Turning Your Book Into a Movie? The #1 Mistake to Avoid

You’ve poured your heart into writing a novel—and now you’re wondering if you should turn it into a screenplay. But without industry insight, that leap could cost you time, money, and momentum.

In this episode of The Storyteller’s Mission, Zena lays down the hard truth about adapting novels into screenplays. Should you write the adaptation yourself? Should you hire someone to do it? Or should you leave the screenplay entirely out of your plan?

What You'll Learn:
→ Why most novelists shouldn’t rush into screenwriting
→ What Hollywood is actually looking for when it comes to adaptations
→ The long road to becoming a skilled screenwriter—and whether it’s worth it for you

This is a clear-eyed conversation about creative ambition and strategic career choices. If you’ve ever wondered whether you should try adapting your own book, this episode will help you make that call with confidence.

This question came straight from Zena’s monthly office hours, which are open to anyone who’s ever purchased one of her classes. Want access like this? Check out her courses and join the mission. Learn more at The Storyteller’s Mission.

🎧 Listen now and get clarity on one of the biggest decisions a novelist can face.

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Are you asking about turning your book into a screenplay, right? Hello and welcome to the Storytellers Mission with Z Web, A podcast for artists and storytellers about changing the world for the better through story.

[00:00:14] Okay, so have you ever had any formal training for screenwriting? No. Focus on writing a novel. That's it. Just write a good novel and then get it published. Here's the truth, Jasmine Hollywood loves. To adapt novels into screenplays.

[00:00:33] That's one of the primary places they look for story. So if you just write a really good novel that gets a bunch of attention and starts winning awards and becomes a best seller, you can bet Hollywood's gonna come knocking unless you already have the skill. Don't do it. Just write the novel. Just keep writing your novels.

[00:00:53] That's my advice. It takes years to master the craft of screenwriting years. I mean, I've been a screenwriter now. I trained in 1990. No, I mean 2000. 2000. So 25 years. I've still never had a feature film made. To give you an idea, so I've been screenwriting for 25 years and I still don't have a feature film made, and I'm a great writer.

[00:01:18] I mean, I can tell you I've won awards, I've won money, I've won all sorts of things for my screenwriting. I'm a very. Good screenwriter, and I've still never gotten a film made, so don't write a killer novel that Hollywood wants to adapt and then they'll pay. Otherwise, unless you have the skill yourself, you have to pay somebody to do that.

[00:01:44] Or you have to learn and it takes years to learn it. So, and you don't wanna pay out of pocket because that's no guarantee that Hollywood's gonna make it either, because generally speaking, if they like your novel, they're going to want to hire a screenwriter to adapt it. That kind of, in my mind, I thought I had to do that if I was interested in that route, but now you clarified that.

[00:02:06] That's great. No, and I would say, you know, once you get a really good novel, if you start winning awards, if you wanna reach out to production companies and be like, Hey, my novel has won a lot of awards, and I think it'd be a great movie. You can pitch your novel and see if anybody's interested, but I would not even do a screenplay.

[00:02:26] Now, an exception would be like Beth and Gary, they've trained as screenwriters, they're adapting their own novel into a screenplay, but they already had some training. So they're not having to learn from scratch, but Got it. Mostly, I would say just don't, unless you're young. Now, if you were, honestly, if you were in your twenties, I would probably be telling you different.

[00:02:49] Right now, I don't have the leisurely time walk right here. Yeah. Most of us don't, but I mean, young people, I think it's a really smart thing for them to learn how to write screenplays. But we're not young. I wouldn't learn it today if I hadn't already known it. All right you guys. Well, I hope this has been helpful.

[00:03:07] If you do have questions, please do send 'em to me in advance, but you can also just show up and ask like we did today, and we'll be meeting the first Monday of every month. So hopefully, did you guys get a reminder email? Good. Did that help? Yes. That's why I'm here tonight. Otherwise, you wouldn't have made it.

[00:03:26] Well, I wouldn't have known about it. You wouldn't have known about it. May I make a comment on screenwriting? Sure. Um, in, in the house of all stashed houses, I found a screenplay for Sea Biscuit. And so I read it as I was traveling back and forth and on the plane and such. And to see the difference of what it looks like on a page was so eye-opening.

[00:03:47] I mean, I don't. In any way, consider myself even wanting to do a screenplay, but it was just so admirable, all the stuff that they left out mm-hmm. That you can't put on the page, and yet the movie visually filled that in so amazingly. Yeah. Yeah. It's a whole new. Format. It was a whole new world to see it on paper.

[00:04:12] Yep. Yep, yep, yep. That's neat. I'm glad you did that. Good for you. Most people don't read screenplays because they're not meant to be read. They're meant for the production process, but a well-written screenplay is every bit as riveting as a well-written novel, but it's totally a different format. And that's, well, somebody published it in a book and it was on the bookshelf, so there you go.

[00:04:31] That's interesting. Yeah. Alright you guys, Thank you for listening to the Storyteller's Mission with Zena Del Love. May you go forth inspired to change the world for the better. Your story.