This month has provided so many lessons for me that I had no idea which to choose. And since this blog is about an author’s adventure through life, let’s talk about books—more importantly books vs. screen adaptions.
If you were to have asked me two years ago, what I thought about turning my books into a film. I’d probably ask you, “Maybe…what’s the catch?”
As a kid, the answer probably would have been more, “Yes, sign me up! When’s the red-carpet premiere?”
A lot has changed between these two answers, and most of that has to do with my perspective. I love to watch books come to life on the screen. But, every single time it ALWAYS comes with a catch, and that catch is generally the screenplay writers left an important detail out.
And, I know I’m not alone in this aggravation. As a reader, I want to see everything on the screen. But as a screenplay writer myself, I know that can’t always happen whether it be due to budgeting or even locations. So, I make do with what I have.
Some might say, “Then, don’t turn it into a film at all! Keep it on the pages!”
Sure, we could do that, but that leaves out a group of people who prefer visual storytelling vs. written storytelling.
As an author, I want to get my stories into the hands of every person in the world, but, to do that, I have to find creative ways to intrigue a larger audience. Maybe we shouldn’t look at books vs. screen adaptions in a “who’s better” sort of way. Why can’t they both be considered good?
For example, I’ve seen a lot of people who have read the Harry Potter books and have seen the movies who have struck up debates on the internet about what the author meant by one thing or another. There have even been times when the screenplay writers wrote Easter eggs into the script that tie back to the books!
In reality, a good book-to-screen adaption should work together, one directs people toward the screen and the other directs people toward the book.
Sadly, many screenplay writers just see what will sell nowadays so the adaptions don’t do a book justice. But, if more authors who had the opportunity to get their work onto the screen had an involvement in the script, I bet things would dramatically change!