Oh, I thought you were the first person.

A message for 'you know who you are" by Helen Wheels on 2009-05-05 20:15:00 UTC Reply

I would *love* to post something, but I'm waiting for my accomplice (who shall remain nameless [otherwise it'll be off my my head when he/she finds out her name is all over the PPC board]) to give me her/his feedback on my thingamabob fic thing.
But I do have one question, why don't you lot like script form? It can be difficult to read for some, that I understand, but its much easier to create.

For my accomplice, you said you were busy w/other "stuff", so take your time, but I would like to send you some updates. And you best be thankful I'm sparing your identity here!

Ah, yesss... by Your Accomplice on 2009-05-06 12:42:00 UTC Reply

I am a wee bitty unorganized, aren't I? Sorry about that.
A MST is script format, though. Oof. Hope I haven't given you any wrong ideas here, or confused you so much that your head implodes and gorillas fly out.

Well, an MST is a totally different case. by Oozaru Angel on 2009-05-07 12:01:00 UTC Reply

When you MST a fic, you're basically trying to mimic the TV show effect of "watching" a fic. Thus you follow TV show format, AKA script writing.

However, fanfiction is supposed to be narrative. And in a narrative, you use prose. If you're writing a script for a TV show or movie, then you use script form. It doesn't matter if there's actually going to be a film or not, you write it with that intention in mind (even if the intention is just pretend because you like script format). It's a totally different case from normal fanfiction in my mind. I actually find prose much much easier than script because it's a style I'm more familiar with, I don't watch much TV. But script writing is different to normal narrative.

Please feel free to write whatever you enjoy most though, really. Keep in mind though that FF.net has rules against script format and as a privately owned site it is within their rights to make that rule. I'm still not exactly sure what you're asking us and why though.

Also, my head is completely gorilla free for the moment nor has it imploded in any fashion. That only happens on Tuesdays.

Clarification by The accomplice again on 2009-05-08 12:50:00 UTC Reply

I meant that I like script format in certain cases. Helen has a fic she has written in script form, and I'm helping her translate it into prose so she can post it on the Pit.
I don't watch much television either. Oh, and sorry about calling myself "the accomplice" all the time. It would be kind of silly to blow my own cover, wouldn't it?

Oh, I thought you were the first person. by Oozaru Angel on 2009-05-09 03:59:00 UTC Reply

And I generally just got really confused.

Several reasons, personally. by Sedri on 2009-05-06 05:22:00 UTC Reply

First and foremost, I dislike it because it's easier to create. A person doesn't have to put as much time into it, which makes such things far, far more prone to being rubbish. A good writer will avoid that anyway, of course, but still, there is a great deal more pleasure to be had in reading prose, because it actually draws you into the narrative - it's literal storytelling, rather than the cold, clipped attitude of a script. That's not a story - it's the very detailed outline of a story. It's much harder to enjoy.

That said, there's nothing inherently wrong with it, but I won't read anything - fic, misson, whatever - that's in script format.

What Sedri Said... by thejadefalcon on 2009-05-07 10:30:00 UTC Reply

I once had a Star Wars spoof written in script form. When I deleted all of my stories to start afresh and turn over a new leaf, that went the way of the dinosaur. In the rewrite that I'm toying with, I wondered briefly if I should do it in script format again. After a fairly short period of time, I swapped to normal format and I doubt that I'm going to be looking back. For a start, story format is better for descriptions and I'm a big fan of descriptions.

Well, I don't have a problem with script form. by Oozaru Angel on 2009-05-06 03:34:00 UTC Reply

I can't speak for everyone, of course. But if it's a script, then script form is the way to go. One of my favourite Discworld fanfics was in script movie form. It's annoying when writers use script form incorrectly or in the wrong context though. A novel or a short story is very different from a play. It may be easier for you to write in script form, but it is difficult to read sometimes and you miss out on a lot of the description with script form. Personally I think prose is easier to read and write.

Also, if you don't care if your audience finds reading your story difficult, then you obviously don't care if they like your fic or not. Therefor, if someone complains about it, you shouldn't care about that.