Adapting novels.

[Joe Calabrese]

Hey all.

I just recently got the screenplay rights to a novel and was wondering what is your process in adapting a novel into a script?

This is my first time and although I think I have a pretty good way of handling it, I would appreciate any thoughts you may have on the subject.

[maestrowork]

Way cool, Joe! Sounds like an exciting project!

I'm trying to adapt my own novel. I think it depends on the novel. Mine was written rather cinematically so the adaptation isn't too bad -- just need to rearrange scenes, add more scenes (since the novel is 1st person... I have to add scenes to cover what the main character doesn't know), flesh out the scenes and dialogue. The hardest thing to do is to untangle the narrative prose. Turning a 1st person novel to a screenplay can be very challenging. If yours is 3rd person, you may have a better time.

First, I'd say, separate out the main plot and the subplots. You probably want to write them separately, then at the end, put them back together, rearrange them into interleaving scenes. I think that might be easier than doing a page-by-page adaptation...

Just a thought.

[Mightypen71]

William Goldman has a section of his book (can't remember which title, but was published in 1980) where he goes over how he does it. I remember it involved highlighting key action points and dialogue that could be scenes and rereading the novel at least three or four times. He then transferred those highlighted points to his computer and developed an outline ... etc. I could be wrong, been long time since I read it.
Hope this helps a little and congrats!
-Mightypen

[dpaterso]

I'd buy a cheap paperback copy of the novel and have a yellow highlighter pen ready as I read it for the 2nd or 3rd time. Highlight whatever events and dialogue are essential to convey the story you want to tell, from whichever character's POV is most interesting (in a multi character novel this may not be obvious at first glance). Swap colors to highlight interesting subplot or secondary character stuff that may prove useful if the "bare bones" plot proves to be too skinny and needs some extra clothes. That's worked for me, but each to their own.

Adaptations from novels/novellas to screenplay haven't been too much of a problem, in fact they've turned out to be fun exercises, but going the other way hasn't been quite as easy or successful -- I've found that screenplays haven't got enough depth, enough body fat, to allow a simple translation. I'm still trying to get a handle on this skill.

-Derek
My Web Page - naked women, bestial sex, and whopping big lies. (http://hometown.aol.co.uk/DPaterson57/scripts.htm)

[NikeeGoddess]

i suggest you invest in the book Screen Adaptations - it's excellent!

i believe the most important to know is how to cut, choose and combine minor characters and scenes.

compare Jaws the book and the flick - drastically different and one of the few examples where the flick outdid the book.

and there is a tv show (either on Bravo or IFC) called Books to Screen which discusses and demonstrates book adaptations for the big screen.

good luck with it!!!

[IWrite]

Joe -

The best advice that I can give you is that you need to keep in mind that adaptation is not just a straight translation from one medium to another.

Most people focus on what needs to be cut out - because it's obviously impossible to condense a 300 page novel into a 120 page screenplay.

What many often overlook is what is missing from the novel that needs to present to make the story work as a film and to make the character's work on film. Often by removing the internal thoughts that are part of the narrative - you lose what makes a character tick - and turning those thoughts into dialogue doesn't work. You often need new scenes, changes to the plot etc. to make the characters work.

Be willing to divorce yourself from your source material if need be.