Your brilliant story idea is bouncing around your brain like a caffeinated ping-pong ball. You know it’s good—maybe even great—but here’s the million-dollar question that keeps you up at night: Should this be a novel? A screenplay? A stage play? A comic book?

Maybe you’re thinking bigger. Television series? Interactive game? One of those newfangled vertical storytelling apps that make TikTok look like Shakespeare?

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Welcome to the delicious agony of medium selection. It’s like being a parent trying to choose the perfect school for your story-child, except the stakes feel higher and there’s no guidance counselor to help.

Here’s the thing: Your story isn’t just waiting to be told. It’s waiting to find its perfect home.

The Great Medium Divorce: Why One Size Doesn’t Fit All

I’ve written for pretty much every medium out there from short stories to novels, from graphic novels to stageplays, and from television to film. What I’ve learned over the years is that every medium speaks its own language. Books whisper intimately in readers’ ears. Films paint with light and shadow. Stage plays create magic in shared, breathing spaces. Video games hand the protagonist role directly to the audience.

Ken Liu, who writes everything from novels to comics to screenplays, puts it perfectly: “Writing across mediums requires different muscles. I use a different skill set to write a novel than I do for a screenplay, and call on still another part of my brain for a comic book.”

Think of it this way: You wouldn’t serve soup in a colander or wine in a coffee mug. Well, you could, but you’d miss the point entirely. Your story’s medium isn’t just a delivery system—it’s the lens through which your audience experiences your world.

The most successful storytellers understand this intuitively. Some stories work across multiple mediums, but many are “innately suited to a specific medium.” The trick is figuring out which medium amplifies your story’s strengths instead of fighting them.

Try This: Exercise #1 – The Story Stress Test Time to put your story idea through its paces. Grab a notebook and answer these questions honestly—no cheating with the answers you think sound most impressive. Question 1: The Intimacy Factor Does your story rely heavily on internal monologue, complex thought processes, or detailed backstory that would be difficult to show visually? If your protagonist’s main struggle happens inside their head, books might be your natural home. Question 2: The Visual Spectacular Close your eyes and picture your story’s most exciting moment. Do you see explosions, chase scenes, magical transformations, or sweeping landscapes? If the visual element is crucial to your story’s impact, consider film, television, or comics. Question 3: The Time Crunch How much story do you actually have? Can you tell it satisfyingly in 90 minutes (film), or do you need years of character development (TV series)? Remember that “short films create proof of concept” while “TV shows or limited series allow for deeper exploration of characters.” Question 4: The Interaction Quotient Would your story be enhanced if the audience could make choices for the characters? Does it involve mystery-solving, exploration, or moral dilemmas that would benefit from reader participation? Video games and interactive media might be calling. Question 5: The Platform Reality Check Where does your target audience actually consume stories? In India, for example, “96% of internet access is available via mobile devices,” making vertical storytelling increasingly relevant. Are they scrolling through phones, sitting in theaters, or curled up with books? Question 6: The Budget Truth Let’s talk money, honey. Books require your time and maybe some editing costs. Films need cameras, actors, and locations. Stage plays need theaters and rehearsal space. Be realistic: “Fewer locations means less money to film, which appeals to producers.”

The Medium Lexicon: Know Your Players

Before we dive into the exercises that’ll help you choose, let’s establish what we’re actually talking about. Each medium comes with its own superpowers and kryptonite.

Books: The ultimate intimate experience. You crawl inside characters’ heads, live in their thoughts, and paint entire worlds with nothing but words. Books excel at internal conflict, complex timelines, and deep philosophical exploration. They’re also forgiving—if your plot needs explaining, you have all the words in the world to do it.

Films: Visual poetry with a ticking clock. Films work best when they’re “like a comic book but much longer,” requiring “larger format, usually bound and the story has a definite ending.” You have roughly 90-120 minutes to make your point, which forces ruthless focus. Perfect for external conflicts, visual spectacle, and stories that benefit from the shared theatrical experience.

Television Series: The marathon storyteller. TV gives you room to breathe, develop relationships, and explore subplots that would derail a film. As one industry observer notes, television allows characters “to evolve and grow making you care greatly for each in their own way.” Ideal for ensemble casts, complex world-building, and stories with enough meat for multiple narrative arcs.

Stage Plays: Theater is live storytelling’s rawest form. Limited locations, intimate character work, and the electricity of shared live experience. Perfect for stories about “two people doing nothing but sitting in a room and talking” because theater thrives on dialogue and performance.

Comic Books/Graphic Novels: Visual storytelling that “shows that visual storytelling isn’t only for children or young readers” and can provide “insights into contemporary issues like immigration, war, and identity.” Comics excel at action, fantasy elements, and stories that benefit from the reader controlling pacing through page-turning.

Video Games: Interactive storytelling where the audience becomes the protagonist. Games offer “player agency, allowing gamers to influence the narrative through choices, actions, and even inaction, leading to a variety of outcomes and experiences.” Perfect for stories about choice, consequence, and exploration.

Vertical Storytelling: The new kid on the block. Designed for “mobile-first consumption” with “bite-sized content that attracts audiences instantly.” Think TikTok meets narrative fiction—perfect for micro-stories, serialized content, and reaching audiences who consume media on their phones.

Try This: Exercise #1 – Exercise 2: The Medium Elimination Tournament This exercise forces you to make hard choices by pitting mediums against each other. It’s like March Madness, but for storytelling formats. Round 1: The Scale Showdown Write your story concept in exactly 25 words. Now imagine it as: A 300-page novel A 2-hour film An 8-episode TV series A 6-issue comic series Which feels right? Which feels forced? Eliminate the ones that make you cringe. Round 2: The Audience Elimination Your story needs to find its people. Consider: Who are you trying to reach? How do they prefer to consume stories? What’s their attention span? Where do they discover new content? Remember that “people use their phones vertically 94% of the time,” which has huge implications for how stories are consumed. Eliminate mediums that don’t match your audience’s habits. Round 3: The Strengths Championship List your story’s three strongest elements (character development, visual spectacle, philosophical themes, action sequences, dialogue, world-building, etc.). Now match them against each remaining medium’s superpowers. The medium that amplifies the most of your story’s strengths wins.

The Wild Cards: Emerging Platforms and Hybrid Approaches

Don’t sleep on the new kids. Vertical storytelling is “completely changing the way we consume content” with platforms offering “quick, impactful storytelling” designed for mobile-first audiences.

Interactive narratives are exploding too. Netflix’s “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch marked a major shift by bringing interactive narratives to the mainstream film industry,” proving that audiences love having control over story outcomes.

And here’s a radical thought: Maybe your story needs more than one medium. Some creators deliberately write “a book that is also a screenplay,” using each medium to strengthen the other. Your novel could become a proof-of-concept for the film. Your short story could launch the TV series. Your comic could fund the video game.

The Marketing Reality Check: What Happens After You Choose

Choosing your medium is just the beginning. Each format requires different marketing strategies and industry approaches.

Books: You’ll need to understand publishing (traditional vs. self-publishing), build an author platform, and connect with readers through book blogs, social media, and literary events.

Films: Success depends on “coverage reports” where scripts are graded as “pass,” “consider,” or “recommend”—with less than 1% receiving “recommend.” You’ll need to master loglines, pitch decks, and film festival strategies.

Television: Producers look for projects with “a unique hook,” “a clearly defined audience,” and professional presentation. Pilot scripts and series bibles become your best friends.

Theater: Theater marketing requires “creative tactics that grab interest” and “community outreach and partnerships” to build lasting engagement.

Digital Platforms: The rules are still being written. Success often depends on understanding platform algorithms, audience engagement patterns, and the ability to adapt quickly to changing trends.

Your Story’s Perfect Match: Making the Final Call

Here’s the truth nobody wants to admit: There’s no perfect formula for choosing your story’s medium. But there are smart questions to ask.

Start with your story’s core conflict. As screenwriter Valerie Woods suggests, ask yourself: “What is your story about?” When you define “the dramatic question of your story, you uncover the theme, not the plot.”

Then consider your own strengths as a storyteller. Are you a dialogue master? Theater and screenwriting might suit you. Do you paint vivid scenes with words? Novels could be your calling. Are you a visual thinker? Comics and films might feel natural.

Most importantly, think about impact. Remember that “the medium chosen informs the message, colors it, gives it character and nuance different from all other ways of telling the story.” Your medium becomes part of your message.

The Bottom Line: Your Story Knows Where It Belongs

Your story idea isn’t neutral. It has preferences, strengths, and natural habitats. Your job isn’t to force it into the medium you think will make you famous or rich (spoiler alert: that’s not how it works anyway). Your job is to listen.

Some stories work across multiple mediums, but the truly great ones find their perfect match—like the failed stage play “Everybody Comes to Ricks” that became the film “Casablanca.” Sometimes finding the right medium transforms a good story into a legendary one.

So stop agonizing and start experimenting. Write that short story. Sketch that comic page. Film that proof-of-concept scene. Your story will tell you when you’ve found its home.

Just don’t blame me when you realize your brilliant novel idea was actually a TikTok series all along. The heart wants what it wants, and sometimes what it wants is vertical video with jump cuts and trending audio.

Welcome to the future of storytelling. It’s weirder and more wonderful than any of us imagined.