Generally speaking, people are used to classifying scripts as literature, which is called language art together with novels and poems. So, as both language arts, what's the difference between scripts and novels? What special requirements does the script have for language?
When people distinguish between scripts and novels, they often call the former the art of "first-person narrator" and the latter the art of "narrative style". The so-called "first-person narrator" means that the thoughts and thoughts of the characters in the works are basically conveyed by "saying", but these "words" only "replace" what they said, which is very different from the descriptive language used in the novel to express the psychology, thoughts and feelings of the characters. In the novel, if the dialogue is not enough to express the character and emotion, the author will supplement it with a lot of descriptions and arguments to hint at the psychological motives and secret thoughts of the characters. Readers revive these characters in their minds through these descriptive and argumentative words, so as to have a clear understanding and evaluation of them. Martin Esslin said in "Drama Analysis": "The reason why drama becomes drama is precisely because of the evil elements besides words ..." He meant the actions of characters besides words.
The special means of expression of drama determines that the script language must have the characteristics of action. The action here refers not only to the actions that can be seen by the eyes, such as gestures, but also to the exchange, collision and friction of emotions and ideas between characters. The language of narrative literature also has the characteristics of action, but compared with drama literature, this characteristic is not primary or necessary. The biggest difference between narrative literature and drama literature in essence is that the former uses narrative methods to make the present events become the past, while the latter uses actions to make everything in the past become what is happening. Because drama is only possible if the moments of individual events are transformed into the actions of characters and directly presented in the audience's vision and imagination. Martin Esslin thinks: "This concreteness (referring to drama) comes from the fact that since any narrative form of thoughts and feelings tends to tell events that have happened in the past and are now over, the concreteness of drama occurs in the eternal present tense, not at that time and place, but here and now." However, the difference between reality and drama is that what happens in the former is irreversible, while the latter can start all over again and continue to perform. It can be said that all narrative literature is in the past perfect tense, while all drama literature is in the present continuous tense.