Could Your Book Become A Movie? Screenwriting Secrets For Authors
Whether it’s a true story or a novel, most authors dream of having their book become a Hollywood movie. In fact, a high percentage of movies started out as books, comic books or graphic novels. According to Internet Movie Data Base, over 22,000 movies have been made from books. So far.
If this is your dream, continue reading. One way to increase your chances of having your book turned into a successful movie is to write the screenplay version of your book. Producers prefer reading a script to reading books because they take less time to read. Most scripts are 90 – 120 pages long, with a lot of white space.
If you’re thinking about writing your own screenplay, here are some things to keep in mind:
1. You must write it the proper length (see above). Scripts that are too long or too short are immediately thrown out.
2. You must learn proper screenplay format. There are books that will teach you this. If your script does not follow proper format, it will be tossed without any consideration.
3. You must get the Hollywood reader’s attention in less than 10 pages. This may mean adapting the beginning of your story. If you don’t get their attention and interest soon, they move on to the next script.
4. Your screenplay can only contain what can be shown on the screen — dialogue and action. Unlike a novel, you can’t write about what the character is thinking. But you can reveal their emotions and thoughts through action and dialogue.
5. Every scene in the screenplay must move the story forward in some way.
6. Be sure not to “direct” the script. Don’t put in camera angles or suggest particular music to play in the background. That is the director’s job.
7. Consider eliminating subplots and combining two or more characters into one, that is, create composite characters, if there are a lot of people in your book.
8. Keep the dialogue short. Novels have more freedom in that regard.
9. Watch lots of movies with the intent of noticing what works and what doesn’t. It will help you write a better script.
10. You probably already know this but a book is not a movie and a movie is not a book. They have different needs and different goals. Keep this in mind and you will be more successful at adapting your book into a movie.
Danek S. Kaus is a produced screenwriter of an award-winning feature film. He was recently hired by a movie prodction company to adapt a true story book for the big screen. Learn more about how to Turn Your Book into a Movie and find out his Screenwriting Services
Processing your request, Please wait....
