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Writing formats

You have decided to write a novel, haven't you? You have already thought about the plot, you may have planned the pace of the plot, or you may have already decided how the story will unfold. We could say that you are ready or ready to start the writing process, but suddenly a terrible doubt arises and it turns out that it has been one of the most crucial for your creative process. What is the right writing format that I should use?

What is a writing format?

Although it is not a very unified expression, we call this the different formats that can be included in a work. Keep in mind that we are not talking about first, second or third person narration, since these are narrative formats and times. To be exact, we will refer in this post to the two styles that have become popular in recent years at the time of writing online. These are the script format and the traditional narrative format.

Script format

The Script format, or theater script, is a format that has been widely popularized for the supposed simplicity it represents at the time of writing. However, it is not mentioned that it is that "easy" because it limits a large percentage of the narrative in a text. Let's take the following scene as an example.

Gabriel: (arriving at the park) Today is a good day (takes Lisa by the hand)

Lisa: (removes her hand) It's very hot, I don't like it.

Can you notice the problems in the above text? As you may have noticed, the narration is sparse. How is the landscape? Did you also get confused with the action of holding the girl's hand? Although the script format is presented to us as an easy format to use, and there are those who even recommend it for beginners, it should not be used.

The reason why it is so little descriptive is because this format is intended for theatrical and cinematographic representations, serving as a free guide for the actors when interpreting them. The actors need to remember only what is vital in the scene in order to bring it to life, learning only the dialogues and using the actions as an interpretive resource, since they quickly indicate the way they should act, where to look, how to feel. It is very useful for them, but for the reader it is limiting.

Narrative or traditional format

It is the way of structuring dialogues that we are all used to when picking up a book. It is known for describing the scenarios in detail, as well as narrating the actions and feelings of the characters in a more descriptive way and therefore easy to imagine. Do you remember the previous example? Why don't we write it in the narrative format?

Gabriel and Lisa went out to the park. The sun was at its zenith, and the birds flew from tree to tree. The wind was blowing slightly, making it somewhat refreshing.

"It's a nice day today," Gabriel mentioned as he stealthily directed his hand towards her companion who, feeling the slightest touch from her, pulled it away in a somewhat awkward way.

"It's very hot, I don't like it," Lisa replied, having removed his hand from her as she wiped away the sweat.

Just look at how many lines it took us to write the previous text, compared to the one we did in script format. Can you tell the differences? To begin with, in the last example we have given a very detailed description of the environment in which our characters find themselves. We have also delved further into the physical actions of the two protagonists, while showing the feelings they face with an attempt to hold hands.

As we have seen with these simple examples, we noticed that the script format really hinders our narrative instead of making it easier to read, the only thing it achieves is to confuse or even hinder the imaginative capacity when reading. Unless your intention is to make a theater script to be performed, it is not recommended to use this format as it can be even annoying for your audience.

I hope this blog post will help you when writing your story, as I emphasize the importance of the layout of the chapter to be published, so that it is friendly to the eye and does not generate later confusion, since it is the the way you present yourself to your readers, and details like this can make your future audience stay or go, no matter how much potential your story has.

As a last tip, speaking of structure and narrative, I also remind you to avoid using emoticons or kaomojis to avoid narrative. It's unprofessional and very informal, and it's also a reason for readers to skim over your story. Personally, it is one of the reasons why sometimes I pass by many stories that caught me in synopses, because the same thing happens with the script format, they eat up the narrative and take away the depth of the story . It is not the same "she blushed slightly as she lowered her gaze" to simply writing a "uwu".

See you in the next post, until next time.