Dear Geist,

Is it true that reworking a novel into a screenplay is a good way to see the story and the blunders more clearly? I'm going into year three of my novel, and I'm willing to work hard, but I need a new plan. Help!

—Genre Flipper, Cyberspace

Dear Flipper,

A finished screenplay is a beautiful thing, with its wide open spaces, its clarity on who is talking, its hint of fame and fortune to come. But its simple, straight-ahead look is usually the product of months or years. Screenwriting is as labour-intensive as other forms, and not everyone knows how to read and critique them. The writer Richard Rhodes has this to say on the subject: “Writing a screenplay must look easy [but] it's not easy at all; it's comparable to constructing a cuckoo clock blindfolded.”

But we can understand why, after three hard years, this proposal looks as do-able as staying with the book manuscript. If you do go ahead, good luck! Let us know how you did it, and do share any lessons learned with our readers.

—The Editors