Screenwriting : Pilot for my Crime Fiction Trilogy by David P Perlmutter

Dunno Luther but Breaking Bad was created by a writer who worked on X-Files for ten years, considered by many a top ten American tv show of all-time. I think BB creator was number two on the call sheet, behind Chris Carter. And he directed the BB pilot

I am an author and screenwriter and I can tell you that both are completely different. Screenplays are about what you see and books are more about what you feel. The translation of that is hard. You can use the standard Voice Over, but that's not a good way I think. Per chapter pick a few essential scenes and build from there. Focus on the dialogs. I have a few screenplays based on stories, but both are totally different as the format pushes both in a different way.

Hello David P Perlmutter

There's no reason why you shouldn't be able to write a pilot script for your own novels. The only caveat is to understand the differences between both mediums, and it seems you've already understood that there's a difference (potential challenge) in preserving the emotions.

I think the questions to consider are: how much time do you have to study & learn the craft of screenwriting, is there an immediacy to write/pitch this (both of those answers point to you writing it, or hiring/contracting someone else), do you have a producer/network/stream relationship in place or home for it and in terms of the current novel IP, what level of audience engagement exists?

You can absolutely do it. I began as an author. Adapted one of my series to a TV pilot and successfully optioned it to a producer. My best advice, before you begin trying to adapt your literary work...

Read every script you can that falls into the same genre as your books.

Write some scripts that are original ideas so you learn how to write for the screen instead of the page. Once you're receiving good feedback on your original works, then it's time to tackle the adaptation.

Be prepared to change your characters. Maybe combine a few characters into one or even eliminate them. Write with a mind towards budget, i.e. if you're adapting scenes from a novel that involve expensive locations, you might want to consider changing them. BB is a good example. It's been a few years since I watched it, but I don't remember there being any expensive sets. Lots of Walter's house interiors or meth lab interiors and lots of exteriors out in the desert. All cheap to film, but perfectly set the tone for the show.

If you adapt it well, you should end up with something that resembles the books as far as tone, plot, character voices, etc. Just don't try to include all the nuances and details from the book. If you can't write it in a way the audience can see, then don't write it into the script.

It is a long road to successfully adapt your own work, especially as a new screenwriter, but it is incredibly rewarding once you achieve your goal.

Good luck!

Obviously, and author can adapt a novel into in to a screenplay if they know how to write a screenplay. If they don’t know, they would have to lean how or higher a screenwriter or find one willing to collaborate. The hard part will be selling it. I have adapted 13 novels into screenplays, so I do know how difficult it is.

Your publisher should be on top of this.

My friend Darryl Hicks was researching a book he was commissioned to write when he realized a section of it would make an excellent screenplay. His wrote his first script, which was produced, is streaming, and stars Al Pacino. "American Traitor" is doing great internationally and he'd only written books before. I highly recommend getting software such as First Draft to help with formatting as well.