Writing a screenplay based on real life requires getting some distance from the facts in order to invent a new storyline that can serve as a metaphor for what really happened.
Movies have their own unique structure, quite unlike real life, and anyone interested in adapting events from their life needs to study the basic shape of a movie and then work to capture a particular theme, or journey, which can become the essence of the screen story and the spine of the plot. What ends up in the screenplay, if it is to be viable as a film, is not an exact replay of one’s true story, but a dramatization which captures the essence of what really happened.
From Real Life to a Plotline
The first step in shaping a script from personal experience is to clarify what one small aspect of the true story calls out to be dramatized. An entire life is far too large in scope for a film. Even a decade or a year contains too much activity and detail and plot. A movie is approximately two hours, or 120 pages, and can only capture a glimpse of the truth as it happened. All a film can ever do is encapsulate one significant event or relationship, or a series of related events which have meaning or value on their own.
Creating a Dramatic Question
After choosing an aspect of personal experience to focus on, the next step is to transform it into a dramatic question. In a film, the audience is hooked in early on by the element of suspense, whether the genre is comedy, drama, or thriller. This element of suspense is necessary to keep people engaged in the film, and it is rooted in the presentation of a dramatic question, such as, “Will he get the girl?” “Will she survive out in the wilderness?” or “Will the family ever be reunited?” This question is, of course never asked outright; instead it is buried in the subtext of dramatic scenes.
Details Stay in the Background
When trying to get down a filmic version of reality, one is often flooded with details that seem important and necessary to the telling of the story. What someone wore, exactly what they said, what sort of car they drove or what music was playing are all examples of details that may seem important, but which cloud the writer’s task of designing the story.
While the details of one's life can serve to help with description, supporting roles, settings, and small bits of texture within scenes, this minutia cannot be the focus when trying to plan, outline and identify the main storyline for a movie. Those details will come naturally to mind when one is actually writing the script, but in the early, developmental stages of writing, they should be set aside.
Worthwhile resources on the subject include Linda Seger's The Art of Adaptation: Turning Fact and Fiction into Film, and Robert McKee's Story. And a great example of an autobiographical film is John Boorman's HOPE AND GLORY. Screenwriters interested in adapting from real life can also read about inventing the frame to shape and contain the story.
Translating one’s personal experiences into screenplay form requires a combination of memory and imagination. The idea is to detach oneself, to a certain extent, from what really happened in order to take the truth and mold it into a viable and entertaining movie storyline.
Candace Kearns Read - I am the creator of the website and blog: The Movie of Your Life: Shaping True Story into Screenplay. Are you interested in writing ...
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