Adaptation Techniques

By Society & Culture & Entertainment Last updated Wednesday, April/17/2024

Writing an adaptation is one way to get a start in the field of screenwriting.writing image by jimcox40 from Fotolia.com

Some of the highest grossing movies of all time are adaptations. Films as varied as "Spider-Man" and "Lord of the Rings" are forms of adaptations that shot to the top of the box office charts. As a screenwriter, before you choose to write an adaptation, you need to understand some important rules and tips.

Get Permission

An adaptation is the art of writing a screenplay based on preexisting source material. The adaptation can be of a novel, stage play or true-life story. It is important to understand you cannot sell a screenplay adaptation without negotiating a deal with the owner of the original work. If you do not receive an option for the property, there is a chance someone else owns it and your work will be for nothing. To get this information, contact the writer or publisher of the work. Many authors have websites with email contact information. You can also find the publisher's address and contact information in industry reference books as well.

Write a professional letter inquiring about the property and send it out to let the owners know you are looking into adapting their product. If they are interested, they will ask you to pay for an option, which means you retain the rights to write and try to sell the screenplay for a specified amount of time. Once the adaptation sells, the production company will work out any further deals with the original authors. If the option time expires without selling the screenplay, you can either renew it for more money or the rights return to the original author and you no longer have the right to shop the adaptation.

The first time you read a book, make sure it is for the enjoyment of the story. The second time you read the book, have a pen or pencil handy and take notes. Use a separate notebook or write in the margins of the book. Use a yellow highlighter and mark passages and good dialogue. Take as much time as you need to understand the skeleton of the story. Understand what the major plot line is. Find every twist and turn leading to the climax of the story. Also, understand what the subplots are and trace their relation to the main plot line of the book. Take notes on every character in the story. Write a historical outline of the characters so when you sit down to write the adaptation, you know the characters as well as the original author. Make notations about their dialogue traits. What makes them happy, angry or sad? What are their hopes and dreams in the context of the story? The more you know about every character, both major and minor characters, the easier it is to bring them to life in the adaptation.

Much of what you read in a book includes inner dialogue and exposition, both poor inclusions in a screenplay. A movie should always show instead of tell. Find what works in the novel as visual material and keep it for your adaptation. Eliminate whatever cannot work in the visual medium of film. If the characters spend a lot of time in the book thinking about their situation, you need to find a way to show it. You can do this by adding new dialogue scenes between characters. Better yet, add a confrontation or action scene to show what they are thinking about actually happening. Do not bore the audience with a lot of talk or exposition. That works in a book but not in a movie. You also need to condense the elements of the novel to only what is most crucial to the adaptation's plot. Most books have many subplots occurring around the main storyline. A novel might be 500 pages but the film adaptation is only two hours. Find subplots that do not tie directly into the main plot and eliminate them. If characters are involved that do not tie into the conflict, eliminate them.

Fans of the original source material know their beloved characters and so should you. Use index cards and write down every scene you will include in your adaptation. From your notes while reading the book and the character sketches you created, figure out every twist and turn along the way. Make sure, when you finish all your index cards, every question of your screenplay will be answered and there are no plot holes. Figure out what the objective of each scene is, who is involved in it and what questions will be asked and answered and make sure everything fits together. The more prepared you are before you start, the more freedom you have when writing the dialogue and interaction between the characters. Your index cards and notes are a road map but feel free to let your imagination run wild. Just follow the road map and enjoy the writing experience.

Once you have laid the groundwork, write your adaptation. Do not stop to edit as you write. The first draft is your chance to let all your creative juices fly out onto the page. When you finish, let it sit for a week before you pick it up to read what you wrote. Take notes in the margins for items you know need to change. When you finish, sit down and write the second draft, fixing what you feel didn't work. Continue this method until you are satisfied.

You are not an objective critic of your own work. Find someone who is constructively honest, but trustworthy, to read the adaptation. Ask what they did not understand, what does not work and what might help make the adaptation better. It is extremely important not to take the criticism personally; this will make you a better writer. You want someone to buy your masterpiece and make it into a movie so you need an outsider's eyes to help you make it the best it can be. You are writing for an audience. Make sure the audience likes the story you are telling them.

Once you are finished with the adaptation, get it out there. If you have representation, send it to your agent to shop it. If you do not have representation, find an agency through writersmarket.com that will look at unsolicited manuscripts. Write a query letter and send it off to numerous agents. Include a one or two sentence "log line" explaining what your script is about and a paragraph synopsis selling the idea of your script to the agent. Make sure to include information about your option with the original author. Never send your completed script to an agent without his asking for it in advance. He will send it back unread because an agent cannot afford to risk a lawsuit if a similar movie is released bearing similarities to your screenplay. If you cannot find an agent that will look at your adaptation, enter it in contests and film festivals. Attend writer's conferences. Always remember your log line and synopsis to sell your idea to anyone who will listen. This is the hardest part of the entire process and takes more luck than experience. In the meantime, sit down and start work on your next screenplay. The adaptation is completed and it is time to get back to work.