When a Story Changes Medium, What Must Stay?

A recent Book Banter episode, published October 28, features filmmaker, screenwriter, and novelist John Parenteau discussing the move from screen stories to novels—including authentic dialogue and the emotional story beneath the action. Listen to the episode.

That shift raises a useful writing question: an adaptation doesn’t have to preserve every scene or image to remain faithful. It has to find what the story asks its audience to understand, then build a new path to that meaning. On screen, a look or setting can carry part of the message; on the page, the writer may need to choose a precise detail, a line of dialogue, or a character’s interpretation instead.

When you adapt an idea for a new form, what do you protect first: the events, the voice, or the feeling underneath them?