Warning: possible spoilers for the novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay follow.
Let me start off by saying I do not intend to become a screenplay writer. What I did yesterday was for fun.
It started when I began re-reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. I had forgotten how much I love this novel. I can identify with the characters in many ways.
Several times over the years I’ve checked to see if this book is going to be adapted to the screen — whether as a movie or as a television series.
Not so far. But as of my writing this, attempts have been made. Apparently, turning AAK&C into a movie is in the development stages. But this book was published — and won the Pulitzer Prize — in 2000. I’m just surprised it hasn’t been adapted for the screen yet.
Well, for some reason, I decided to play around with the story. I found an online screenplay template, and turned to the first chapter of AAK&C.
At first, I thought it would be a good movie, but the book is so long, so complex, I decided to just create a first episode as if for a tv series.
So here is the result of my first draft:
Download my experimental screenplay.
It’s not perfect, but it’s not about perfection. It’s about having fun.
If you compare the first chapter of AAK&C with what I’ve done so far, you will find the first scenes are from my imagination. The novel begins with Joe Kavalier and Sam Clay meeting for the first time. I decided to start with Joe arriving on a bus in 1939 New York City, taking a taxi and arriving at the apartment where Sam and his mother live.
The 3rd page of the screenplay resembles the first chapter more closely. I decided it would be more visually appealing to include the last minutes of Joe’s long journey to orient the reader to the setting. I even include a short 5-second flashback when Joe is in the coffin with the golem.
I’m learning how to visualize some exposition for the screen, that is, elements that are exposition and not visual. For example, Sam does not know his mom has arranged for his cousin Joe to visit. Chabon mentions this in exposition, but I wanted to somehow indicate this visually.
So, I added a small piece of dialogue for Sam. After Sam’s mother wakes him up and says his cousin has arrived, he furrows his brow and says, “Who? Since when?”
I’m having a lot of fun. I may or may not finish this screenplay. It’s just something I’m having fun with. If AAK&C is ever adapted for the screen, I’m eager to see how they’ll do it.
Exercise (if you’ve never tried screenplay writing or are a beginner):
- Pick a novel you love that hasn’t been turned into a movie or television show. Here are some suggestions:
31 Best books that haven’t been turned into movies yet | PINKVILLA
20 Best Books That Surprisingly Haven’t Been Adapted Into Movies Yet (screenrant.com)
50 books that need to be turned into movies or TV shows (ew.com) - Select a screenplay template. There are hundreds of them online. You can also download a word document of my result and use it as a template.
- Find a copy of the novel you want to adapt.
- Write the opening scene (or your favorite scene) of your movie or tv episode. Don’t overthink it. Don’t worry if you’re doing it right. Just have fun. This is for you and no one else.
- Try to include at least one visual element that is not directly in the novel you are playing with. How can you show something visually that is exposition in the novel?
- You may want to try your own variation to this exercise. You may want to write a screenplay scene for a novel that has been adapted as a movie, but you haven’t see it yet. Or you may want to rewrite the screenplay of a novel adaption you didn’t like. Or you may want to write an opening scene for a novel manuscript of your own.
- If you decide to take it a step further, I recommend consulting Save the Cat. Or if you decide to write a full episode for television, you might want to follow Dan Harmon’s Plot Embryo.
- Just have fun.
I was inspired to do this experiment by some of my writer friends:
- Carol Preflatish who turned her first novel into a screenplay.
- Tony Acree who turned a novel he wrote into a screenplay.
- Lena Wood who, back in the 90s, wrote a proposal episode of Beauty and the Beast and received a letter from George R.R. Martin.
Photo by RedWolf: https://www.pexels.com/photo/young-couple-sitting-at-a-table-10585814/
Andrew M. Friday 
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