lewis... Read More

Top 10 Tips to Complete a Creative Writing Project Without Losing Your Creativity

Have you ever started a creative writing project with great... Read More

Have You Tested Your Plot?

Creative Writing Tips ?Our plotting stage is our testing area.Everything... Read More