Probally most screenwriters start out wanting to be novelist and hell, why not, vice versa. Mark Sarvas is doing them both or one and not the other. (it's somewhat blurry) What do you think? Agree with him?

Simon Owens: After working with HBO and other screenwriting ventures, how does this compare to writing short fiction and novels? Do you feel that you have a lot more creative control over your work this way?

Mark Sarvas: There’s no comparison, really, because as I’ve often said, screenwriting isn’t really writing. It’s a blueprint for a movie, that’s all, and it’s got about as much to do with writing as honor has to do with politics. When you write a film, you’re working by committee - first your agent weighs in. Then the development executive. Then the producer. Then studio executive. Then the studio head. It’s an endless chain of trying to guess at what a growing group of often inarticulate people wants - and most of the time, they themselves don’t really know. Whereas writing fiction, you might have all those discussions, but you largely get to have them with yourself. Sure, there are notes and revisions and the like - but there is a liberty to pursue your own fancy in fiction that’s not there in screenwriting, where you’re expected to be innovative while remaining firmly within the rules.