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Is there a specific term to describe text found in the format of a novel/short story, as opposed to text you would find in a script, dialog tree, poem, academic writing, copy, etc.? e.g., the format you'd find in Harry Potter

I'm trying to commission an author to write a novel/short story for me, and they often send me samples of scripts, dialog trees, poems, academic writings, etc. I want to be able to say, "Do you have any samples you'd find in a novel/short story?"

I'm not sure why, but whenever I ask this question, the authors get confused or think they understand but send me the wrong type of sample again.

Since this keeps happening and it takes considerable back-and-forth before they understand what I'm asking for, I'm inferring there's a better term to use in my question. What term/phrase should I use in my question instead?

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    "Can you send me a sample from a story you have written?" Adding 'found in' just complicates it unnecessarily.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Sep 2, 2022 at 7:34
  • You need to be specific and clear, which may mean redundancy. If people are sending you playscripts say "from a novel or short story, not a playscript." Possibly add "with substantial descriptive passages" if you don't want pure dialog. And if you want it in standard English not dialect, say that, etc. You should be trying to be unambiguous and specify exactly what you need, not trying to find the most succinct possible expression.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Sep 2, 2022 at 10:38
  • Why not simply ask for a novel or a short story? These two formats are quite different in length. One is an estimated 3-20 book pages (and was traditionally counted in words and paid per word), the other is an estimated 100-200 book pages or longer.
    – Henrik Erlandsson
    Commented Sep 2, 2022 at 12:40
  • @HenrikErlandsson Because the people I commission usually don't have a complete short story or novel to share. I'm looking for a sample. A page worth.
    – Daniel Kaplan
    Commented Sep 2, 2022 at 19:49

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The term "prose fiction" is often used for that kind of writing. It is perhaps not entirely distinct from other formats—for example, a script for stage or screen might be both fictional and in prose—but many writers will understand it in the way that you mean.

Prose fiction is narrative written without a metrical pattern that tells an imaginary or invented story. The most common genres of prose fiction in modern literature are novels and short stories. Novels tend to be much longer than short stories. (Miranda Rodak and Ben Storey, Prose Fiction, Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers, 2019, section 1.6)

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    You can probably get away with just calling it "prose". It's less specific, but generally understood to have that meaning unless otherwise specified.
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Commented Sep 2, 2022 at 14:10
  • @DarrelHoffman As you say, I was trying to be more specific to help exclude things like academic writing. Perhaps "prose" would be enough.
    – MarcInManhattan
    Commented Sep 2, 2022 at 14:47
  • @DarrelHoffman from experience, calling it "prose" doesn't help. That's the original term I used.
    – Daniel Kaplan
    Commented Sep 2, 2022 at 18:52

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