by Trevor Mayes | May 7, 2019 | Formatting, Modern Craft, Writing
What’s a naked slugline? Actually, even before that — what’s a slugline? A slugline is just another word for a scene heading. A naked slugline is a scene heading that has no action line(s) after it. It just sits there, exposed… then goes...
by Trevor Mayes | Apr 10, 2019 | Dialogue, Modern Craft, Writing
What and When? For some reason, the different initials that can appear after dialogue cues trip up a lot of screenwriters. Let’s have a look at what each one means and when the appropriate time is to use them. O.S. (Off Screen) O.S. is used when a character is...
by Trevor Mayes | Mar 11, 2019 | Modern Craft, Writing
You might be a U.K. screenwriter if… We have to cut the British some slack because their accents are dead sexy and they… well, invented English. But even so, when it comes to breaking into Hollywood — where living too far away from Los Angeles can be...
by Trevor Mayes | Feb 19, 2019 | Dialogue, Modern Craft, Parentheticals, Writing
(beat) it Sometimes you need your actors to pause in your script. One of the common ways to convey this action… or rather, inaction, is to use the word “beat.” Here are three ways that people typically misuse BEAT: 3. At the beginning of a dialogue...
by Trevor Mayes | Jun 13, 2018 | Modern Craft, Style, Writing
Efficiency Screenwriting is all about efficiency. Maximum impact with the minimum number of words. So one of my biggest pet peeves is when I see the following in scripts: She shakes her head no. There are two big things wrong with that action line: Why is the word...
by Trevor Mayes | May 23, 2016 | Formatting, Modern Craft, Scene Headings
LATER Hater After reading a few client scripts recently where LATER is actually used more often than DAY or NIGHT in scene headings, I figured it was time to address this issue. If you’re fond of using LATER in your scene headings, then what I’m about to...
