Your Memoir as a Movie: Internal vs. External Story
We’ve all heard it: “That would make a great movie!” But turning real life into cinema is far more complex than simply putting your story on screen.
This article is featured on Brevity Blog.
We’ve all heard it: “That would make a great movie!” But turning real life into cinema is far more complex than simply putting your story on screen. In this piece, award-winning screenwriter and storytelling coach Michelle Cutler explores the art of adaptation—how to transform an interior, deeply personal journey into something visual, emotional, and cinematic. Drawing on examples like Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, Stephanie Land’s Maid, and her own screenwriting projects, she shows how memoirists can think like filmmakers: finding the external actions, metaphors, and genre frameworks that give shape to an inner transformation. Even if your story never makes it to Hollywood, learning to translate the invisible into the visible can elevate your writing, sharpen your narrative, and connect more powerfully with your audience.
Want to learn more? Watch the workshop, “Based on: Adapting True Stories for Screenplays” with Michelle Cutler below.
