Paragraph form and script form

[S1x]

There are two different ways you can construct one of your stories. At least, the general structure of nearly all stories written here revolve around these two kinds of story forms (or sometimes, a bizarre mix of both of them). I'll cover both of them in this topic.

Paragraph form

Everybody should know what this kind of format is. Most books are in this format. This is the standard way most people write stuff. There's not really much more to explain here.

Script form

Most theatrical plays are written in this format. However, it's also become a popular way for fanfiction writers to orgranize what they write. Why? Most likely because it's easier to arrange. In an exchange of dialogue, the speaker's name followed by a colon appears before their sentence, so you know whose talking. Actions are specified in numerous ways, such as *action*, [action], or a previously mentioned strange mix of the paragraph format. It's not that this is a bad way to write or anything; it just is more challenging to be able to capture as much as you can in the other form.

Comparisons

I'll give you several examples. Say that you want to describe a scene where Charles the Goomba is about to buy a burger from the Toad Restaurant. A novice would probably write something like this:

*Charles walks to the Toad Restaurant and orders a burger*

That could also be bracketed, or just a sentence. Next, Charles ordering the burger would probably look something like this:

Charles: Hey. I'll have a regular burger with a side of Shroom Fries.
Toad: Okay. Would you like a drink also?
Charles: Just a soda.
Toad: Please wait. *the Toad starts to walk away to take the order*
Charles: Hold on! No ice, please. I don't really like ice.
Toad: Oh. Alright then. No ice. *walks back again*

Yeah, you scratch the point of what you were writing about, but you don't really dig into the surface enough. Spice it up with some explanation of the scenery and actions.

At Toad Town...
*Charles casually walks over inside the Toad Restaurant while humming the Super Mario Bros. theme song and then walks up to the counter*
Charles: Hey. I'll have a regular burger with a side of Shroom Fries.
Toad: *busily typing in the order* okay... Shroom Fries... alright. Would you like a drink also?
Charles: Yeah, I'll just have a soda.
Toad: The total comes to 11 Coins. *types in the rest of the order and starts walking to the back*
Charles: *jumps halfway on the counter and leans forward* Hey, hold on! No ice, please. I don't really like ice.
Toad: *strange look* ...Oh. Alright then. No ice. *slightly pauses and then walks back again*

But even the added details get masked by the possibilities of ditching the script form and writing out the whole thing in paragraph format. Watch as the whole thing suddenly becomes more alive.

Toad Town was as active as it always was. Few clouds were in the sky, making the sun able to light up nearly the entire town, lifting the mood of the area. The Toad Restaurant here was one of Charles's favorite places to get a cheap, tasty meal that would last for the rest afternoon. Today was one of those days he decided to make the walk over, with a casual pace that made his head move slightly to the left and right each time his feet moved forward. When he got there, nobody was in line yet, so he seized the moment and went straight to the counter, where a busy Toad stood, taking orders back and forth.

Charles didn't begin saying what he wanted until the Toad stared directly at him. At that moment, he quickly said, "Hey. I'll have a regular burger with a side of Shroom Fries."

The Toad hit various buttons on a machine on top of the counter, punching in what Charles just said. "...okay... shroom fries... alright. Would you like a drink also?"

Charles quickly skimmed his eyes over the drink list, and replied "Yeah, I'll have just a soda."

The Toad punched some more buttons, waited for a "ping" sound, said "The total comes to 11 Coins. Please wait," and started to head off for the back. Charles realized he forget a key part of his order. Jumping up halfway onto the counter and leaning forward, he said "Hey! Hold on! No ice. I don't really like ice."

The Toad paused for a few seconds with a strange look on his face before saying "...Oh. Alright then. No ice." before continuing walking to the back to process the order.

See the big difference? There's more I wanted to cover, but I'll continue explaining this later.


Origin of Entria

[Adam West]

Good Idea, S1x!

[Pieist]

I like it.

[MarkMartin66666]

yeah man

[S1x]

Hm... does anybody still use script form to construct the things they right? And if you do, was it one of the reasons I listed in the first post, or just because you've gotten used to doing it that way, or something else?

Just want something to respond to, that's all. This forum needs to be more active. [img]tongue.gif[/img]


Origin of Entria

[Prince Toad]

When I do freeplays in my forum, which is basically writing with other people, I use paragraph form most of the time and then script form with dialogue. Occasionally I'll have some action, expression, or gesture shown with *whatever* during the dialogue, but most of the time that's outside.

For
Example

[Erdawn Il Deus]

Script-format is generally used for just that -- scripts and screenplays. They work well in those cases, but even then I think there is a rather poignant lack of description.

My hat's of to the directors and producers of films who can make whats what of it.

[Prince Toad]

^How about what I do? It seems to be the clearest way of doing it on a forum, since you can't use indentations.

[Erdawn Il Deus]

Well, since indentations aren't really a necessity unless you write without spaces between paragraphs

(ex:
Jack looked at Mary.
"Wha?"
"Nothing"
"Oh?")

as in most book-form writing, I still prefer the regular novel dialogue"

(Jack looked at Mary.

"Wha?"

"Nothing"(and so on))

But since it is a forum, there are exceptions to the rule, and yeah, your method works fine.

[Angel_Renegade_Mage]

it's okay... it's really up to the writer and if they wanted it in script format or not... as long as it does make sense to the reader who happens to be viewing it in the first place...

[Rolls-Royce Man]

Me and Dragoness of Darkness are more into Script Form, mostly because it's was how we organized our first story (Life and Adventures of Tazy Ten), after that....well, we couldn't stop it

[Kargath]

Well, I use bullet points to plan things sometimes, and in a plan I might write dialogue quickly like
Markus: Is the South always this humid?
Jess: No. (smiles)
Markus: Then there's hope.
Jess: (raises finger) Today's is unusually clear.

But if I'm up to the stage of finalising dialogue like that, I've usually done a bullet point somewhere else like
-Markus and Jessica talk about the humidity
and will just write it in paragraph form anyway.

[Ace Mercury]

I remember back when I was posting in the OG forums about my writing style.

Basically, whenever I wanted to have fun, I used the script style. Short, punchy dialogue, with minimal visuals. Every now and then, I'd have to describe a scene to preface the post, or as an elaborate part of a 'joke'. Usually, it's much funnier in my head though, because I visualize it, but only transfer the dialogue to text. This works especially well for fanfics, because, well, you already know what the characters, setting, and whatnot look like and act like.

I used paragraph form for more 'serious' OGs. Bascially, I liked to show off my 'awesome' style and vocabulary. It's a double-edged sword, paragraph form. On one hand, it can makes the copy more detailed, but on the other hand you have a tendency of making your reader read your words instead of reading into your story. Superfluous use of adverbs, boring inconsequental sentences about prosaic actions, and general fluff detract from the interesting parts. But, if you haev a little vision and show some restraint, you can paint quite a picture.
I remember one in particular that was really engaging to participate in: Super Mario Adventures, back when my username was Ace Rimmer. It's aged quite badly in my mind, but I have fond memories.

[S1x]

I was going to un-sticky this, when I suddenly realized why I couldn't find that option.

[t3hDarkness]

I don't think I could write in script form if I tried nor would I prefer to read it except sometimes it is easier to tell what the original writer had in mind