A is for Adaptation

And here we go, everybody! The beginning of April, which means the A to Z challenge has officially begun!

As I said before, around here we're going to be talking about writing and creativity and marketing as an author and all that good stuff.

When I was coming up with topics for the month, my roommate (who knows me way too well) suggested I start with A is for Acolin Firth. And then B is for Bcolin Firth. (It's super super funny late at night when you make the sounds like Ahhcolin Firth. Trust me.) Anyway, I thought about it, and who doesn't want more Colin Firth, but alas, we're going to try and be serious. Very serious. Serious as a coffin nail. And everyone knows, coffin nails are theriuth bithneth.

Um, but here's a picture of Colin Firth anyway.

So. Adaptation. No, not the movie with Meryl Streep and Nicolas Cage (I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that the two of them exist on the same planet, let alone in one movie.)

Think of how many movies are adaptations of books. Lately it seems like every movie is an adaptation. But direct adaptation can be a very, very useful tool for novelists too, not just screenwriters.

I recently read a great book called A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan which is a futuristic, sci-fi adaptation of Sleeping Beauty. And think of all the great books by writers like Gregory Maguire and Robin McKinley that are adaptations of classic fairy tales. And we don't have to stop at fairy tales. Basically everything Shakespeare wrote was an adaptation of something else, and look how incredibly that turned out.

I think we writers worry so much about being original, when really that may be one of the worst things we can do. The best of all the people ever of all C. S. Lewis said, "in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it." This applies when we're telling our own stories or if we're adapting other stories and making them our own.

I've always thought it would be fascinating to take secondary characters from fairy tales and find different ways of adapting their stories. I mean, Gepetto is pretty fascinating if you ask me, and I want to know more about him. And Captain Hook, although there are lots of great writers who have given us more of his story.

What stories and characters do you think it would be fun to adapt?

Sarah Allen

P.S. Welcome to all the new A to Z visitors! I invite you to subscribe to this here bloggy blog or connect on Facebook or Twitter or any of the other places via the big red buttons on the left side and make sure to leave me links to your profiles so we can stay cyber friends even when April is over, and forever! (And ever and ever and ever. I'm not the person staring in at your window. But I like your shirt. Just kidding, I'm not a creeper. Usually. Please be my friend.)