In my Multimedia Adaptation class, which is part of Full Sail Universityâs Creative Writing Master of Fine Arts Program, we were instructed to take a short story, either a specific one we were suggested or one we wrote ourselves, and expand it into either a short screenplay or a comic book style script. I chose to take a short story I wrote for a previous class in this program, which I had titled âThe Stage is Setâ, and adapt it into a screenplay format. The story is about a shy teenage girl who gets bullied, has toxic friendships that come to an end, enters a singing competition, and begins a new (healthier) friendship, all while finding her inner strength and sense of self-worth.
I found the idea of adapting this story to this new format to be very exciting, as I had written an outline for this story that included MUCH more character development and additional scenes than what I was able to include in a short story with a very specific word count limit. This gave me a lot of material to work with as I worked on my outline for my screenplay, as well as the screenplay, itself. I really liked how, in the format of a short screenplay, I was able to much better develop my characters, define conflicts between characters, create dramatic plot points, and more, which I could not do in the short story. I think this ability to include these things really enhanced the story itself, as I had to really flesh out the story and it made the messages I wanted to convey with the story so much crisper in my mind, as they had to be conveyed in much detail throughout the script, as opposed to being left vague, due to the length confinement of the short story. I loved honing in on the different takeaways the story could have in terms of how to determine what friendships in your life are healthy, how to overcome bullying, how to balance having self-esteem and self-confidence with being humble and showing appreciation to those who have helped you, and more. These things all come across SO much more clearly in the new version of my story in screenplay format, than they did in short story format.
It was a bit of a challenge to take a story that was basically one girlâs internal monologue and make it fit a format (screenplay) that involves NO inner thoughts and only visual actions or dialogue we can hear, nothing intangible like thoughts, unless they are narrated; but I did not include narration. Iâm glad I didnât rely on that device because, it can be useful, but I wanted to practice writing a solid script without it, so I donât come to rely on it too heavily, rather than learning how to âshow, not tellâ, which is a vital skill in screenplay writing.
I would love to continue writing more stories like this one, that appeal to a young audience, have uplifting messages, and can include exciting elements like music (which is featured in âThe Stage is Setâ). I also really enjoy the format of screenplay writing. I always fancied myself more of an editor than a writer, but writing this story made me rethink that and, if I do decide to make a career of writing, I could definitely see myself doing screenplay writing more so than writing for other mediums, especially short stories. I could even see myself writing a novel more than a short story; I just want the space to fully develop my characters, flesh out the plot, and convey the intended messages of the piece effectively, which is difficult, at least for me, to do in short story format. I could maybe see myself writing episodic screenplays, too, as shows give you the ability to create character and plot arcs and expand them over each episode, each season, and the entirety of each show. Iâll just have to figure it out as I go along and see what opportunities I am able to find and make the most of.
Hereâs an image of a teenage girl singing, since thatâs what âThe Stage is Setâ is about, and we were instructed to include an image related to our story:
