Turning Novel Into a Script?

Maybe it means your book is action packed and they think a screenwriter could work on it with you...

I tried it once. It was like forcing something unnatural out of my head. I decided to accept the fact I'm a novelist. I'll never be a screenwriter and truthfully, I don't want to be. It was agonising. But hey, I'm lucky, I've found out what I'm meant to do with my life, how many people can say that?

I haven't tried adapting a novel to a screenplay, but I've converted a short story into a play (which is quite similar--and very different). If you're not yet sure if you want to screenwrite rather than continue with your novels, it's probably too early to spend money on screenwriting software that formats for you--anybody who can write a novel can master the rigid requirements of screenplay format in, say an hour. (Get it at http://www.oscars.org/nicholl/format.html for free.)

The toughtest aspects of adaptation may be that you're limited to only what the audience can see and hear, so all that great inner monologue is gone. Flashbacks and background, not too hard in fiction, easily become problematic, especially if you buy into the notion that voice-over is a cop-out. Hardest for me is that a novel contains much, much more than can fit into your 120-page scripts; culling out the right parts and discarding the rest is brutal. (That's why I used a short story--seemed like about the right amount of material.)

There's a screenwriting board here, don't forget! (IMDb also has one.)

Maryn, glad to welcome you to the boards

Check out the scriptwriting board and post this question there, you will have a much larger response. I have done an adaption on my first novel. If you want to know more about what I went through to get it done PM me. I'm not on the boards much right now due to pregnancy complications. But you will get the most advice from the scriptwriting board, its two below this one in the main part of the forum.

You might have already gone to the screenwriting board, but I thought I'd add my two cents.

Maryn said:

The toughtest aspects of adaptation may be that you're limited to only what the audience can see and hear, so all that great inner monologue is gone.

Click to expand...

Maryn's right. Film is visual. How much of your story can be told in pictures instead of words?

I read screenplays for a small Hollywood literary agency. I read A LOT of screenplays. Lots of good writers can't write 'em.

I recommend that you read A LOT of screenplays, too, before you try this genre. It's very particular. Besides the fact that structure is strict, keep in mind that the story has to be engrossing enough for a) a studio to spend all that money, b) producers, directors, actors and other artists to stake their names and reputations on it and c) audience members to drive to the theatre, pay for parking, and shell out ten or twelve bucks to sit through it, not to mention another twenty for popcorn and coke.

This sounds negative and I don't mean to be that way. The reason I read so many scripts is because Hollywood really is looking for them, and they really are hard to find. So if people are telling you your piece would make a good movie, maybe it's because it's visual to them, and it feels like it would adapt well to film. If screenplay writing seems like a good challenge to you, go for it.

Eldo said:

Hello, new person here, been lurking a couple weeks.

I have just completed my second ms (my first, with an agent, is still unsold). Anyway, I have received comments from others on both of my ms's that they would make good movies.

...an aside - I think that means my narrative needs work, but the dialogue is good, right?

Anyway, was wondering if anyone here has tried taking their novel and turning it into a script before? I'm giving thought to that before starting a new ms, but I have never tried scriptwriting before. Obviously, there are changes to be made, including a bit of downsizing (even with my 70k ms). Anyone try this yet and have experiences to share?

Click to expand...

I've done it. It's very difficult as you have to follow very strict rules as to formatting, length, structure. Read Linda Seger's book: Turning Fact and Fiction into Film".
My screenplay hasn't been bought, but after abandoning it for a few years I just returned tp it and am re-submitting, as the theme is rather hot right now.

I too have converted my ms into a screenplay. A relatively painless adaptation as the story is all action, and very little internal drama. However, it is a squeeze, and you'll find you need to drop most of your sub-plots, many secondary characters etc etc.

As someone posted above, it is VERY competitive, I think far more so than the novel side. And there are many many hurdles to jump. Being optioned feels like a big deal, but it's actually only the first of many hurdles. However....it is bizarre that despite so many quality checks at various levels...as producers look for ANY small reason NOT to proceed with a film project, reject on the basis of any tiny inperfection in a script....that so many films released frankly are crap. I really don't know where the Hollywood quality-assurance process screws up, but it does, time and time again.

To respond to Garpy, who is very astute, my guess would be the problem is that agents are looking for something that producers will buy, producers are looking for something the public will buy, and very few people are looking for something that simply strikes their hearts or their fancy.

I say, if you want to write a screenplay, write a screenplay. Make it as good as it can possibly be. If your heart's not in it, don't write it. I think the public can smell that, and I think that's one reason why box office receipts are so low right now. Hollywood's forgotten how much people love a good story and keeps trying to ram formula down our throats.

Garpy said:

IAs someone posted above, it is VERY competitive, I think far more so than the novel side.

Click to expand...

Yes. A good friend of mine is an independent film producer, and she confirms this--it's far harder to sell a screenplay (plus, if you sell it, and it actually gets made into a film, there will probably be so many rewrites and directorial changes that you'll barely recognize it in its final form).

If your work is marketable, your odds of selling your novel and getting it optioned are quite a bit better than your odds of selling a screenplay based on your novel.

- Victoria

victoriastrauss said:

If your work is marketable, your odds of selling your novel and getting it optioned are quite a bit better than your odds of selling a screenplay based on your novel.

- Victoria

Click to expand...

Good point. Get the novel published. If it sells, Hollywood will be scrambling for the rights, and you can bargain for screenwriting credit--maybe even write with a seasoned pro and learn the craft in the process...

Hey, I can dream. And it's not impossible.

I agree. Focus on polishing and getting your novel published and marketed first. If it sells well, and your book is perfect for the big screen, someone will come knocking (hopefully). Then you can negotiate... eventually, you could do what John Irving or Michael Cunningham did -- adapt their own novels to screenplays...


Screenwriting and novel writing are two different skills. Sure, both have dialogue and action, but screenwriting is more about structure, the visual presentation of a story, and has strict formatting requirements. So if you're interested in writing screenplays, you should really study the craft. So would you want to focus on writing and marketing your novel, or do you want to learn new skills? It's up to you.

I've lived in Hollywood for about 5 years and done script and novel coverage for quite awhile, and I agree with much of what's been said on this topic.

My gut reaction to your question is, "Do both." Write the novel, sell the film rights, then write the script!

Okay, it's not exactly that easy, but that would be the best-case scenario and why not reach for the best-case scenario?

Personally I have attempted to adapt the first 60 pages of a novel into a full screenplay, and it was both easier and harder than writing a script from scratch. Easier because by the time I started the script I knew the characters so well that their personalities and quirks came through immediately with few words; harder because I had to cut out so much detail to "enter the scene late and get out early" as one is supposed to do when writing scripts.

Novels and scripts are two very different beasts. Unless you want to learn all the structure, plot, and formatting "rules" of screenwriting, stick to your first love. If the plot and dialogue are truly perfect for film, you may even sell the film rights before the book is technically published. That is often how it goes.

Anyway, best of luck with whatever you decide to do!

I'm not a novelist, but as a screenwriter that has done adaptations and I can say it's real tough.

A straight adaptation will never work because of length and pacing, so you got to kill off some of those babies/pages. The trick to doing an adaptation is using the essential core story as a spine, keeping material that directly relates to that spine and cutting out the rest. There's more to it than that but it's a good starting point.

And of course "show don't tell." If you can't see it or hear it, it can't be in a film for obvious reasons.

Another thing to consider....

Another thing to consider....

My scriptwriting teacher in college actually worked in the film business and had some movies produced. He once brought in a stack at least 1.5 feet high of scripts. The bottom was the original he had written. The top was the one that was produced. All the ones in between (which weren't all the versions floating around) were rewrites, some he had worked on, some he had worked on with other people and some were written without him.

My point is, write your book first. Work on getting it published. Don't count on your version of your adaption being the one that gets made into a movie unless you pull a Robert Rodriguez and do it all yourself. Being a novel writer you have all the control, until you get accepted by a publisher and then you only have editors(from what I understand). The film business is much different. Even in a good enviroment, film making is very organic, and has dozens of people offering ideas and wanting to make changes including but not limited to actors, editors, directors, producers. Even a "finished" script will inevitably be changed on the set and then in the editing room. I liked editing in school for that reason. (That is also why 'Director's Cuts' can be so laborious. The editor knew what they were doing!) Oh, and don't forget the TEST AUDIENCE that only ever wants a happy ending and doesn't GET what the movie is supposed to be about. In big hollywood studios, the guys with the money don't necessarily know what makes a good movie, but they think they do and they will get the say over the writer, because writers are the lowest of the low on the totum pole. It sucks, I know, but it is true. It is stupid becuase without a story you got nothin', but again, I don't have the money, the guys in the suits do. That is part of why I left hollywood and decided to write a novel anyway. I'm not saying not to adapt your script, just that you should focus on making the best novel you can. I always liked what Nick Hornby said in an interview I read. When asked what he thought of hollywood ruining his book by setting it in Chicago instead of London, he said the book wasn't ruined, it was sitting there on the shelf. He also said that he thought it was great that the producers set High Fideltiy in their hometown because it meant the story resonated with them.(And what matters is the story, London was just the set dressing, and where Nick happened to be.) Plus he was getting paid for work he'd already finished. Getting paid is always good!....I think I am rambling now so I'll stop.