Warning: I have never had anything published. I probably don't know what I am talking about. Anyone who takes my advice is a fool who does so at his or her own risk!
I've done a lot of Internet research (as opposed to real research) on this topic. If anyone has anything to add, or an corrections to make regarding what follows please mail it to me.
You want ACCO Solid Brass Fasteners and the associated washers. The
brass plated
brads such as OIC Brass-Plated Paper Fasteners or
OfficeMax Round-Head Brass Fasteners (which are not solid brass)
are not equivalent. I ordered some from Colorado Stationers, a
stationary store near my home, and they came in the next day.
I've cobbled together an OpenOffice.org (OO.o) Writer document template that makes formatting a screenplay easy. It's available for download. I am developing the template concurrently on Windows 2000 and GNU/Linux. It should work with OO.o 1.1.2 on any platform.
(OpenOffice.org is a Free office suite.
It is comparable to Microsoft Office in most ways, but it is not a
clone
; the designers have not attempted to duplicate the Office
interface. It does, however, handle Office documents quite well. There
is no reason not to install it on a system that already has Office.)
If you are already familiar with OO.o styles the template should be self-explanatory.
Open the file script.stw with Open Office. If the stylist doesn't appear press <F11>. Use is straightforward. Every line of text (except for the text on the title page) must be assigned one the numbered styles. Your script should not contain any blank lines. All spacing between lines of text is handled by the style.
Here's what it looks like in use:
If you change the option at the bottom of the stylist from
Automatic
to Custom
it will only display the styles listed
below.
Dialog is anything spoken by an actor. This includes voice over (V.O.) and off screen (O.S.) dialog.
Dialog – with wryly is the same as Dialogue, except that it does not have a trailing blank line. This style is for dialogue that is followed by a wryly. If this doesn't make sense, just try it.
Character names come above the dialogue they speak. Use this style (and ALL CAPS).
Sluglines give the location for a scene. Also ALL CAPS.
Action consists of expository text.
Transitions explain the connection between adjacent scenes. Also used at the beginning and end of the script. The transitions normally appearing in scripts include FADE IN: FADE OUT: CUT TO: and CONTINUOUS:.
Wryly is a humorous name for parentheticals included in dialogue.
Writers tend to over use this element, stereotypically using wryly
excessively. I chose to use wryly
instead of parenthetical
because it reminds me to use it judiciously.
This formatting is based primarily on the guidance at NYS&S and Alex Epstein's excellent FAQ
I make a t-shirt every day. Sometimes they're funny. Get the t-shirt feed.
One of my current projects is the Free
Curriculum Project. It's slow going, but I have high hopes.
The Free Software Foundation is doing very
important work for the future of computing and Freedom.
The JPFO is a fantastic organization.
Please check them out. They want me to link to them with the phrase
Jewish Firearms
for some
reason.
Have something to say? Write
me.
(My web form has been removed.)
What's up with those Amazon links?
Original text and images Copyright
2003–2006 Peter Hutnick. All rights reserved.
All other text and images Copyright their respective owners.