How to Adapt a Book Into a Screenplay
Do you know of a really great book that should be turned into a movie? Perhaps you’re interested in advancing your screenwriting career, and you’ve found interest in figuring out how to adapt a book into a screenplay? Hollywood producers are always on the lookout for the next big screenplay and book to film adaptations are generally pretty successful. So, if you’re trying to figure out how to adapt a book into a screenplay, whether it’s your own book or someone else’s, here’s what you should do.
1. Familiarize Yourself with Screenwriting
Before you begin the process of adapting a book into a screenplay, you should familiarize yourself with the process of screenwriting.
If you’re already familiar with screenwriting, and you’re simply looking to advance your career by adapting a book into a screenplay, you might be able to skip this step and move on.
2. Purchase Screenwriting Software
Writing a screenplay without industry screenwriting software is really just not advisable these days. With so much software at your disposal to make the job so much easier, why bother with less?
Really! So, get yourself some screenwriting software and learn how to use it! It’s well worth the investment!
3. Study Screenplays that Represent Book-to-Screenplay Adaptations
The best way to learn how to adapt a book into a screenplay is to study past book-to-screenplay adaptations. If you’ve read a book, and you know it’s been formatted for film, read the screenplay!
See how the characters, setting, plot, and other elements are transferred over so that you understand the process in detail. Practice makes perfect!
4. Watch Book-to-Film Adaptations
Know a great book that was made into a movie? Watch the movie, read the book and analyze the process.
There are a lot of options here to choose from including the Harry Potter Series, several Stephen King books, and many other book to film adaptations which have been produced over the years.
This is your chance to study the cinematography, lighting, audio, and other elements that make up the film which were not part of the book. It’s a great activity for anyone looking to adapt a book into a screenplay one day.
5. Break Your Book Down into Acts and Scenes
Once you’ve done all the studying you can, the best way to learn how to adapt a book into a screenplay is to just dive in! Breaking a book down into a screenplay begins with defining the individual acts and scenes that will make up your screenplay.
Map out your storyline so that you have all of your major plot points in an outline and so that you can begin to structure the individual scenes of your film.
6. Consider Filmmaking Limitations
You’ve mapped your story, you know how to write a screenplay, and now you’re looking at your list of characters and the tools you’ve got at your disposal to share your story, and you realize certain filmmaking limitations keep coming up.
For example, maybe you realize that a particular character in your book has a backstory that you cannot seem to deliver visually, through your screenplay. What do you do?
Maintaining Engagement
As you evolve your skills as a screenwriter, and focus on how to adapt a book into a screenplay. It’s going to become increasingly evident that certain limitations to filmmaking will result in your having to “adapt” your screenplay.
This is why adapting a book to a screenplay isn’t just an A, B, C process – if it was, anyone can, and would, do it!
Consider adapting your screenplay so that your characters fit within your story, limiting characters if you must and altering the backstory or other important elements as needed.
This is what makes adapting a book into a screenplay a process, but it’s also what will keep your audience interested in the unique elements of your film.
7. Finish with a Logline
Once you’ve written your screenplay and you’ve made your adaptations based on filmmaking limitations and other needs. It’s time to write your logline. This is what will either make or break your book to screenplay adaptation.
So, how will you pitch the story to a producer? Remember, a logline represents a one or two sentence attention grabber that will hook the reader into reading the rest of your script. Make it interesting, and unique from the book. This is your chance at success!
Knowing how to adapt a book into a screenplay is certainly a complex process that will require a lot of practice. With time, and your focus, you’ll find that the process gets much easier as you practice your skills.
