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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
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 end of his marriage!”
If adapted directly, how on Earth would a director film above? All we would SEE is Mike sitting there, “long-thinking”. That is not very exciting to say least. And as mentioned previously, voiceovers are rarely best solution.
When essential plot information is presented only in a character’s thought or in 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 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 character’s dilemma or internal world through action in 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 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 language alone is enough to maintain reader interest. Such is never 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 brilliant background and characters created by 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 subject than you did ten minutes ago. And if subject still seems too daunting, you can always get professional help as outlined on our web page http://www.coverscript.com/adaptation.html
Copyright © 2004 Lynne Pembroke and Jim Kalergis, Coverscript.com
Lynne Pembroke is a writer, poet and screenwriter. Over 18 years of experience in screenwriting and screenplay analysis, helping individual writers and a variety of areas within the industry. 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.
