Exploring Novels, Plays, Screenplays, and Adaptations

Lesson #12

Imagine you are at a dinner party. Someone approaches you and says, “Emma tells me you are writer. What do you write? Have I read your work?”

How do you respond?

“Yes. I’m a novelist.”  –or a poet or an author or a playwright or a journalist or a screenwriter or a columnist or a blogger or…

Each response is equally valid. From poetry to personal essay to news story, writers experiment with and utilize various forms. Some writers list poet, playwright, author, and freelance writer in their bios. Each label brings along with it different ideas about the writer and his/her work. A poet will have a great idea for a play and begin the work of learning the form of playwriting. A journalist will awake from a dream with the plot structure of a novel and learn how to write fiction.

Within each form there are sub-forms and genres. Writing a chick-lit novel has different rules than writing a romance novel. Writing a sonnet requires a different understanding of poetic devices than writing a ballad. Writers are sometimes overwhelmed by choice.

This lesson looks at the relationships among the novel, play, screenplay, including adaptations. Some stories work well in all three forms. “The Wizard of Oz”is a popular book, movie, and musical.  Have you ever shared an idea for a book with a friend and they responded with “that would make an awesome movie?” Do you ever find it difficult to decide which form to choose for your work? Continue reading →