Silver Screen Inspiration For Short Story Writers

There is a lot of silver screen inspiration for short story writers. In this post, we talk about films that were adapted from short stories.

Silver Screen Inspiration For Short Story Writers

We know that writing short stories will make us better writers, but if you were wondering what other benefits short stories have, take a look at this awesome list of movies that were based on short stories or novellas.

12 Films Adapted From Short Fiction

Breakfast at Tiffany’s – film adaptation of Truman Capote’s 1958 novella
The Birds – based on Daphne Du Maurier’s novella
2001: A Space Odyssey – based on Arthur C. Clarke’s short story The Sentinel
Apocalypse Now – based on Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness
The Dead – adapted from James Joyce’s short story The Dead
Total Recall – based on Philip K. Dick’s story
Jumanji – based on a children’s book of the same name, written and illustrated by Chis Van Allsburg
Sleepy Hollow – based on the short story by Washington Irving titled The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Eyes Wide Shut – based on Arthur Schnitzler’s novella Traumnovelle
Brokeback Mountain – adapted from E. Annie Proulx’s short story Brokeback Mountain
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – adapted from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s acclaimed short story
Where the Wild Things Are – adapted from Maurice Sendak’s book

Reading a story and watching that particular story depicted in a different medium is a wonderful way to learn about ‘show, don’t tell’. If you think about it, screenwriters don’t get to ‘tell’. If they want to convey something about the story or the character they have to ‘show’. It is true that we write books, not screenplays, but we can still learn a lot from them.

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A Checklist

Of course, not all adaptations are created equal. It is a good exercise to read the short story and watch the movie. Here are some questions you can ask yourself afterwards:

What did they do well in the movie version?
What did they get wrong and why?
Did the original story have lots of dialogue and action?
Did you prefer the movie, if so why?
How did they switch from ‘telling’ to ‘showing’?

This would, of course, also be a good idea for any novel that has been adapted. Try to get your hands on the screenplay if possible. Google may help you find it.

I hope this list inspires you to write more short stories. Who knows, maybe you’ll end up on the red carpet?