Is a play script the right format?

[DaveC426913]

I am forming my next short story and considering the format most appropriate for it.

It's a spec fiction story but it's highly cerebral. It involves as few as two characters, and takes place in pretty much a single location.

Think of it as analogous to a ghost story, like that told around the campfire. The bulk of the story is dialogue, with some stage movement and a few props to ground the story. It's a rare exception to the rule of "show, don't tell".

Actually, now that I think of it, a more appropriate example would be more like Larry Niven's "Tales from the Draco Tavern", which consists of stories told in bar booths by weird people/things, while sipping mind-altering concoctions.

Anyway, I am wondering if it would be better serviced written as a play script rather than standard prose. That leaves the dialogue to shine without all the he said, she said, etc.

Thing is, I despise reading play scripts. I just don't think they flow smoothly enough to sink my mind-teeth into them.

Opinions?

 

[anorlunda]

You just gave me an idea. Although an AI that is the author gets news and objections, an AI that takes raw text and skillfully adds the "he said" "she said" phrases would be much easier to make.

You should do that and make some money from your efforts. Or maybe do some research first to find out if one exists.

If I saw a play script in text, I think I would be tempted to skip it without reading even the first line. My presumption is that a script is written to be read by actors, not by the audience.

 

[DaveC426913]

If I saw a play script in text, I think I would be tempted to skip it without reading even the first line. My presumption is that a script is written to be read by actors, not by the audience.

Sure. I guess the underlying question for me becomes:
This story might actually be unsuitable as a short story - should it be told (and submitted) as a play?

 

[Algr]

I'd only write something in script form if there was a reasonable chance that it might be filmed, or acted in front of an audience. Otherwise go with prose. If an opportunity crops up later, you can always do a re-write. Novels get adapted into movies all the time, so the conversion is a well understood step in the process.

"Show don't tell" can take on some odd meanings in prose. In your example of people telling stories around a campfire, what you actually have is a framing device for a bunch of stories told in first person. So your characters telling stories can "show" their audience things with their descriptions. This also works on the stage, where there are limits to what you can show. But it is considered cheap and sit-com if you do it as a movie. A storyteller can still work, but "show don't tell" changes to mean voiceovers and flashbacks that we actually see.

 

[Vanadium 50]

My Dinner with Andr'zpltlk?

 

[DaveC426913]

In your example of people telling stories around a campfire, what you actually have is a framing device for a bunch of stories told in first person. So your characters telling stories can "show" their audience things with their descriptions.

Yeah. Maybe the ghost stories example is too meta because it suggests a story about telling stories.

Some Twilight Zone episodes are very cerebral and intimate, often involving just two characters and a single,
frightening idea.

Anyway, y'all've convinced me not the write it as a play.