On Writing : Manuscript to screenplay by Brian Rudolph

How close of an adaptation are you looking for in your script? Go online and research novel - to - screenplay. The novel's structure may not hold true for a script so you'll have to fix that if needed. Novels have lots of internal thoughts and dialogue. That suits a novel, and in a script you'll have to capture what needs to be said. One friend who adapts things mentioned taking a novel, and then looking at the screenplay as a glorified outline of the novel. I believe there's a lot of truth in what he said.

Stage 32 has an on-demand webinar about adapting a book into a film or series, Brian Rudolph: www.stage32.com/education/search?term=adaptation&h=how-to-adapt-a-book-i...

read a lot of scripts, and show it to proffesionals

@Brian When I adapt novel to script I do concise list of Plot Moves & Action to be Shown Visually on screen. EG. Seemingly “long” book parts may look as if there’s ample material for TV time but when examined in detail what can actually be shown is often very much less. Thoughts & feelings, vast amounts of exposition & character descriptions need gutting as a start.

Thank you Debbie.

Brian Rudolph You may start writing the Beat Sheet now that you have the whole novel in mind. That would help you outline the story and define the significant points in the plot, which in turn facilitates deciding on the scenes and the rest- just the tip of the ice berg.

Did you outline your manuscript before writing it? If so, that could be a starting point for a script outline. I've never adapted something I wrote to a screenplay. But I have adapted a screenplay I wrote to a novel. Having an outline of the screenplay was very helpful.

The biggest question to ask yourself is if your current property has the visual capability of a screenplay. Don't forget that a novel or short story can be very cerebral, and either lack the opportunity to show the story visually, or simply work better in that format. With any screenplay you need to "show, not tell" and the question is, can you accomplish that, or can you modify your existing manuscript to work in this format. Going from screenplay to novel is a bit easier in this regard, because you can add the elements that share what a character thinks, or go off on tangents that further the story in a non-visual way, but a screenplay is a road map for the filmmakers. They need to understand how to visually depict the story. So that is the first question you need to ask.

Hey Brian, this is a great post and I think something a lot of writers struggle with. This webinar could probably answer a lot of questions for you. How to Adapt a Book Into a Film or Series - taught by Liz Sczudlo. It is a great webinar and is right up the alley of this topic. Here is a direct link: https://www.stage32.com/education/search?term=novel&h=how-to-adapt-a-book-into-a-film-or-series

Let me know if you have any questions or if there is anything the Education Team can do for you.

This is a good question, Brian. If you think about your manuscript as a treatment for the script, then you can create an outline to figure out the structure for the screenplay and what you will need to cut to make the cinematic story flow properly. Also, by creating an outline first, you can really see if your novel is the type of story that would make a good movie.

Thank you. Appreciate the insight.

I love Terrence Sellers's suggestions! If you have an original outline for the book, it would definitely be a great starting point that you can use to guide your script outline and beat sheet! There may even be elements of the book in your original outline that you decided against when writing, but would make more sense for a script adaptation and can be revisited at this stage!

Your outline can definitely be a good starting point, but also, take a look at other films in the genre. Do they stick closer to the story? What kind of adjustments do they have to make so that the audience can "see" what the character is thinking/feeling? First, become a student of how great adaptations happen. It's tough for an author to adapt their own work because you've been with the story for so long, so you might also consider having a collaborator as that second set of eyes.

Thank you!