Turn Your Novel into a Screenplay

Is your manuscript ready for the big screen, ready to become a screenplay?

Jan 1, 2007 Dave Brandl

You've finished your novel, maybe even gotten it published. Congratulations. Now you want to transform it into a movie. What's involved? Where do you begin?

I received an email from a reader the other day asking just this question. With a book recently published, my correspondent wanted to know about turning the book into a movie or finding a screenwriter who could turn it into a screenplay.

First off, this has everything to do with adapting an existing work into a script. I discussed adaptations in several previous articles:

Additionally, you should consider What Kind of a Script It Is to determine whether the novel really should become a script.

Having completed those steps, here are some of the next ones:

1. If your book is published, you will need to get the publishing company involved to ensure that no copyrights are violated in adapting the work. This may be true even if you are the person adapting your own book.

In the publishing contract, there are many different rights assigned to the writer and the publisher, and other rights that are assigned or reserved for the future, just for these kinds of occasions. It may be as simple as informing the publisher that you are going to adapt your own manuscript. It may get as complicated as drawing up a new contract that covers the adaptation.

2. Having considered whether the novel is suitable to be adapted to a screenplay, consider how you might have to "rearrange" it. Generally, there is much more than 90 to 120 minutes of action in a novel, so the novel needs to be trimmed down to "what is the really important storyline in this novel that can/should be part of the script?"

Some novels naturally lend themselves to being adapted; others are more challenging. Considerations include the number of characters, number of different scenes, how much time elapses during the story (days, months, or years), and how much of your novel you'd want to use. Sometimes, for a really powerful story, maybe only a few chapters constitute the core of the story, and the rest make up backstory.

3. If you are going to be working with a screenwriter (or collaborating, if you want to be part of the scriptwriting process), you should have an explicit and written agreement between you defining who will be doing what and how monies will be distributed among all those involved.

You should also include in writing whether you have final authorization of the script. I have seen many movies that came from books I enjoyed, but then realized how much chopping, hacking, and liberties were taken with the movie so that it barely resembled the original book.

Finally, contact me if you're a screenwriter and would like to communicate with my reader/novelist.

The copyright of the article Turn Your Novel into a Screenplay in Writing for Stage/Screen is owned by Dave Brandl. Permission to republish Turn Your Novel into a Screenplay in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.