Reader Questions: Format and Style
During the 8+ years of this blog’s existence, I’ve answered nearly 300 questions from readers about the craft of screenwriting. Here are my responses and subsequent comments on the subject of format and style.
Are there any script rules that really shouldn’t be broken?
Bolded sluglines: Yes or no?
Do I HAVE to use INT/EXT — LOCATION — DAY/NIGHT in scene headings?
How consistent should the tone in scene description be?
How do I know if it’s too much or too little scene description?
How do you handle one character with different names?
How much do I need to focus on “stylized writing”?
How to handle capitalization in scene description?
How to handle characters speaking in a foreign language?
How to handle dialogue happening under voice-over?
How to handle insert shots?
How to handle passage of time in a script?
How to handle POV shots?
How to handle scene in blackness?
How to handle songs in a screenplay?
How to indicate a jump cut?
How to misdirect a reader in scene description?
How to write “unwriteable moments of a film” in a screenplay?
If I’m writing and shooting my own movies, are there style and format issues I should be aware of when writing my script?
Is an 80-page spec script too short?
Is it okay for there to be more action lines in an action script?
Is it okay / advisable to put a logline on the script’s title page?
Is it okay to include an image in a spec script?
Is it necessary to have scene description before dialogue in a scene?
Is there a danger of having an Act One that is too short?
Should I use “is” construction verbs or not?
Sluglines and character intros?
Use or don’t use title cards?
What about a credit sequence at the beginning of a spec script?
What about a credit sequence in a spec script?’
What about a flashback as a ‘flashpresent’?
What about a revelation flashback?
What about breaking screenwriting style / format rules?
What about capitalizing sounds in spec scripts?
What about “establishing shots” and “establishing scenes”?
What about screenplay page count?
What about showing a character’s emotions in action description?
What about submitting a 187-page script?
What about using (CONT’D) in separated dialogue?
What about using a flashback / flash-forward as a prologue?
What does a secondary slugline/shot look like?
What guidelines are there for using scene headings / primary slug lines?
What information should I include on my script title page?
What is the absolute limit on script page count?
What is the difference between a montage and a series of shots?
What to do with a 70 page screenplay?
What’s the best way to master writing a particular type of dialogue?
What’s the structural difference between a play, a screenplay, and a teleplay?
When writing do you paint a visual picture through your action lines?
If you have a format and style question, or any other question related to screenwriting, please post in comments. I’m happy to give you my two cents worth.
For the Reader Question archives, go here.
Comment Archive