Did anyboby already try to adapt a novel?

I'd like to share the problems met at this time.

Michel 8)

I adapted a short story written by Stephen King and turned it into a 1 hour script.

What I did:

- I read and re-read the short story countless times to fully unterstand the point of the story and what Stephen King wanted to say.

- I then got a marker out and circled all the passages that I liked and thought would visually appeal to a movie audience.

- I then listed all the characters with their needs, goals, ambitions etc. I also wrote down what their arc was for the story.

- I then jotted down some ideas that I thought would be cool to squeeze into the story, then created a couple of new characters to compliment the main character.

- Once that was complete, I then re-wrote a new story arc (updated the story since it was 20 odd years old) so it's applicable to current events. I threw out any subplots and characters that would not move the story forward in my re-telling.

- Next up, I wrote a small synopsis with my new characters and story. Made sure it had the important plot points from the short story and from there...

- I wrote my first draft.


I changed character's names and also their character traits to best suit a visual medium. The hard thing about adapting a story is moving from an inner narrative to visual storytelling.

It's quite the challenge and I feel it's a good idea as an exercise in writing.

Stew

I've adapted a fantasy novel called "Eragon." The script is up here on this site (yes...that is a plug :)

Anyway, I read the novel four times before I ever started writing. But first, as I had learned that the director of Narnia did, I just wrote down everything I remembered from the book without ever looking at it. Then...

I read it once for fun, just to get back into the story. I read it again to gather information on the each of the characters and the way they talk and do things etc. I read it again to pick out big plot points that HAD to be in the film. And then I read it one last time to before I started writing just for fun again. (You don't have to do this!)

I've "changed" very little. I didn't change anything as far as names go and I didn't really make up many scenes. Only once or twice did I ever have to do this. I was just able to get rid of things and sort of hint at those scenes in other scenes just for fans of the books.

As I wrote I probably read each scene I happened to be working on at the time a billion times...meaning I read the book like five more times. lol.

Anyway, it took me three and a half months to finish the thing...well, get the first draft done. I've revised some of the story and I did revise the spelling...but I forgot to save it and...well. There were tears that night.

I didn't have many problems. All I know to tell you is don't worry about page count. About half way through the script and I thought that there was no way to fit the whole story in a 120 page script. I said "It'll be at least 150 to 160 pages if not more!" But I was wrong...the first draft clocked in at 114 pages. So don't sit there and change scenes because of page length.

-Chris

I'm unsure if my question fits into this thread. But I don't wish to waste space with my question, which deals with adaption as the title suggests. My question is, which may sound a little dumb, but what does adaption entail? I just want some specific's since I'm pondering about adapting a short story. Does it really entail in creating a new story or can the originial story suffice? Does it have to be completely different from the original work?

Gabriel