William Hammett

A Hollywood producer asked me to work on a book with him years ago because he thought it might be adapted at a later date into a screenplay. We worked on the project, and he subsequently asked me to do research for a movie he wanted to bring to the screen.

Over the years, he has continued to ask me to do research and even write film treatments, which are precursors to actual shooting scripts. He's also an Oscar-nominated producer, and I've made him promise to take me to the Academy Awards if one of our projects ever gets nominated.

Adapting Screenplays into Novels

I really love film, and I've turned many screenplays into novels. This kind of writing requires a great deal of latitude since screenplays are very spare in description. The average shooting script is between 80 and 120 pages long, and that's with double-spacing between directions and dialogue. A writer needs to add the description and exposition that a screenplay hints at briefly and is usually fleshed out by the director and the film crew when shooting begins.

Adapting Novels into Screenplays

I also take novels and pare them down into screenplays. Again, latitude is required because much of the novel must be condensed, and entire passages filled with description must be eliminated and merely suggested by the script. Most visuals in a movie are usually determined the director, cinematographer, set designer, and so forth.

Original Screenplays

While I primarily write fiction and nonfiction books, I occasionally take on an original story that someone wants written as a screenplay. I do this on a limited basis for select clients, and this service is always subject to my availability.

Some of the greatest novels ever written have been made into movies. Even nonfiction can be adapted to film. Since I'm familiar with narrative structure and great storytelling, I'm able to do this.

If you have an idea for a screenplay, email me to see if we might be a good fit.

Please also read Fiction and Nonfiction.