you can if you want too. I’d say do it both ways, give it to some people to read and let them tell you how they like it better.
I think script form is okay IF it’s done well and properly! Kaiser’s “Scenes from a Parallel Universe” and Galloway’s “FF Break Room” series come to mind as good examples. The first is an excellent example of good script writing - you can almost imagine it being directed and on screen - and the latter contains just enough detail, in true Galloway style, to convey the humour necessary.
Overall, though, I prefer prose. Why? It’s more flexible, and it’s more challenging. Anyone can write a name and add a line of dialogue to it. Only in prose can you convey the exact scene, tone, mood and atmosphere of that same line.
Hey, my work got referenced twice as a good example. Cool.
The thing to keep in mind with script vs prose is that they’re different beasts. You can’t just tell a prose story in a script format, it’ll just be flat.
When I wrote “Scenes” I was consciously trying to write something in script format that would function as a script if, hypothetically, there were a willing and able collection of thespians willing to perform it. i.e. I wrote a play. (Using what bits and pieces I remember from the “drama” portion of that one creative writing class I took several years back. Conflict, tension, build to climax, etc.) [And it’s not absolute, either; there’s some “reader only” gags in it and instances of me just being cheeky and wink-wink nudge-nudging at the reader. A proper written script would have no such nonsense.]
And by the way, that took about 9 months to produce, so… 
Scripts are “easier” in the sense that they are in a way more direct and minimalist in dialogue and you don’t need to feel like you have to get all flowery and verbose when describing the background and thematic symbols therein (which is good for impatient and easily distracted/derailed short attention span writers like me).
But it doesn’t mean you get to leave those symbols and backdrops out; oh no, they still had better be there. And you gots to have acts and scenes and stuff. The backgrounds and the characters’ clothes aren’t inconsequential filler. That’s important stuff; it defines characters. Gotta include it.
If you wanna use script format and make it come off non-sucky, I’d recommend buying book transcriptions of plays. [The usual suspects; Shakespeare, Marlowe, some modern guys like Pinter. Beckett if you wanna do weird stuff. I like Vaclav Havel’s “Temptation” too. August Wilson is another name to look for. Or if you’ve got a favorite playwright of your own, check out his/her stuff in book form.]
Take a creative writing class that touches on how to write drama (skits, sketches, scenes, plays) at the local community college or whatever [if possible]. There’s probably also “how to” books at the bookstore or the library.
Remember that a good script will never come from “Hey, its like writing a prose story, only easier and quicker.” That’ll get you nowhere except to the Land Where People Write Disposable Dreck Hardly Worth Reading.
Manus: The only difference between your style and “normal” paragraph style is that you don’t write “Magus shouted/Arche evilly smirked” etc. There are enough descriptions to go around, hence why I said that I wouldn’t go into a “script/story format” rant with ya. But if you want to change it, it’s up to you. 
This whole indecision has been giving me severe writer’s block, and I think I won’t be able to complete my current project until I can decide…
Take your time, Manus.
I’m a bit afraid… What if my dialogue style ruins the entire fic?
Then don’t release it.
We don’t have to see everything you do 
I’m not even going to bother answering that…:boring:
Well, it wasn’t a question, so you don’t actually have to answer anything.
I’m serious, something a lot of people around here seem to think is that we have to see everything you write - if you don’t like it, don’t show it to us. It won’t bother us one bit.
I prefer paragraph-format for the bulk of the story. Little after-comments or sketches generally end up as script-format, though. It marks a difference, but yes, I wouldn’t use it unless I was writing a script. shrugs ‘To each his own.’ '…‘Twas well writ.’ -Malvolio, Twelfth Night.
Dialogue stories often leave out a lot of detail in the surrounding environment. The only ones I’ve read had the story take place in a single, static environment. However, dialogue style stories also have a lot of character interaction which moves the story along; which was what made Kaiser von Almasy’s “Scenes from a Parallel Universe” such an engaging read.
Paragraph style stories convey both imagery and characters. I find that using script style dialogue in paragraph stories only works when there is an emotional scene and the moment is focused on the speakers.
In the end, I prefer paragraph style stories.