One of the most common questions I see from authors here in the Stage 32 community is: “How do I adapt my book for film or television?” Whether you dream of seeing your novel on the big screen, turned into a limited series, or used as the foundation for a documentary, the path from page to screen is both exciting and complex.
If you’re an author considering this move, here are a few things to start thinking about:
1. What’s the core hook of your story? The strongest adaptations often focus on a central theme, conflict, or character arc that’s highly cinematic.
2. Are you the best person to adapt it or would you consider collaborating with a screenwriter? Some authors love the challenge of learning to write for screen, others prefer to partner with someone more experienced in that craft.
3. Do you know what genre your book would fall into on screen? Tone and structure play a big role in pitching your story to producers and execs.
4. Have you considered getting professional feedback? Services like Stage 32’s Adaptation Reviews and Career Development Calls can provide insight and feedback from working executives who specialize in book-to-screen projects.
I’d love to open the floor:
Have you started adapting your book or thought about it? What questions, concerns, or experiences have you had with adaptation?
Let’s share tips, stories, and lessons we’ve learned so we can all move forward a little more empowered.
And if you’re not sure where to begin, I highly recommend reaching out to our Stage 32 Success Team at Success@Stage32.com. Let them know more about your goals, and they’ll help point you toward the best execs, services, and next steps for your journey.
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Great questions to think about when adapting a novel into a script, Ashley Renee Smith! I've been hired to turn novels into feature scripts. I talked with the authors, taking notes on what they wanted to be in the scripts. I also read each book once or twice, taking notes. If I ever had any questions, I talked with the authors some more. And I had the books to refer back to.
I had to leave some things out of the scripts to keep them from being too long. I checked with the authors first if something big like this came up.
One challenge I had while adapting a book was a key scene would've cost a lot to film, so after the author talked with her manager or agent (I can't remember which), she told me to scale down the scene. I was able to scale it down without losing anything important.
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I did this with my novel manuscripts when I went to film school...it worked out, and it was a lot of fun, but it took a LOT of drafts and edits until I sorted out pacing and prose vs. scriptwriting itself. I found it really helped me nail down the core concepts and what the characters actually wanted, which I think will help when and if I return the ideas to books again. It's definitely a process, but maaaan do you learn a lot about storytelling in doing so!
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Once you adapt a book even for practice, you gain a whole new appreciation for why movies have to be different from the novels. You just can’t simply translate from page to screen…it’s hard enough to translate a screenplay page to screen! But it really comes down to the core essence of the story: why is this story important? If you retain that essence, the movie will work, even when you have to make the necessary changes.
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Great points, Ashley Renee Smith -- figuring out the main hook is the key to turning your book into a film screenplay. If you 're mainly a prose author instead of screenwriter, it can be challenging to start thinking cinematically. But if you have screenwriting experience, it can really help you find the hook. I myself did my adaptation backwards -- I wrote a novel based on my screenplay, so it was just a matter of expanding the material.
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I plan on adapting Then the Earth Swallowed them Whole: The Secret of Circular 3591. A World War 2 story based on survivors of the Ocoee Massacre growing up. I also plan on adapting Passport Inc. A Dark Comedy about American Dating. One is very serious and the other is low budget funny, but both have perfect 3 Act stories.
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Ashley Renee Smith I've certainly thought about it. I used ChatGPT the other day to see what it could do. I was impressed. My fiction books definitely took a back seat to other things in my life. But it's still something I'm considering :)
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My first question would be: ""Are you the copyright claimant for the registered copyright of the source material?"
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Hey Ashley. Thanks for the tips!
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That’s such great insight, Maurice Vaughan and a perfect example of why communication and collaboration with the author are so crucial in the adaptation process. It’s always a balancing act between staying true to the spirit of the book and shaping the material into a compelling, producible screenplay. I love how you handled that high-budget scene creatively without losing its narrative impact. Adaptation really is an art form all its own, and your experience highlights how thoughtful and strategic screenwriters need to be. Thanks for sharing your process, it’s incredibly helpful for others looking to walk that same path!
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Dawn Prato You’re so right! Adapting between formats really forces you to clarify intent, tighten pacing, and strip things down to their essential emotional beats. I bet when you revisit those book drafts, they’ll be even stronger because of it. It really is such an eye-opening way to evolve as a storyteller. Thanks for sharing your experience!
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Jonathan Jordan, beautifully said! Once you go through the adaptation process, even just once, you realize how much has to shift in service of the medium. But that core question: why is this story important? is such a powerful guiding light through all those changes. If you hold onto the heart of the story, you can make all the necessary structural, tonal, or visual changes and still create something that resonates just as deeply, in a completely different format.
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Thanks so much, William Joseph Hill! I love that you took the reverse route- expanding a screenplay into a novel can be such a fun way to dive deeper into the world, characters, and internal journeys that screenwriting doesn’t always have room for. And you’re absolutely right, thinking cinematically can be tough for prose-first writers, but once that core hook clicks into place, it becomes the anchor for the whole adaptation. I would love to hear more about your process!
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Thats great, E.J. Wade! Will they be your first adaptations?
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That's awesome, Kat Spencer! May I ask what stood out to you so positively or surprised you about exploring what ChatGPT could add to your process?
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You're welcome, Ashley Renee Smith. You're right. It’s always a balancing act between staying true to the spirit of the book and shaping the material into a compelling, producible screenplay. And sometimes I would include a book scene in the script, but it wasn't as long as the book scene. That way, the book scenes made it into the script without making the script too long.
Ashley Renee Smith As you know, a novel format is far different from a script. Since I've only been around novels and books, the script format is new to me. I know it's just something new to learn, but having ChatGPT provide some examples and then, easily turn my novel into that format was so cool. My brain has been in overdrive for over 15+ years with some pretty impossible scenarios, so anything that can help my brain is a win-win for me! And it keeps it as your tone, which is pretty amazing. As a writer, I did NOT like ChatGPT at first. And I certainly don't want to ever use it to "write" for me. But I would say that it takes my 98% good and adds that last 2% that my tired brain couldn't see or didn't know.
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Ashley Renee Smith Thank you Ashley. Your post is very useful.
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One of my novels, I originally wrote as a screenplay but later decided to change it. I did find it a lot more difficult that way around.
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I’ve only just recently gotten into writing my novel with a vision to adapt it to a film series in however many years. I was wondering if there’s any tips or advice anyone may have in regard to writing the novel that would make it easier to adapt in the distant future?
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I don’t think I would personally adapt one of my novels into a screenplay. When I have my ideas I envision how they’re best told by me and stick to that. I’d leave the actual adaptation to someone else because I would have already done my part by telling the story in its home medium. That being said though I would want to have final say so they don’t deviate too far from the source material :p
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That’s understandable. I’m aspiring to be an author and also director at the same time, so I was hoping to turn my novels into films or tv shows. I’ve only just started learning how to write screenplays. The novel I would like to adapt I’ve only just started writing as well, so I was hoping to do some of my own short films etc whilst writing this novel to get experience in screenwriting as well. Is this realistic or am I overshooting?
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I am working on a gripping memoir I hope to adapt into a limited series. The story follows my descent into a nightmare when my fiancée vanishes without a trace, only for me to be arrested two weeks later—framed for her murder. As I endure a relentless interrogation, police deception, and the chaos of the Los Angeles County Jail, I uncover a web of lies and conspiracies designed to keep me imprisoned. The shocking truth? My fiancée orchestrated the entire ordeal, faking her own death to have me convicted—so we could secretly marry in a prison hospital and “live off the grid.”
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I have written a novel ( SHALOHA GEMS) and paid for a series bible, i would like to collaborate with an established screen writer with a track record before i attempt to pitch it to a producer or a studio, make sense?
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Hey Terry Chodosh , what makes the most sense is to make sure you're marketing the heck out of your book and racking up sales. The cruel fact of the industry is that they aren't much going to care about the quality of a book more than the marketability. There's a reason that "Fifty Shades of Grey" gets made into a major motion picture but a Pulitzer Prize-winning title like "The Orphan Master" still hasn't been adapted. If you want Hollywood's attention, it's not to spend your time and money on a screenwriter yet, but to give it your all to market the book.
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These are great questions Ashley Renee Smith. I've done this with two of my books and have loved the journey. Moving forward, I plan on focusing on screenplays and using them as an outline for the books. I agree with Dawn in that the pacing was the biggest issue I had to overcome. But the journey has been worth the struggle.
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Ashley, I have published my novel “ Shaloha Gems” had a “pitch deck” & series bible done, wrote a longline, have a producer interested (but he produces reality TV shows in a different genre.)
I would be happy to collaborate with a screenwriter with a track record.
Frankly I would like to connect to Adam Sandlers studio Happy Madison since I think he would be a perfect fit for this story. which is a combination of “ My Big Fat Greek wedding” and
“ Nobody wants this” aling with his movie “uncut gems.” How would you recommend that I proceed?
Hi, Terry Chodosh! If I were you, I would reach out to the Stage 32 Success Team at Success@Stage32.com. Tell them about the project and the types of producers and writers you're hoping to connect with. They can then share a curated list of executives and resources right here on Stage 32 that can help you with your next steps.