Screenwriting : Adaptations advice by Layla O'Shea

Find the core of what the book is saying and build around that. Your priority should be to write a good movie first, write a good adaptation second. If you’re able to speak with the author, ask them about what parts of the book best-illustrate it’s core ideas. They may say, “All of it, of course,” but that’s unrealistic.

Have done this on my script The Titron Madness. Don't fall into trap of being loyal or going verbatim. It is an adaptation. You may need to merge characters, location, ditch some smaller plot lines, add some, remove things that don't translate into film, introduce a new character if required, make characters darker, funnier, change their arcs. I think the key is knowing which plot lines to drop. In a book there can be several smaller plots going on.

And change the ending - book endings never seem to work on film! Plus, the changing the ending means the viewer wont be able to second guess (if they have read the book)

It also also depends on your "employer" - have you been commissioned to write with free licence and the movie to be loosely based on book or does your "employer" want a true to book as possible script? What 'framework' have they given you? I would have this conversation first and make sure it is clear.

Id also watch/research some adaptations - jaws, hunt for red October, die hard, and of course the myriad of dramas, romance based on books too.

In my case, I bought the rights to the book but my script is 80% purely me as I really was interested in the books plot/concept/narrative and I made a lot of changes. I actually found writing something based on existing IP harder than original works.

There will be one path through the book. You’ll have to adapt that as your film.

Emma Thompson adaptation of Nanny McPhee was 700+ pages on her first draft. She then started dropping story lines.

I adapted a famous book recently and eliminated the b-story, which was a great start. I like Stephen's advice. Hone in on the central plot and pull parts of the book you think will be good scenes for the film and build an outline. Don't be afraid to start redlining stuff in the books that's non value-added for a screenplay. It was an interesting exercise for me to read the opening of the To Kill A Mockingbird novel and script to get an idea the tremendous amount of novel detail that is consolidated into the opening pages of the screenplay.

Thanks to all of you for you comments and suggestions! Some great stuff here. Have a meeting booked in about two weeks. Now I have some great questions to ask in terms of direction.

I've never adapted a novel into a screenplay, but the place where I would start is to identify the main beats of the story and arrange them to pace the story appropriately. Then I would fill in the pages between the beats with details from the story. If at all possible, try to keep the order of events the same as the novel. Be aware that readers of the novel will be quick to point out discrepancies.

Thanks, Dan!