Hello Stage32 community,
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how stories evolve depending on the medium we choose to tell them in.
Over the past few years I’ve been working on a book titled True Lies, which explores the complicated relationship between truth, memory, and perception. The premise is simple but powerful: sometimes what we believe to be true is shaped as much by emotion and memory as by actual events.
While writing it, I noticed something interesting happening in my own creative process.
Some of the ideas and emotions that surfaced in the book naturally began to transform into songs. As a songwriter, I found that music sometimes captured the emotional core of a moment more directly than prose.
That raised an interesting question for me as a storyteller:
When does a story want to become a book, when does it want to become a song, and when might it want to become a film or series?
Many of the themes in True Lies — memory, perspective, personal history, and the way people interpret the same event differently — feel like they could translate well to visual storytelling.
So I’m curious how others here approach this:
• When you’re developing a story, how do you determine the best medium for it?
• Have any of you adapted material from books, music, or personal experiences into screenplays?
• What elements make a concept more suitable for film or episodic storytelling versus prose?
As creators we’re all storytellers first, regardless of the medium. I’d love to hear how others here think about the process of moving stories from one form to another.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
— Jon Landers
Author | Songwriter | Storyteller
