Adaptation: Should a Novelist Even Attempt to Adapt Their Work Into Another Medium … or Leave it to the Pros?
Novelists rarely make the transition to screenwriting. Even if they are optioned, very few get the right to adapt their own work because producers don’t trust novelists to be able to write a coherent script, and also don’t want the author of the story interfering with their version—which is often very different. Yet who knows the work, its characters, themes and subtexts better than the person who originally created them? Is adaptation simply a matter of learning a new grammar and applying it? Can that be harder than writing the novel itself? Join Diana Gabaldon (pictured), whose Outlander series has been so successfully adapted for television, and who indeed writes scripts for the show, and Chris (C.C.) Humphreys who adapted his novel Shakespeare’s Rebel for the stage and saw it produced at a major Canadian theatre company—with mixed results! Come hear the war stories, as well as the frustrations, the joys and the many pitfalls that lie between the initial creative spark… and Hollywood calling!
Diana Gabaldon is the author of the award-winning, #1 NYT-bestselling Outlander novels, described by Salon magazine as ‘the smartest historical sci-fi adventure-romance story ever written by a science Ph.D. with a background in scripting “Scrooge McDuck” comics’. Her books have sold 50+ million copies in 39 languages and 114 countries, and she was given a Thistle Award in 2019 by VisitScotland for ‘services to Scottish Tourism’. In addition, Sony/Starz have created a popular original television series based on the books, also called Outlander—filmed in Scotland and presently sold in more than 187 territories. Season 7 premiered in 2023. There will be an eighth and final season, and also a prequel show, dealing with Jamie Fraser’s parents, Brian and Ellen. Diana is a Consulting Producer for the show and has written several scripts. (Gabaldon is pronounced (in English) GAA-bull-dohn—it rhymes with ‘bad to the bone’. If you’re speaking Spanish, it’s gah-vahl-DOHN.)
Chris (C.C.) Humphreys is an award-winning novelist, playwright, actor and teacher, Chris Humphreys has written 22 novels, including The French Executioner – runner up for the Steel Dagger for Thrillers, UK; The Jack Absolute Trilogy; Vlad–The Last Confession, and A Place Called Armageddon. Chris adapted his 12th novel, Shakespeare’s Rebel for the stage and it received its premiere in 2015 at Bard on the Beach, Vancouver, Canada. His novel Plague won Canada’s Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel in 2015. Chasing the Wind follows the daring adventures of 1930s aviatrix, Roxy Loewen. His novels for young adult readers include, The Runestone Saga Trilogy published by Knopf, as well as The Tapestry Trilogy. His latest novel is Someday I’ll Find You, a WW2 epic romance, published by Doubleday. His novels have been translated into thirteen languages. He holds a Masters in Fine Arts (Creative Writing) from the University of British Columbia, has been keynote speaker and Guest of Honour at several conferences, including the HNS North American Conference in Denver 2015. A busy audiobook narrator, as an actor Chris has performed on stages from London’s West End to Hollywood.
http://www.authorchrishumphreys.com/
The Historical Novel Society UK 2024 conference 