The other day I learned some exciting news.

Beasts of No Nationa novel written by my friend

Uzo Iwealais going to become a movie starring Idris Elba! The new develoment bro!e my "#$
day strea! of comlete cons%mtion by %ncreative tho%ghts related to my day &ob. 'inally( I was
insired!
)hat if( one day I not only comleted my novelb%t then it became a movie*! +honda ,himes
co%ld write the scrit and I co%ld ma!e the career of an % and coming actress when she is cast
as my rotagonist. B%t how wo%ld I do it* To answer that -%estion( I cond%cted some research.
Below( my friends( are the stes to writing a novel that will one day become a movie.
/ave 0 1lot 2The 3ore Enticing the Better4
This sho%ld be obvio%s yet somehow I still manage to come across lenty of boo!s that do not
have lots. I thin! it5s beca%se we writers li!e to %se the English lang%age to artic%late the
comlexities of h%manity to ma!e eole thin!no( to ma!e them feel. That5s &%st not going to
wor! in /ollywood.
'or yo%r novel to become a movie( something needs to haen and referably in a three$act
str%ct%re. 0 disaster( which leads to the attemt to resolve it( which leads to a bigger roblem(
then a climax( then a resol%tion. If yo% can add some action and ma!e it a age t%rner( even
better.
6escribe 7o%r +etting in 8reat 6etail
This is imortant. 7o% don5t want the movie eole r%ining the image of the bea%tif%l fantasy
world yo% created beca%se yo% forgot to cat%re its vastness( its s%rrisingly sweet smell or how
the castle connected to that secret room where the answers sit.
That is not to say that yo%r novel sho%ld be overr%n with descritions 2see section one on lot4(
b%t as! yo%rself( wo%ld a set designer be able to relicate yo%r novel5s setting as yo% imagine it*
6o yo%r words allow the director to acc%rately cat%re the mood of the town*
There is a reason the /arry 1otter movies did s%ch a great &ob bringing /ogwarts to life9.:.
,owling5s beloved series rovided the vivid and recise detail that allowed them to do so.
;reate 3emorable 3inor ;haracters
3inor characters are the best beca%se yo% canand robably sho%ldma!e them so extreme.
They are memorable yet carry very low exectations.
0dd a character who is -%ir!y( obsessive( or incredibly st%id<smart<cl%msy<anal<hilario%s<wise<
=insert ad&ective here>. It doesn5t matter if yo%r story is relatively serio%s beca%se let5s face itthe
movie eole won5t care.
6on5t leave it to the screenwriter to t%rn yo%r minor character into a stereotyeta!e control of
their o%trageo%sness! 6o that( and no one will be able to resist translating him or her onto the big
screen.
6on5t )rite a Novel +o That It )ill Become a 3ovie
)hat is this ost abo%t really* Not to write a boo! &%st so that it will become a moviethat5s what
screenlays are for!
Instead( I want yo% to view yo%r novel thro%gh a different lens. 7o%r most imortant tas! is to
create a satisfying reading exerience( which will ma!e eole read yo%r novel( love it and
demand for it to become a movie.
B%t sometimes we get ca%ght % in o%r own ind%lgences as writerswe waste ages telling
eole what we5re thin!ing and feeling instead of creating scenes that move the story forward and
ma!e the reader thin! and feel. ?r we5re so foc%sed on what the characters are doing and saying
we forget to gro%nd the reader by s%fficiently bringing them into the world we created. ?ther times
we forget that even if o%r novel is serio%sit can have some f%n moments.
/ow can we get over these h%ms* By loo!ing at o%r novels from a different ersective as if(
say( it were to one day become a movie.