Adapting Your Own Work: 001
Adapting Your Own Work
Kill Your Darlings
I’ve adapted several of my screenplays into books over the last five years. My Abby books started life as a short script, and was then extended into a pilot for a TV show. Both Near Death and Hack were short screenplays. The Rot was adapted from a web show concept that never came to be. It’s something I’ve got used to doing and enjoy.
I’m sure I’ll write a much bigger piece on the whole process one day, but this week I’d like to address one issue within adapting my own work that’s come to the forefront of my mind, and how it has made me see reassess how I look at other people’s films and books adaptations. That issue is closely related to the concept of ‘Kill your darlings.’
The novella I’m currently writing, ‘Alice on the Air,’ is an adaptation of an unfinished screenplay I started writing just before books took over my life. It was a no budget script designed to be something I could write, direct, and film myself. Single location with one main character. The idea of turning it into a book was far from my mind when I began writing it so everything was geared towards what the final movie would look like.
But now, as a book, I obviously have a lot more creative freedom, and no budgetary or crew restraints. For the most part however, I’ve tried to keep the story in the spirit it was originally intended. Very little has changed outside of tightening a few ideas. But, tightening these ideas has led to a scene no longer fitting in with the current story. It wasn’t something I could move around because quite frankly, the scene became obsolete. Trouble is, I loved that scene.
Only One Outcome
The only answer is to lose the scene. I know that. I’ve been writing for nearly thirty years now and believe myself to have a great understanding of story and structure. The scene no longer works. It has to be removed. But, this got me thinking. If I had made the film, and it went according to plan (highly unlikely but lets say it did) and then I read this adaptation of the movie I enjoyed and it had taken out my favourite scene, I’d have been pissed.
As the author of the piece you go through the struggle. You search for ways to keep it or adapt it. Can I change it slightly? Reposition it? Repurpose it? But by the end of the struggle you know you can’t (most of the time) You’ve tried everything, but it simply doesn’t translate across mediums. What worked in film doesn’t necessarily work on the page, and vice versa. But your audience probably doesn’t know that. They haven’t had that struggle. They just remember loving that scene and now you’ve fucking removed it. For no reason. You fucking hack! :)
This led me down a rabbit hole. How often have I felt that way watching a film adapted from a book I adore. When scenes have been removed. Irreparably changed. Characters personalities altered, or the more frequent one, characters merged together because why cast four people when you can cast one. Are all those times I’ve been annoyed justified, or could I have been wrong if I just took a step back and considered the writers struggle in adapting the source material?
I reckon it’s probably spilt. Something are just inherently badly adapted (Looking at every adaption of I Am Legend) while sometime a sacrifice had to be made for the greater good. Greater good. But, I like to think those bigger sacrifice normally end up being the better adapted films or books. Things like taking away Driver’s backstory between the novella and the film Drive worked incredibly well in my opinion, although it did mean missing out on the heart-wrenching scenes involving his mother.
A Recent Example: Project Hail Mary
While I don’t think the film is quite on par with the book (although I still think it was an excellent movie) Project Hail Mary is an interesting recent example. I love the scene where they have to destroy the icecaps, it’s the ultimate sacrifice in the book. Destroying your planet in order to potentially to save it has so much meaning and power. But, fuck trying to explain that scene in the more comedic film version.
I’m certain Andy Weir and Drew Goddard considered keeping it, but it didn’t fit the movie they were making. Then, if you’re not going to go so dark with that scene you can’t then suddenly have the Grace Burgers at the end, or linger for so long on the crews death. It would feel so out of place. So that one decision led’s to big moments within the book removed, but it for the greater good of the story they’re now telling.
It’s an interesting struggle, and something I think more and more about every time I adapt my own work, or watch books I love committed to film. As I said, I’m sure I’ll write a bigger piece about it all one day, but I’ll leave the subject for now with this conclusion…
Story should always comes first. No matter how good the scene is, if it doesn’t fit, it has to go. I’m sorry, I don’t make the rules, it’s just the nature of storytelling. You can leave it in by all means, I’ll never tell anyone what to do on a creative front, but you’ll know it has to go. The moment that feeling enters your mind it’s the correct one. You’re right to fight for it, I do every time, but trust your gut, even if it’s goes against your heart.
Alice On The Air
As you can tell from the writing above my latest novella has been a little bit of a struggle this last week, but despite that it’s coming along well. I’m now half way through the story and the first draft will be finished by the end of this week.
It’s not the first thing I’ve written for a few years, I’ve abandoned a few stories along the way and have others sitting ready for final drafts at later dates when the time is right. But, Alice on the Air is the first book I’m going to publish under Spilt Latte Press. I want this story to show that I can write outside of Extreme Horror and Splatter, while also keeping the voice I’ve always written with. The tone. The aggression. The battle of destruction and chaos versus heart and soul. I always want to be me, just now in a bunch of different genres and subgenres.
I won’t give to much away at the moment as I’m sure a synopsis isn’t that far removed, but Alice on the Air will be a supernatural horror that takes a trope I like in a different direction. It’s been a fun book to write, and will hopefully be a good read when it arrives in a month or two. I hope some of you will give it a go as I look to restart my career.
This coming week is also the proper launch of my subgenre work. I’ll be discussing the Space Critter subgenre over the next few weeks both on my website, and on substack. Alongside this I’ll release a new short story called Terraoid. I’m considering publishing another random short story too outside of the subgenre work, but I haven’t made up my mind about that yet.
What Else Have I Been Up To?
I watched a few cool things this week. Mortal Kombat II was very Mortal Kombaty, exactly what I want from my Mortal Kombat movies. I also rewatched both Grindhouse movies, Death Proof and Planet Terror. Always love them. And I really enjoyed A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Duncan the Tall is my kind of character. I have actually already written a piece about those kind of character that I’ll put together with one of these Journal posts within the next few weeks if I can find the right fit. It’s called Assholes and Saviours, so keep an eye out for that one.
I also completed Mixtape on the Switch 2. That was a beautiful game. It got bonus points for including Silverchair’s Freak in the soundtrack. I think I quite like those narrative driven short games that are designed to feel like a movie. I know some people wouldn’t really class them as games as it’s not something you can lose at, or even overly play, but I like them. I think there’s a place for them. It’s not what I want from every game, but I’d happily play a couple a year in-between my deck builders, rogue likes, and side scrollers.
Read Alfred Bester’s The Demolished Man as well. It was a good read with a lot of style in the writing and formatting. He really does write assholes well. Those morally corrupt characters that just about have enough charm to keep you onside but you know they need to be punished. It wasn’t quite as good as The Stars My Destination but nevertheless thoroughly enjoyable.
Upcoming Week
The plan for this week is to finish the first draft of Alice on the Air and edit a couple of short stories that are near completion. I’ve worked out a new writing schedule to try so I’ll see how that goes, and decide whether it needs tweaking. I try to give myself a certain amount of hours within the day to write without being too rigid on the when. (Although I prefer writing in the morning these days)
Alongside that, I want to see how the subgenre work goes. I’ve written everything in advance for the Space Critter posts and the subgenre after, but now I’m starting on the next: Killer Dolls. Hopefully that will consist of a couple of Case Studies, alongside the definition and the My Experience posts that will accompany it. It should be a fun write as I intend to tackle William Goldman’s Magic.
As a quick sidetone in relation to my previous post I gave up on the subgenre work being a separate publication within Substack because it was an absolute ball ache. I have now made it a separate section within my main page so hopefully everything will run smoothly going forward. I knew something would go wrong, but thankfully it was a simpler solution that I expected.
Think that just about covers everything for this week. Look forward to keeping you all up-to-date with future posts every Monday.
Stephen.
