Adapting an Existing Script

You have a script — from a competitor's viral video, a hand-written draft, or one of your old scripts — and you want to use it as the starting point for a new workflow. This is Script Writer Mode 1: Adaptation.

When you'd do this

• A creator's hook is working well and you want to model your script on it (without copying outright)
• You have a hand-written draft that needs to be cleaned up and formatted for the pipeline
• You're reviving an old script that worked, retargeting it to a new product
• A client provided a script and you need to make it pipeline-ready

What you do

You: I have this script from a competitor that's working really well.
     Adapt it for our product (Brand XYZ magnesium). Audience is women
     35-55 with poor sleep. Keep the hook structure but make it our
     voice and product. Account A.

     [paste original script]

Claude:
  Adaptation pass starting. Script Writer Mode 1.

  Analyzing the source script:
    Hook style: authority-betrayal opener
    Body structure: symptom cluster → personal story → product reveal
    CTA: comment keyword → DM funnel
    Length: ~55 seconds, 7 speaking beats

  Producing adapted version for Brand XYZ magnesium. Keeping hook
  STRUCTURE (authority-betrayal), updating the SPECIFICS to fit the
  product and audience.

  [adapted script follows]

  Approve the script? Once approved I'll hand it to the Visual Planner
  and we'll continue with storyboard and workflow build.

What "adapt" means vs. "copy"

Adapt	Copy
Take the hook STRUCTURE, change the SPECIFICS	Take the hook verbatim
Match the format and pacing	Match the wording
Preserve what works (the angle, the rhythm)	Preserve what doesn't necessarily transfer
Compliant and original output	Plagiarism risk

The Script Writer is trained not to copy. If you paste a competitor's script verbatim and ask for it to be "adapted," what comes back will share the structure — but the actual words will be original.

Adaptation vs. variant

A subtle distinction:

Adaptation (Mode 1)	Lvl 1 variant (Mode 4)
Starting from an external script	Starting from a workflow we already own
Produces a NEW workflow	Produces a variant of an EXISTING workflow
Goes through the full Visual Planner / Image Prompter / PatchWork Importer pipeline	Just swaps dialogue in an existing .nbflow
Gets V0-1 (new testing workflow)	Gets V{N}-{M} (decimal bump from existing approved version)

If you have a script and no existing workflow → Adaptation. If you have a workflow and want a new dialogue → Lvl 1 variant.

Adaptation produces a fresh workflow

Because adaptation is "I have a script, make me a workflow," it goes through the full pipeline from Stage 3 (Storyboard) onward:

1. Adapted script gets approved
2. Visual Planner produces a storyboard for it
3. Image Prompter writes image prompts per scene
4. Veo Prompter writes video prompts per scene
5. PatchWork Importer assembles the .nbflow
6. The file lands in testing/ as V0-1 (fresh workflow)

This is the same flow as a from-scratch workflow — but Stage 1-2 (brief + script writing) is shortcut by the source script you provided.

Per-account adaptation considerations

If you're adapting for multiple accounts, the Manager will typically:

1. Adapt once for the test account
2. Build the full workflow for that account
3. Once it's approved, fan out to other accounts (with their per-account customizations)

This avoids producing 5 separately-adapted scripts that diverge.

You: adapt this script for Brand XYZ. Start with Account A. We'll
     fan out to Accounts B, C, D, E afterward.

Claude: [adapts once for Account A, builds V0-1 workflow, then later
         fan-out follows the standard protocol]

See Chapter 6 — Fan-out Protocol for the fan-out side.

When adaptation is risky

Adaptation can produce shaky output if:

• The source script is genre-mismatched (an educational explainer adapted for sales doesn't always work)
• The source script's audience is very different (B2B SaaS hook adapted for menopause supplement = weird tonal whiplash)
• The source script depends on visual format the pipeline can't reproduce (e.g., relies on specific live-action props)

If any of those apply, adaptation will fight you. Consider starting from the brief instead and treating the source script as a reference only.

Example session — adapting a viral creator's structure

You: this hook style from @example_creator is working — pasting one
     of their viral scripts below. Adapt the format for our Brand XYZ
     product (magnesium for sleep). Don't lift their words; just
     mirror the structure.

     [pastes 40-second creator script]

Claude:
  Analyzed @example_creator's format:
    - Cold-open symptom list with on-screen text (3-4 symptoms)
    - Authority-betrayal pivot ("my doctor finally told me...")
    - Personal experience anchor (specific story, 1-2 sentences)
    - Product reveal with mechanism explanation
    - CTA with comment keyword

  Producing adaptation for Brand XYZ, Account A:

  [adapted script — same structure, original wording, our product]

  About 62 seconds. The cold-open symptom list will need on-screen
  text overlays — captured as a note in the storyboard for post.

  Approve to continue with the workflow build?

When you're ready

Adaptation is one of the doing tasks in this chapter. You've now seen Lvl 1 dialogue swap, Lvl 2 wardrobe change, surgical edits, translation, and adaptation — the full Lvl 1-2 variant toolkit.

→ Next: Chapter 4 — Quality, Testing & Prompt Tuning. Before Lvl 3-4 variants (which need testing), learn how to judge a generation, what to watch for, and how to dial in a prompt with the prompt-tuning skill.