Category: Formatting Fridays

In the beginning, there was The Screenwriter’s Bible by Dave Trottier. And it was good. And he wrote the 10 Commandments on page 250 of the Seventh Edition. And it was good. And I’m writing them out here to help you. Because I’m good. (And here they are). The 10…

Using capital letters shouldn’t be a big deal.  As mentioned, you want to use them when you introduce a character for the first time. But when else should you use them? What does Dave Trottier’s The Screenwriter’s Bible say? The below citation is from page 290. “You must use all…

We know them. We laugh at them. And we hope that we don’t accidentally weave them into our work.  I created this because I wanted my own running list of ‘wait-haven’t-I-heard-that-somewhere-before’-isms. Some of these cliches come from memory; many are sourced from the internet (h/t to /screenwriting on Reddit, Scott…

As you may know, a parenthetical (also known as a “wryly”) is the text that exists right below a character’s name (in, yes, a parenthetical). Since it’s also called an “actor’s direction” or a “parenthetical direction,” it exists to give direction. These parentheticals often convey useful information about subtext or…

Technically, nothing.  Except they’re decorative AF and you lose narrative momentum. Let’s explore! What’s an Adverb? As a recap, an adverb modifies (or describes) a verb, an adjective, or another adverb; it answers the question of “how.”  In the case of an adverb modifying a verb, “he ran well” –…

Because I spent so much time this week on Jojo Rabbit, I’m going to keep today’s Formatting Friday post short and sweet.  A screenplay’s title page exists to, well, give the title of a script and attach your name. (For all of the do’s and don’ts below, we’re going to…

As someone who has used Final Draft forever, I first want to say that it’s an incredible program, and one that has made the sometimes-painful act of screenwriting much easier. I highly, highly, highly recommend that you make the investment to get it – you will not regret it.  But…

Formatting for sign language doesn’t have to be hard, and there are a few variations.  First, let’s consult The Bible:   The Screenwriter’s Bible, that is. On page 309 of Dave Trottier’s Seventh Edition, he mentions, What if you have a character who is deaf and communicates by signing? Signing is not…

It’s good form to put either “Day” or “Night” in a slug. Some people may say “Avoid descriptors like ‘Morning,’ Dusk’ or ‘Three Strokes After Midnight’” but the Formatting Police won’t come after you if you do.  But what about “Continuous” vs. “Later”?  Let’s Look at Election: “Continuous” should be used when…

Flashbacks. Oh flashbacks. Yes, most prominent filmmakers use them (even though younger filmmakers are advised not to). Why? Not everything deserves a flashback. You don’t want to use/overuse them for at least four reasons: 1) in alluding to things in the past minimally, you actually leave the audience wanting more;…