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Is anyone working on a screenplay? I have been working on one for two years. It is based on a true story. I am getting close to completing the first full draft, but it gets harder as I get closer to the end.

I tried adapting my first novel, TRUE BLUE FOREVER, into a screenplay, but I couldn't fit a 113,000-word novel into a 120-page screenplay. How can I cut that much out when every part is crucial to me? I'll just wait for Ron Howard to hire someone to adapt it so his daughter can play the lead. :-)

My script is currently at 80 pages. My goal is to have 90 pages for my completed screenplay. I am so close,but still have lots of work to do.

Joyce, you need to look at the screen as a completely different medium. Summarise what your story is about, and then rewrite it for a visual medium rather than trying to adapt it. So you need to think about what elements of the story are the most important you need to get across, and how do you best present this in the time limit you have and visually.

I see so many adaptations where precious screen time is wasted on some of the irrelevant set ups in the beginning of the book because the screenwriter was too afraid to leave something out - then the second half of the movie rushes through a lot of important stuff because there is no longer time for it. You almost want to write the screenplay in the opposite direction - important stuff first, then filler if there is time for it.

All the best to both of you

elle is so right. Motion Pictures are a "Visual" media. You need to think of your screenplay visually. Picture the scenes in your mind. How would the action take place on the screen. Think your story out "Visually".

Also, read other screenplays. Discover the format, pacing and dialogue of a good movie. There are many copies of screenplays that you can download for the internet. Download copies of some of your favorite films and read them. Discover what a good screenplay looks like. Use them as examples to begin you screenwriting from.

Here is a link for downloading screenplays:
www.script-o-rama.com/table.shtml

Craig and elle, I know you're both absolutely right and have tried to do this. I have copies of three screenplays downloaded and printed out to use as examples, but my problem is that I picture scenes visually as I'm writing the book--I even act some of them out to make sure they play out believably and accurately, and most of them have musical soundtracks playing in my head to go along with them. This is why it's hard for me to weed any of them out of the screenplay.

My writing partner actually won second place in a screenplay contest several years ago, and even she has a hard time cutting from this story. I turned it over to her and gave her permission to cut as necessary, and she hasn't managed to get it within the industry guidelines either.

It is a tough one, and I know what you mean about picturing the scenes so vividly.

Have you considered turning it into a television series (or mini series) as opposed to a single movie? I'm not sure how suited your story would be, but it would give you more room to get the whole story in more comfortably.

Time and distance can help you to see what the main themes are of your story. When I put my completed novel aside for two years, I found I was able to come up with a completely "new" story but involving the same themes and some of the same characters - I played around with presenting it as a TV series, and also as a book set in a different location with some of the plot threads changed to suit. I found it a lot easier to decide that some very beloved characters would have to go, or be combined...

...of course I was doing this as a purely theoretical exercise, so it probably would be really hard to make the decision for definite. But it can also help if you keep in mind that the book remains intact no matter what you do - you're writing a new story with the same themes and characters, not trashing your book itself.