I’ve been working on the screenplay adaptation of Ten Fingers Touching for several months. Friends and fans have asked how it’s coming along, so I thought I would comment on its progress. My writing partner, Steve Fine, who edited the book, and I are working with a screenplay analyst who is guiding us through the creative and technical side of screenwriting.

In Screenplay, the bible for aspiring screenwriters, Syd Field lays out the paradigm for crafting a movie. Screenplays are divided into three acts ― Set up (30 minutes), Confrontation (60 minutes),  Resolution (30 minutes). We have an outline for the story and we’ve pretty much nailed Act I. We’re working on Act 2.

Writing a screenplay is very different from writing a book and it is extremely challenging. A book is a text where you can wrap up the story at the end in a few paragraphs. A screenplay is a story in pictures. You need to show the story through images, augmented with dialogue, so the viewer understands what is happening and why without an explanatory text.

When I wrote Ten Fingers Touching, I knew from the outset that it would have cinematic appeal because the imagery is so big. Many authors write words that create images. I saw images in my head and then tried to find the words to describe them. The visuals were a powerful part of the storytelling.

In addition to the beautiful illustrations in the book that depict key points in the story, I’ve started to collect images that could represent scenes in the movie. Some of these images are pictured on the left.

If you find an image that calls to mind a place in the book, please send it to me!