Tao of Pauly

The Baby & Winky Movie: Excerpt #1

I have a new found respect for writers adapting previously published material. It's not as easy as one would think. The basic reason why books that are made into movies are almost always not as good as the original book is due to a few reasons:

1. Films tend to follow linear storytelling, and novels often do not.

2. Time constraints in film limits the adaptation, where by plots are often thinned down and lesser important aspects are always omitted.

3. The screenplay is one person's interpretation of the material. It's not always the same vision that you conjured up when reading.

My problem was simple... I used too many words in my novel and have several long passages that were difficult to translate onto the big screen. I had to employ Voice Overs (V.O.) in several scenes.

In the film Adaptation, the main character, writer Charlie Kaufman gets hired to adapt Susan Orlean's book The Orchid Thief. He complains to his agent in one scene, how he's having a hard time translating Orlean's work into screenplay format. He used the phrase, "sprawling New Yorker shit," in describing her writing style. I felt the same way. The only positive aspect of the difficult adapation of the Baby & Winky Novel was that I got to write the screenplay, so I am presenting my vision of how I think the story should be told on film.

OK, I am done with the second draft. Here's the original text from Sweet Nothing: The Baby and Winky Novel:

The lights were out and three other people sat on the floor. I glanced around Baby's smoky room. It was a mess. A huge tapestry covered up the front window and that made her room very dark except for the glimmer of light from a couple of small candles. Dirty clothes, empty beer and soda cans cluttered the floor space. There was a small couch off to the side with a few folding chairs. In the corner I saw an old Safeway shopping cart that apparently served as Baby's closet. It was filled with more clothes and personal items. She had a mattress sprawled out on the floor without any sheets and pillows. Several empty McDonald's bags and dozens of cigarette butts completed her undecorated room.

"Which one of you is Baby?" I asked as I looked at two young girls and two wasted guys.

"Are you a cop?" a skinny girl with pink dreadlocks slowly answered in a southern drawl.

"No. But I play one on TV."

And here's how it looks in the new screenplay, The Baby & Winky Movie:

INT. BABY'S ROOM - AFTERNOON

The lights are out and three wasted teenagers sit on the floor. Baby's smoky room is a mess. A huge tapestry covers up the front window and makes her room very dark except for the glimmer of light from a couple of small candles. Dirty clothes, empty beer and soda cans clutter the floor space. There is a small couch off to the side with a few folding chairs. In the corner, an old Safeway shopping cart serves as Baby's closet. It is filled with more clothes and personal items. She has a mattress sprawled out on the floor without any sheets and pillows. Several empty McDonald's bags and dozens of cigarette butts complete her undecorated room. BABY, a skinny girl with pink dreadlocks and no shoes, sits in one of the corners.

UNKNOWN VOICEClose the fucking door!

WINKYWhich one of you is Baby?

BABYAre you a cop? (She answers in a thick southern drawl.)

WINKYNo. But I play one on TV.

That's it. Stay tuned for another excerpt next week.