Treatments: From Novel to Movie
Author: Sandra T. Wales
Original Publication Date in Love Notes: February 2005

Why do most writers hate to write the synopsis? I haven’t found a concrete answer to that problem, so I thought I’d give you another problem. Like the synopsis, the treatment is a bear to write and, as far as I’m concerned, a pain in the posterior, but it can make money for you.
After a novel is written, there are several ways to make that novel continue to work. One is to adapt the novel to movies. Although treatment is the Hollywood term for synopsis, there are differences between the two.

A synopsis and a treatment are similar in that they are short versions of a story told in present tense. The resemblance ends there. A synopsis is a summary of the plot line of a story. It tells the story whereas the treatment shows the story, and it should since it’s for a visual medium. The synopsis is a shorter, literal version of a longer work and its purpose is to describe, not sell. As an author, I’m not certain I agree with this common assumption. I want my synopsis to sell the novel. Established authors are able to complete three chapters of a work in progress, add the synopsis, and send this proposal to a publisher.

A treatment requires the writer to use action verbs, intense, urgent language, and have a hook in the first paragraph in order to sell the idea in ten or twenty single spaced pages in block style. I’m sure these “rules” could be broken if the idea is exciting and exactly what a producer wants, but it’s the norm in the film industry.

In Writing Treatments That Sell, the authors, Kenneth Atchity and Chi-Li Wong, break the treatment into three acts. Act One introduces us to the protagonist, establishes an emotional link to the audience, provides us with the mood, introduces us to the main character and his problem. We should like the protagonist or, at least, admire him for what he needs to do. If we don’t see the viewpoint character right away, he needs to be talked about by another person. Audiences usually don’t care for obscurity and guessing games about who to like and trust.

ow does the hero’s problem relate to ours? Can we share his needs? His desires? His angst?
Act Two shows us how the hero reacts to one obstacle after another. There’s an adage in advice to mystery writers – make it bad, then make it worse. It applies to any story. A good example of bad to worse is in the garbage pit scene in the original “Star Wars” movie. Our heros are in the midst of the most disgusting sludge complete with a tentacled monster that tries to drown one of them. That seems to be bad to worse, but it doesn’t stop there. They’re in a giant compacting machine and the walls close in. Will they escape? Of course the audience knows the heros can’t die there; the movie isn’t over. Still the excitement builds.

Act Two is the bulk of your treatment. It also includes a reversal in fortune for the hero – the bad to worse part. How does he react to the challenge? Like a hero? The reversals keep coming until it seems the hero can’t do it. However, at some point the hero’s perseverance is rewarded. His fortune turns. Life is better for him. But not for long. Again there is a setback and our hero must fight until once again he’s in control. Can he accomplish his goal?

Act Three contains the punch. The crises occurs here, the climax, and the resolution. It’s short and to the point. The writer builds the scene until the audience is about to explode, then she ties everything up in a neat little package that leaves the viewer satisfied.

Every scene in a movie must contain conflict and move the plot forward. (Haven’t we heard this before in creative writing 101?) Each scene must show growth of a character and all action, even the smallest, must have meaning. In theatre there’s a saying the if a shotgun is on the wall in Act One, it must be used by Act Three. The same can be said for the treatment.
The task of writing a treatment from a novel seems daunting. However, if you want another avenue for your novel, see your name in the film credits, and maybe make a bit of money, beat your head against the brick wall and just do it.

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Originally published in the Fiction Corner, by Sandra T. Wales, January 2005

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