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 14, 2019 | Quick Screenwriting Tips, Writing |
Breaking Bad It’s bad form to force a page break mid-sentence. That goes for dialogue and action lines. Some of the better screenwriting software programs will not even allow you to do this. They’ll automatically force a page break after the completion of...
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 | 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 | 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...
