See TSR at work
A manuscript passage becomes a screenplay scene, and every choice along the way is written down for the author to rule on.
TSR adapts your novel the way a screenwriter would, and shows you every choice before a page is written.
Before we write, you’ll see the adaptation plan: the structure, what’s cut, what’s combined, and any scene the film needs that your book doesn’t have. You approve it, or change anything in your own words.
What you must keep, and the meaning of your ending, never change without your yes.
1 · The novel’s page
Invented sample — written to show the form. It is not from any writer’s book.
The fog sat on the river as if it paid rent there. Mara Cole had been standing at the end of the Harlan landing for an hour, her coat buttoned wrong, the suitcase in her hand because setting it down would mean she was staying. She checked her watch, and then, because it could not be right, she shook it and checked it again.
Behind her the door of the ferry hut banged open and Ezra Tally came out with two tin cups, more beard than face, seventy if he was a day. “First boat’s at six,” he said. “Always has been.”
“It’s ten past.”
Ezra always blamed the river; he had blamed it his whole life. He held one cup out to her, and when she did not take it he set it on the post between them and left it there.
2 · The screenplay’s page
Invented sample — written to show the form. It is not from any writer’s book.
FADE IN:
EXT. HARLAN FERRY LANDING - DAWN
Fog sits on the river like it pays rent.
A rope groans against a post. The ferry bell, green with age, hangs still.
MARA COLE (40s), wool coat buttoned wrong, stands at the edge of the planks with a suitcase she hasn’t let go of in an hour.
She checks her watch. Shakes it. Checks it again.
Behind her, the hut door BANGS open. EZRA TALLY (70s), ferryman, more beard than face, steps out with two tin cups.
EZRA
First boat’s at six. Always has been.
MARA
It’s ten past.
EZRA
Then the river’s late. Not me.
He holds out a cup. She doesn’t take it.
He sets it on the post between them and leaves it there.
CUT TO:
3 · The decision trail
What the Adaptation Record would show the author for this one scene. Every item waits for a ruling.
- Scene 1 · from your pagesEXT. HARLAN FERRY LANDING – DAWN comes from chapter 1, paragraphs 1 to 4. Keep · Change · Remove
- Your words, exactly“First boat’s at six. Always has been.” and “It’s ten past.” are the author’s dialogue, unaltered.
- Written for the screen · flaggedEZRA: “Then the river’s late. Not me.” The book says he always blamed the river; this turns that into speech. Based on chapter 1, paragraph 4. Keep · Change · Remove
- An inner moment, shownThe book tells us setting the suitcase down would mean she was staying. On screen, she never lets go of it. Keep · Change
- The author’s voice in the action“Fog sits on the river like it pays rent” keeps the book’s own image, timed for the page. Lines like it are rare, and counted.
- An adapter’s choice · from the Adaptation PlanA short scene the night before, Mara packing the suitcase she will not set down — a scene the book gives one line. Why: the audience meets her decision before the landing. Cost to the book: nothing changed; built from one line of chapter 1. The author saw a sample page in the plan before anything was written. Approve · Change · Veto · Reopen
This is a demonstration of the form, written by hand. TSR’s engine has been tested on real chapters on our own server, but none of this page was produced by it.