by Trevor Mayes | Aug 16, 2019 | Formatting, Modern Craft, Text Messaging, Writing
Superman, I defy you! I’m a big fan of David Trottier, AKA “Dr. Format” and his books, “The Screenwriter’s Bible” and “Dr. Format Tells All.” I’m also really impressed by Christopher Riley’s book, “The...
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 | 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...
by Trevor Mayes | May 17, 2016 | Dialogue, Formatting, Script Proofreading, Writing
The Problem In a previous post, I discussed the difference between using dashes (hyphens) and dots (ellipses) at the end of a sentence — a common source of confusion. Recently, I’ve discovered a new and erroneous trend with hyphens. With increasing...
by Trevor Mayes | Aug 20, 2014 | Formatting, Scene Headings, Screenwriting Basics, Style
Comma Chameleon Commas are great. I’m a fan. Without them, misunderstandings abound… But why are so many commas turning up in scene headings these days? Did I miss the memo? Let’s clarify what I’m talking about. It’s the use of commas in...
by Trevor Mayes | Apr 15, 2014 | Dialogue, Formatting, Quick Screenwriting Tips
Never end a dialogue block with a parenthetical. I’ve been seeing this kind of thing a lot lately in the amateur scripts I’ve been reading: DEMON You think that puny gun can kill me? (laughs) If you need to indicate an action that follows a block of...
