Novelist David Nicholls’ love story “One Day” begins when two recent college graduates spend an unlikely evening together, then charts their relationship over the next two decades by checking in on the pair once annually, on the same mid-July day.
The book, which has topped best-seller lists in the United States and in Nicholls’ native England, won praise for its unique literary device, but when it came time for the author to adapt the story into a feature film, the slow build of the episodic narrative presented a challenge.
“Twenty years in 100 minutes is a really tight fit,” Nicholls said. “I was eager to write the first draft but philosophical about the possibility of being sacked.”
Rather than being fired, though, Nicholls carries the sole credit for the screenplay for Focus Features’ “One Day,” which opened Friday with Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess in the lead roles.
The experience has put the 44-year-old Brit into a rather exclusive club of writers who have translated their own novels for the screen.
Conventional movie-industry wisdom held has that novelists could never maintain sufficient critical distance to effectively judge what might work best on screen.
But the movie business is becoming more welcoming. Among authors who have tackled their own novel-to-screen translations in recent years are Tom Perrotta (whose script for “Little Children” with Todd Field earned an Oscar nomination in 2007) and Seth Grahame-Smith (whose “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” was shot this summer and will be released in June).
The success of the “Harry Potter” films has helped persuade studios to invite more authors into the adaptation process. Although J.K. Rowling didn’t adapt her best sellers for the franchise, her presence loomed large.
The producers of the “Twilight” films also employed a Rowling- like model, with author Stephanie Meyer routinely visiting the sets and collaborating with Melissa Rosenberg, who penned the scripts for the series’ five movies.
For authors who take the plunge, the experience can be jolting — and invigorating.
“Writing a novel and writing a screenplay have nothing to do with each other, other than the spelling of the words,” said Grahame-Smith, 35. “The first thing you find out is where all the fat is because it’s gone. Instantly.
“The second thing you find out is that you need to tell the story in three acts.”
Grahame-Smith might have been more prepared than most: He studied film at Boston’s Emerson College before moving to L.A. to become a screenwriter. The success of his 2009 debut novel, “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” helped him make the leap from writing for television to scripting studio features — he’s written the script for Tim Burton’s upcoming “Dark Shadows.”
