Plays vs. Novels

I’ve spent the majority of my writing life trying to figure out novels vs. plays. I think I’ve figured something out.

Novels devote themselves to explaining what happens. They have to have a lot of details about what things feel like or look like to help the reader know what’s going on. People used to read novels to understand new situations or new places. Now we have television to do that for us.

Plays devote themselves to allowing the audience to learn for themselves about their feelings and emotions. They admit into the equation only enough details to allow the audience to bring their emotions and feelings to the surface.

I think that’s why I find playwriting so much more fun than novel writing.