As writers, we are constantly thinking about the stories we want to bring to life. Some of the best stories may have existed, but haven’t been adapted for the screen…yet! Hollywood loves to adapt novels, short stories, novellas, and everything in between into series of movies and TV series.
With a developed world, characters, and a story framework that has an audience to support it, the prose is ripe for adaptation. But how do you prepare a story for the screen?
Novelist Michael Connelly has spent the past few years adapting his crime novels into movies and TV shows. His latest project, Wonderland Massacre and the Secret History of Hollywoodpremiering this weekend on MGM+, while he continues to write scripts for ongoing shows such as Bosch and lincoln lawyer. Connery recently sat down with ScreenCraft to share insights into how screenwriters craft cinematic stories, keep audiences engaged, and tackle the biggest challenges of adapting novels for the screen.
Create a story frame
Every great story begins with a spark of inspiration. For Connery, crime often served as the framework for his stories, but it was never the driving force that made his novels so compelling.
“Before you write a word, you really step back and say, ‘Okay, I have this idea. A detective told me this story about the case, or I read it in the newspaper, and it actually It’s just the frame. What do you want to do with it?” Connelly said.
Thinking of the frame of a story as a MacGuffin can help writers establish a plot foundation that they can then fill in with meaningful, character-defining moments. Figuring out character arcs, relationships, and the plot points that drive them will help you find tension and intrigue to create a story that fits the framework.
“You want to write something higher than a detective story,” Connelly added.
“Bosch”
importance of location
One way to develop a character is to find circumstances that help define the character. As Connery said, “The scene lives or dies by the character.”
“A key component of this is the relationship with the protagonist… and their relationship to the city – what they draw from it and what they understand about the city,” he said.
Many of Connery’s best stories, e.g. Bosch or Wonderland Massacrefeaturing Los Angeles as a key character-defining character. Connelly emphasized that the City of Angels is an integral part of the story, revealing something about the characters through their interactions with the place and how they navigate it. Knowing a character’s role in the city serves as shorthand for the audience, adding depth without much exposition.
“Ultimately, I don’t think people are going to come back and watch the second episode because they love it so much,” Connery said. “They come back just for this character. They want to get back in the car and ride further with this character.
Read more: Should screenwriters adapt their screenplays into novels and short stories?
Make sure every character wants something
When starting to write, Connelly emphasized the importance of ensuring that each character had a motivation for their appearance. This keeps the focus on the characters, not just the plot framework.
“It’s about character. One of my favorite writers growing up was Kurt Vonnegut, and someone asked him, ‘What’s your best advice?’ “Make sure every character on every page wants something, even if it’s just a glass of water,” he said. “That’s really the essence of writing. It’s about what the characters want and how they get it, and revealing that to the reader.”
Knowing what a character wants helps a writer discover the tension in a scene, the dynamics between relationships, and the evolution of the overall story. Here, writers can unleash their creativity and create text-rich stories that keep audiences engaged.
“The Lincoln Lawyer”
The biggest challenge in adapting a novel into a TV series
Adapting a novel is not easy, even if you wrote it. Several of Connery’s books were adapted into films, e.g. blood work and lincoln lawyerbut he did not participate in the script creation. Until Amazon wants to adapt Bosch Connery joins the screen in the show’s writers’ room.
“When Amazon came to me about doing a TV show, I had been working with these books for 20 years. Maybe because Amazon is one of the largest sellers of books, they had the data to believe that if it was done well, the show would It will be very popular,” Connelly said.
However, moving from the insular world of novel writing, where he could focus on the inner thoughts of his characters, to collaborative writing for a visual medium was one of the biggest challenges.
“You have to show it through their dialogue and their actions. To lose that interiority… I was never the best writer in the first place, even though I created these characters,” Connery said. “It takes time. But, fortunately, Bosch It has been airing for 10 seasons. Over the course of these seasons, I think I got better as a writer, but I had to learn from more experienced producers.
Connery accepted the challenge of learning this new format, focusing on the context of the story, making it a key element in shaping Bosch’s behavior and character throughout the series.
“In a TV show, you’re in a room with seven to 11 people – some writers, some support staff – and there’s a lot of camaraderie as you bounce ideas off each other. That change was really good for me. It also influenced my book writing,” Connelly said.
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Creating a cinematic story that can thrive on the screen is no easy task. Writing a novel allows you to spend more time with the characters than you would for television, but you can’t forget the parts that make the story worth bringing to the screen. Connery reminds us that focusing on character, setting, and motivation will help create a powerful story that captivates audiences.
As the entertainment landscape continues to evolve, writers must be adaptable and learn a variety of media to bring their stories to life in engaging and engaging ways.
Read more: The 5 biggest differences between screenplays and novels
