On Writing : Screenplay to Novel... Who Else Is Doing This? by Arlane Whitmore

Arlane Whitmore

Screenplay to Novel... Who Else Is Doing This?

I was reading a post from a writer who's turning a family screenplay into a juvenile fiction novel, and it made me realize how many stories never stay in just one format anymore.

A screenplay becomes a novel.

A novel becomes a screenplay.

Sometimes the second version ends up stronger than the first. What I'm interested in is the actual process.

If you've adapted your own work, what was harder than you expected? Was it expanding the story? Getting deeper into the characters? Or figuring out what worked in one format but just didn't work in the other?

I'd genuinely love to hear about the projects people are working on. Adaptation is one of those things that looks simple from the outside until you're the one sitting there trying to make it work.

Michael Dzurak

In a broad stroke…

Screenplay to Novel = room to expand

Novel to Screenplay = core plot is paramount

Teresa Valiquette

I would love the chance to adapt my screenplay into a novel but I tried writing a book as my first attempt at writing. I don't have a knack for writing internal dialogue or using poetic language that the pages deserve. I would want a partner to collaborate with for sure. One day. That's the goal.

Josiah Cosgrove

I was considering doing this for some of my scripts.

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