Screenwriting ABCs Script Formatting
Breaks in Direction
Whether breaks happen within words, sentences, paragraphs, or pages, writers are required to format those breaks a certain way.
Word Breaks:
Breaks within words should be a no-brainer. These will happen at the right margin. If a sentence needs to be carried over to the next line in a Direction paragraph, the sentence may be broken within a word, between syllables, by using a hyphen. Here's an example.
Sentence Breaks:
Sometimes information within a sentence will need to be set apart from the rest of the sentence. Here are two examples of how it can be done:
In these cases I used a dash. A dash is basically two hyphens together with a space on either side of them. NOT three hyphens. NOT two hyphens with a space on the left, but not on the right.
You don't want to overdo it with dashes. Too many, too often is cumbersome to read. If the information can be set off more simply with commas, use them instead.
Paragraph Breaks:
Sometimes writers want Direction paragraphs to break abruptly, for instance, to lead the reader into Dialogue. Here is an example:
Paragraph breaks are done using ellipses. An ellipses is three periods followed by a space. Of course, in the example above, the reader wouldn't notice the space.
Page Breaks:
When writing a Direction paragraph at the bottom of a page, the key rule to remember is that a Direction paragraph NEVER breaks within a sentence. The example below is INCORRECT:
To correct the error, the writer may either bring the sentence up to the first page:
Or he/she may break up the Direction paragraph so that the whole sentence is on page two, like this:
If you are using writing software such as Final Draft, this is something you won't need to worry about as the software will correctly format Page Breaks within Direction automatically.
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For more screenplay formatting rules and advice, check out the book, Your CUT TO: Is Showing! by T. J. Alex or visit www.scripttoolbox.com. From there, please like the page on Facebook, and share it with your friends.
If you have any formatting questions, please email T. J. at tj@tjalex.com.
