Prose v. scripts

Early in his career, Steinbeck fiddled with a prose form that he considered a marriage of the novel and the stage play. I think times are ripe for a new short novel form that is a marriage between the screenplay and the novel -- in fact, I think David Hare's script THE HOURS is an example of this. Our busy readers can finish these in a sitting or two. It's like a redefinition of the novella. I may fiddle with this form myself. Very intriguing possibilities, combining the aesthetics and for full stories with literary values in 100 or so pages.

It's a very different pre-writing headset, getting ready to write scripts or prose. Brooding over action v. brooding over language, is one way to look at it. I brood over action lately and mostly, so I have a new habit of mind to remember if I retire as a screenwriter and devote my time to prose.