Thursday 10 April 2014

Charles Jay Harwood Screenplays on Amazon: Adapting Novels into Screenplays

I love writing thrillers, but writing screenplay thrillers has a different type of thrill, as only the action and dialogue are permitted in the script, not the inner thoughts of the characters. Having written four psychological thrillers to date, have now published their equivalent screenplays on Amazon.

Screenplay Thrillers on Kindle

My four thrillers, The Shuttered Room, Falling Awake, Nora and A Hard Lesson are available on Kindle, Nook, paperback and large print. But now their screenplay adaptations are also available on Amazon. The Shuttered Room and A Hard Lesson were originally conceived as novels, and adapted into screenplays. Falling Awake and Nora were conceived from screenplays and fleshed out into novels. Having enjoyed writing the screenplay versions, have now published all four screenplays on Kindle, as well as paperback.

Formatting screenplays for Kindle is not possible so had to think about the reader experience. Character cue was made bold, action description italics and dialogue “ordinary black”. I also had to adjust the font size and formatting for the paperback versions of my screenplays.

Full Length Drama Scripts to Read

All screenplays run approximately 90 – 100 minutes and are specially formatted for ereaders. Paperback versions are 8x5in and are 95-100 pages long. Each book includes a character list and a guide to reading a screenplay, creating ease for the script reader. Read more about these gripping screenplays below.

The Shuttered Room Screenplay

Little do they know their captive holds a deadly secret.

Jess is taken hostage and incarcerated in an upstairs room by three thugs demanding a huge ransom from her rich father. In a bid to escape, she cuts a hole in the bedroom floor with a cutlery knife. From there, Jess observes the three of them going about their business. That’s when she starts playing games with them. That’s when her spying pulls her into a treacherous psychological game with her abductors.

If only they knew what their captive was up to. What would they do to her?

Falling Awake Screenplay

A toe-curling tale about an unseen voyeur and a reluctant exhibitionist.

Faced with the threat of repossession, Gemma takes an evening commission performing for chronic insomnia, Luke as he watches from his apartment window. If only she knew the sort of man her voyeur was. She wouldn't perform for him.

Insomnia can have the most sinister causes.

Nora The Screenplay

Her harsh brand of rehab hides a bitter secret.

Nancy is hurled into the world of celebrity when she finds herself performing a shoot for handsome but odious playboy, Vince, as they walk from one of his nightclubs. The seduction of this other world sours after Nancy overhears Vince make a bet with his PA, Leon on the length of her fifteen minutes of fame.

Her world falls apart after Vince’s limo crashes, propelling Nancy into a nightmare world where her alter ego Nora is born.

A Hard Lesson The Screenplay

A teacher takes on the pupil from hell only to learn what treachery means.

Tenacious teacher, Sarah learns things aren’t what they seem with her boyfriend Frank who belongs to a parasitical criminal clique headed by psychopath, Kurt. When her pupil, Josh becomes suspect to a stabbing, Sarah finds herself torn between her duty and facing her greatest fear, not least Kurt himself.

Writing Dramas for Kindle and Paperback

All four Charles J Harwood screenplays are now available on Amazon Kindle, Nook and paperback. Reading the screenplays equivalent to a novel is an interesting experience and certainly helps the writer improve on writing. The same applies to writing a screenplay versus a novel. Screenplays permit only action and dialogue, not the inner thoughts of characters. This can only be hinted at via subtext. In novels, the writer can flesh out the character’s thoughts and feelings.

This means a screenplay can be read in around an hour, as opposed to the novel equivalent which can take several days. Reading a great screenplay is almost like reeling off a movie in your head.

Visit my author page on Amazon to find out more about CharlesJay Harwood screenplay thrillers.

No comments:

Post a Comment