Turn your book into a movie: 16 treatment tips<\/h2>\n![\"Turn](\"https:\/\/buildbookbuzz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Ken-Atchity-300x263.jpg\")
<\/a><\/strong>By Kenneth Atchity<\/h3>\nMaking a book into a film can cost producers anymore $1 million to $200 million, so this is clearly a major\u00a0investment.<\/p>\n
Talk to a story editor from any production company, studio, or agency \u201cstory department,\u201d and they\u00a0will tell you the weaknesses they see in novels submitted for film or television.<\/p>\n
The story department\u2019s report on the book’s potential for translation to film, referred to as \u201ccoverage,\u201d is their feedback to the decision-making exec. It can make or break it for you — and it kills countless submissions.<\/p>\n
The sad thing is, most writers will almost never even get as far as a coverage of their novel.<\/p>\n
That’s often because of the book’s “treatment.”<\/p>\n
What’s a treatment?<\/h2>\n
A treatment is a relatively short, written pitch of a story intended for production as a motion picture or television program. Written in user-friendly, informal language and focused on action and events, it presents the story\u2019s overall structure and primary characters. It presents three clear acts and shows how the characters change from beginning to end.<\/p>\n
You can write a better treatment if you know about the typical weaknesses story editors find as they prepare each option’s “coverage” (see my book,\u00a0Writing Treatments that Sell![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?source=bk&t=beckwithcommu-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=a28ac0aff51d41ab9833825ab1bc36d5&_cb=1493846115403\")
<\/em>)<\/a>. When you address these common weaknesses, you give your story a much better chance in the rooms where people decide whether, and how much, to spend on putting your story onto the screen.<\/p>\nThen you can use that treatment to market your story to Hollywood.<\/p>\n
16 treatment tips that will help you turn your book into a movie<\/h2>\n
Here are 16 things to know about what your treatment needs to include.<\/p>\n
1. Make sure your primary characters are relatable<\/em> (that\u2019s also called sympathetic<\/em>).<\/strong><\/p>\nIf we can\u2019t relate to them, we don\u2019t feel<\/em> for them. This addresses the comment: \u201cI can\u2019t relate to anyone in the book.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n2. Trim the number of characters way back so the treatment’s reader isn\u2019t boggled by the immensity of the cast. <\/strong><\/p>\nAlso, keep the treatment focused as much as possible on the protagonist (and his or her love interest and\/or ally) and antagonist. Comment: \u201cThere are way too many characters, and it\u2019s not clear till page 200 who the protagonist is.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n3. Build a strong protagonist in the 20\u00a0to 50 star age range, one we want to root<\/em> for. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nComment: \u201cWe don\u2019t know who to root for.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n4. Make sure your hero or heroine takes action based on his or her motivation and mission,<\/strong> and forces others in your story to react.<\/p>\nComment: \u201cThe protagonist is reactive, instead of proactive.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n5. Offer a new twist in your story<\/strong> even if it\u2019s a familiar story to avoid the comment: \u201cThere\u2019s nothing new here.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n6. Write it so the story editor reading your treatment can see three well-defined acts:<\/strong> act one (the setup), act two (rhythmic development, rising and falling action), and act three (climax, leading to conclusive ending).<\/p>\nComment: \u201cI can\u2019t see three acts here.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n7. Make sure the turning point into the third act of your story is well-marked<\/strong> with a major twist that takes us there.<\/p>\nComment: \u201cThere\u2019s no Third Act\u2026it just trickles out.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n8. Create a well-pronounced theme<\/em>\u00a0for your story (sometimes called \u201cthe premise\u201d) in the treatment<\/strong>, so that the reader (audience) walks away with the feeling they\u2019ve learned something important.<\/p>\nComment: \u201cAt the end of the day, I have no idea what this story is about.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nRegister for our free teleseminar,\u00a0\u201cSelling Your Story to Hollywood: A Conversation with a Movie Producer<\/a>,\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>on Thursday, May 18, 2017<\/strong>, at this link<\/a> now!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n9. Be sure there\u2019s plenty of action<\/em> in your story. <\/strong><\/p>\nAction means dramatic action, <\/em>of which there are two kinds: action and dialogue. Action is obvious:<\/p>\nShe slams the door in his face.<\/p>\n
The bullets find their target, and he slumps in his chair.<\/p>\n
The second plane crashes into the Pentagon.<\/p>\n
But good dialogue is also action:<\/p>\n
“Would you do something for me now?”<\/em><\/p>\n“I\u2019d do anything for you.”<\/em><\/p>\n“Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?”<\/em> (Hemingway, \u201cHills like White Elephants\u201d)<\/p>\n10. Sprinkle character-revealing dialogue throughout,<\/strong> enough to let the reader know what your characters sound like\u2014and that they all sound different.<\/p>\nComment: \u201cThere\u2019s no dialogue, so we don\u2019t know what the characters sound like.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n11. Make sure the plot is hidden<\/em> not overt,<\/strong> dropping clues act by act so the audience can foresee its possible outcomes.<\/p>\nComment: \u201cAt the end, the antagonist lays out the entire plot to the protagonist before he\u2019s killed.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n12. Ruthlessly go through your treatment and remove anything that even hints of contrivance.<\/strong><\/p>\nThe audience will allow any story one gimme,<\/em> but rarely two, and never three, before they lose their belief. Everything needs to be grounded in the story\u2019s integrity.<\/p>\nComment: \u201cThe whole thing is overly contrived.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n13. Make it\u00a0well-paced,<\/strong> with rising and falling action, twists and turns, cliffhangers ending every act, etc.<\/p>\nComment: \u201cThere is no real pacing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n14. Be able to pitch your story \u00a0in a single punch line (aka \u201clogline\u201d)<\/strong>, and put that line at the beginning of your treatment in bold face:<\/p>\nShe\u2019s a fish out of water\u2014but she\u2019s a mermaid<\/strong> (\u201cThe Little Mermaid,\u201d \u201cSplash\u201d).<\/p>\nHe\u2019s left behind alone. On Mars<\/strong> (\u201cThe Martian\u201d).<\/p>\nAn inventor creates an artificial woman who\u2019s so real she turns the table on her creator, locks him up, and escapes<\/strong> (\u201cEx Machina\u201d).<\/p>\nThis is also called \u201cthe high concept,\u201d which means it can be pitched simply\u2014on a poster or to a friend on the phone.<\/p>\n
Comment: \u201cHow do we pitch it? There\u2019s no high concept.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n15. Make sure your story feels like a movie,<\/em><\/strong> which includes taking us to places we\u2019ve probably never been, or rarely been.<\/p>\nA movie transports us to locations we want to feel,<\/em> like Antarctica, or the Amazon jungle, or a moon of Saturn, or, in movies I\u2019ve done, a brothel in New Orleans (The Madams Family)<\/em>, the experimental lab of the inventor of the vibrator in Victorian England (Hysteria)<\/em>, a mountain cabin during a blizzard (Angels in the Snow),\u00a0<\/em>or the Amityville house in Long Island (Amityville: The Evil Returns)<\/em>.<\/p>\nComment: \u201cThere are no set pieces, so it doesn\u2019t feel like a movie.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n16. Get someone who knows the industry well to read your treatment<\/strong> and give you dramatic feedback on it before you send it out.<\/p>\nComment: \u201cThe writer shows no knowledge of movies!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nOf course anyone with the mind of a sleuth can list films that got made despite one or more of these comments being evident. But for novelists frustrated at not getting their books made into films, that\u2019s small consolation.<\/p>\n
If you regard your career as a business instead of a quixotic crusade, plan your novel\u2019s treatment to make it appealing to filmmakers–and to avoid the story department\u2019s buzz-killing comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
![\"Turn](\"https:\/\/buildbookbuzz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Turn-your-book-into-a-movie.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nToday’s guest blogger, Kenneth Atchity, is one of my favorite new friends.\u00a0In his former career, Ken, a Yale Ph.D., was a Fulbright professor of comparative literature. Today, he is a writer (his most recent novel is\u00a0<\/em>The Messiah Matrix<\/a>), literary manager, and Emmy-nominated producer who\u2019s made hundreds of deals in television and film. He has produced more than 30 films, including “Meg” (in post), “Angels in the Snow,” “Hysteria,” “The Lost Valentine” (one of my favorites on the Hallmark Channel!), “Erased,” “The Madams Family,” and “Joe Somebody.” He is well known among authors\u00a0for\u00a0teaching them the ins and outs of making a Hollywood deal. \u00a0BIG NEWS:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>Ken will be my guest on a special free teleseminar,\u00a0\u201cSelling Your Story to Hollywood: A Conversation with a Movie Producer<\/a>,\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>on May 18. Details here <\/a>and below — reserve your seat now!<\/em><\/p>\nTurn your book into a movie: 16 treatment tips<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/strong>By Kenneth Atchity<\/h3>\nMaking a book into a film can cost producers anymore $1 million to $200 million, so this is clearly a major\u00a0investment.<\/p>\n
Talk to a story editor from any production company, studio, or agency \u201cstory department,\u201d and they\u00a0will tell you the weaknesses they see in novels submitted for film or television.<\/p>\n
The story department\u2019s report on the book’s potential for translation to film, referred to as \u201ccoverage,\u201d is their feedback to the decision-making exec. It can make or break it for you — and it kills countless submissions.<\/p>\n
The sad thing is, most writers will almost never even get as far as a coverage of their novel.<\/p>\n
That’s often because of the book’s “treatment.”<\/p>\n
What’s a treatment?<\/h2>\n
A treatment is a relatively short, written pitch of a story intended for production as a motion picture or television program. Written in user-friendly, informal language and focused on action and events, it presents the story\u2019s overall structure and primary characters. It presents three clear acts and shows how the characters change from beginning to end.<\/p>\n
You can write a better treatment if you know about the typical weaknesses story editors find as they prepare each option’s “coverage” (see my book,\u00a0Writing Treatments that Sell Then you can use that treatment to market your story to Hollywood.<\/p>\n Here are 16 things to know about what your treatment needs to include.<\/p>\n 1. Make sure your primary characters are relatable<\/em> (that\u2019s also called sympathetic<\/em>).<\/strong><\/p>\n If we can\u2019t relate to them, we don\u2019t feel<\/em> for them. This addresses the comment: \u201cI can\u2019t relate to anyone in the book.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n 2. Trim the number of characters way back so the treatment’s reader isn\u2019t boggled by the immensity of the cast. <\/strong><\/p>\n Also, keep the treatment focused as much as possible on the protagonist (and his or her love interest and\/or ally) and antagonist. Comment: \u201cThere are way too many characters, and it\u2019s not clear till page 200 who the protagonist is.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n 3. Build a strong protagonist in the 20\u00a0to 50 star age range, one we want to root<\/em> for. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Comment: \u201cWe don\u2019t know who to root for.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n 4. Make sure your hero or heroine takes action based on his or her motivation and mission,<\/strong> and forces others in your story to react.<\/p>\n Comment: \u201cThe protagonist is reactive, instead of proactive.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n 5. Offer a new twist in your story<\/strong> even if it\u2019s a familiar story to avoid the comment: \u201cThere\u2019s nothing new here.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n 6. Write it so the story editor reading your treatment can see three well-defined acts:<\/strong> act one (the setup), act two (rhythmic development, rising and falling action), and act three (climax, leading to conclusive ending).<\/p>\n Comment: \u201cI can\u2019t see three acts here.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n 7. Make sure the turning point into the third act of your story is well-marked<\/strong> with a major twist that takes us there.<\/p>\n Comment: \u201cThere\u2019s no Third Act\u2026it just trickles out.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n 8. Create a well-pronounced theme<\/em>\u00a0for your story (sometimes called \u201cthe premise\u201d) in the treatment<\/strong>, so that the reader (audience) walks away with the feeling they\u2019ve learned something important.<\/p>\n Comment: \u201cAt the end of the day, I have no idea what this story is about.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Register for our free teleseminar,\u00a0\u201cSelling Your Story to Hollywood: A Conversation with a Movie Producer<\/a>,\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>on Thursday, May 18, 2017<\/strong>, at this link<\/a> now!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 9. Be sure there\u2019s plenty of action<\/em> in your story. <\/strong><\/p>\n Action means dramatic action, <\/em>of which there are two kinds: action and dialogue. Action is obvious:<\/p>\n She slams the door in his face.<\/p>\n The bullets find their target, and he slumps in his chair.<\/p>\n The second plane crashes into the Pentagon.<\/p>\n But good dialogue is also action:<\/p>\n “Would you do something for me now?”<\/em><\/p>\n “I\u2019d do anything for you.”<\/em><\/p>\n “Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?”<\/em> (Hemingway, \u201cHills like White Elephants\u201d)<\/p>\n 10. Sprinkle character-revealing dialogue throughout,<\/strong> enough to let the reader know what your characters sound like\u2014and that they all sound different.<\/p>\n Comment: \u201cThere\u2019s no dialogue, so we don\u2019t know what the characters sound like.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n 11. Make sure the plot is hidden<\/em> not overt,<\/strong> dropping clues act by act so the audience can foresee its possible outcomes.<\/p>\n Comment: \u201cAt the end, the antagonist lays out the entire plot to the protagonist before he\u2019s killed.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n 12. Ruthlessly go through your treatment and remove anything that even hints of contrivance.<\/strong><\/p>\n The audience will allow any story one gimme,<\/em> but rarely two, and never three, before they lose their belief. Everything needs to be grounded in the story\u2019s integrity.<\/p>\n Comment: \u201cThe whole thing is overly contrived.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n 13. Make it\u00a0well-paced,<\/strong> with rising and falling action, twists and turns, cliffhangers ending every act, etc.<\/p>\n Comment: \u201cThere is no real pacing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n 14. Be able to pitch your story \u00a0in a single punch line (aka \u201clogline\u201d)<\/strong>, and put that line at the beginning of your treatment in bold face:<\/p>\n She\u2019s a fish out of water\u2014but she\u2019s a mermaid<\/strong> (\u201cThe Little Mermaid,\u201d \u201cSplash\u201d).<\/p>\n He\u2019s left behind alone. On Mars<\/strong> (\u201cThe Martian\u201d).<\/p>\n An inventor creates an artificial woman who\u2019s so real she turns the table on her creator, locks him up, and escapes<\/strong> (\u201cEx Machina\u201d).<\/p>\n This is also called \u201cthe high concept,\u201d which means it can be pitched simply\u2014on a poster or to a friend on the phone.<\/p>\n Comment: \u201cHow do we pitch it? There\u2019s no high concept.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n 15. Make sure your story feels like a movie,<\/em><\/strong> which includes taking us to places we\u2019ve probably never been, or rarely been.<\/p>\n A movie transports us to locations we want to feel,<\/em> like Antarctica, or the Amazon jungle, or a moon of Saturn, or, in movies I\u2019ve done, a brothel in New Orleans (The Madams Family)<\/em>, the experimental lab of the inventor of the vibrator in Victorian England (Hysteria)<\/em>, a mountain cabin during a blizzard (Angels in the Snow),\u00a0<\/em>or the Amityville house in Long Island (Amityville: The Evil Returns)<\/em>.<\/p>\n Comment: \u201cThere are no set pieces, so it doesn\u2019t feel like a movie.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n 16. Get someone who knows the industry well to read your treatment<\/strong> and give you dramatic feedback on it before you send it out.<\/p>\n Comment: \u201cThe writer shows no knowledge of movies!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Of course anyone with the mind of a sleuth can list films that got made despite one or more of these comments being evident. But for novelists frustrated at not getting their books made into films, that\u2019s small consolation.<\/p>\n If you regard your career as a business instead of a quixotic crusade, plan your novel\u2019s treatment to make it appealing to filmmakers–and to avoid the story department\u2019s buzz-killing comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today’s guest blogger, Kenneth Atchity, is one of my favorite new friends.\u00a0In his former career, Ken, a Yale Ph.D., was a Fulbright professor of comparative literature. Today, he is a writer (his most recent novel is\u00a0<\/em>The Messiah Matrix<\/a>), literary manager, and Emmy-nominated producer who\u2019s made hundreds of deals in television and film. He has produced more than 30 films, including “Meg” (in post), “Angels in the Snow,” “Hysteria,” “The Lost Valentine” (one of my favorites on the Hallmark Channel!), “Erased,” “The Madams Family,” and “Joe Somebody.” He is well known among authors\u00a0for\u00a0teaching them the ins and outs of making a Hollywood deal. \u00a0BIG NEWS:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>Ken will be my guest on a special free teleseminar,\u00a0\u201cSelling Your Story to Hollywood: A Conversation with a Movie Producer<\/a>,\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>on May 18. Details here <\/a>and below — reserve your seat now!<\/em><\/p>\n16 treatment tips that will help you turn your book into a movie<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nTurn your book into a movie: 16 treatment tips<\/h3>\n