In article <32b98805.6434573@mail.execpc.com> KLEPPE@execpc.com (Gary Kleppe) 
writes:

Personally I tend to prefer reading the prose stories over scripts. A
writer can do a lot more with prose fiction than he/she can in a
script.

A writer can do a lot less with prose than with a script as well.  It depends 
on the writer.

The script format assumes more on the part of the reader.  The reader usually 
has to ferret out motivations and such based on the characters actions.  In 
the prose format its usually spelled out.

And what good is doing a lot more when that extra bit doesn't mean anything?  
Sure, you can describe a scene as "the morning was cold, the windows covered 
with a sheen of ice crystals sparkling in the winter sun, as Akane woke in her 
bed." (bleah!) but you could also impart the same information by the line 
"Ranma kicked Genma into the block of ice that was the Tendo carp pond.  
Genma's lips froze against the ice and he was forced to carry the carp pond to 
breakfast."

In the first example, you could have replaced it by "Akane woke up.  It was 
cold outside.".  But you implicitly get that from the fact that Genma's head 
was frozen to the carp pond.  Usually, Akane waking up is not that important 
to the story.

Other people whose opinions I've read seem to prefer novelized
prose to scripts generally. Prose stories tend to do better in the
best of rec.arts.anime.creative voting too.

But how much of that is due to the perception that prose stories are the 
"norm"?  Because we're already indoctrinated that prose stories are the way 
books are written, the assumption becomes that (fan) fiction should 
be done in that way as well.  That isn't necessarily the case.  What matters, 
really, is developing and using a style (whether its one or a combination) 
that the writer is comfortable with.

Writers get paid by the word.  I get paid by the hour (and not for writing 
fanfiction).

On the other hand, as a writer, writing prose is a lot more work than
doing a script. While narrative prose writing is a great way to tell
any story, scripts do work pretty well for certain genres. So there is
nothing wrong IMHO with a particular story being done as a script if
the writer feels that novelization wouldn't add much in the particular
case.

Writing well in script format is much harder than writing in prose.  The 
script style forces the writer to be specific and descriptive at the same 
time, and not fill the story with information/description/whatever that 
doesn't add much (IMO).  Prose writers can ramble at times and lose focus.  
And who really cares how many hot dogs Kodachi can eat in an hour, anyway?

Writing in script demands more on the end of editing.  Since the object is to 
tell the story the most effectively, every word increases in importance.  
Details that are described carry more implication than they would in prose 
format, since they wouldn't have been mentioned unless they were necessary.

Dialogue and action that occur at a fast pace (and I would say normally as 
well) definitely work better in script format because you can envision it 
happening.  You can run it through your mind, or even out loud (which some 
writers obviously fail to do at times, in regard to dialog).  That being said, 
emotions and thoughts and motives work better using the prose style.

You want to do lemon scenes?  Do them in prose - you're typically dealing not 
only with action but also emotions.  You want to do snappy dialogue or a 
fight, do it in script - the format doesn't detract from the flow of the 
story, yet it still remains clear exactly what's going on.

JK


Apologies to Gary Kleppe, who got this twice - I forgot that the reply-to 
field initially goes to the author instead of the mailing list.