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 | Feb 11, 2019 | Acronyms & Abbreviations, Dialogue, Words, Writing
Screenwriting is Weird There are tons of “rules” in screenwriting that take a long time to figure out. Many of these so-called rules are shibboleths or leftovers from a bygone era that are handy at weeding out the amateurs from the pros. However, most of...
by Trevor Mayes | Jan 15, 2019 | General
Scriptwrecked reader, Jenny, asks about line spacing: Final Draft allows you to manually adjust to either ONE or TWO spaces between each scene.Does it really matter?Increasing from one to two lines adds about a page per 120 pages script, so does it really impact...
by Trevor Mayes | Oct 24, 2018 | Industry Advice, Interviews
Interview with Paul A. Mendelson Paul A. Mendelson is a professional screenwriter and a super nice guy to boot! He was kind enough to give us some insights into how he’s been able to take his scripts, turn them into novels, and get Hollywood’s interest. If...
by Trevor Mayes | Jul 8, 2018 | Style, Writing
When do you start a new paragraph? One thing that tends to confound new screenwriters is the issue of paragraphs. Some scripts have longer paragraphs. Other scripts have shorter ones — some as short as one word. So how do you decide it’s time to start a...
