Here's one: When looking for a real life story to adapt into a movie, determine what universal narrative themes are available to you as a writer. In DBC, here are some of those dynamics: * FOOW (Fish Out Of Water): Ron finds himself thrust into a subculture (LGBT) of which he knows nothing other than his ill-informed prejudices. * Underdog: He fights medical authorities, government regulations and officials, widespread prejudice against gays and fear of HIV-AIDS, and most directly his own deterioriating medical condition. * Opposites: People are attracted to stories about characters from different backgrounds who are stuck together, generally resulting in -- * Friendship: People like to see characters bond, overcoming and accepting their differences. * Heroism: Joseph Campbell (The Hero's Journey) describes a hero as someone who gives him/herself to a cause bigger than them. This self-sacrifice, especially on behalf of the many, is an admirable quality and those struggles can make for good drama. Dallas Buyers Club has all of these narrative dynamics at work. I'll be sure to ask Craig Borten his thoughts as to what attracted him to this story in the first place.