Screenwriting Blog: format, character, file formats
Short, well-sourced guides on screenplay formatting, file formats and writing conventions.
Screenplay format: scene headings, margins and indents
Courier 12 point, a 1.5-inch left margin, a fixed dialogue column. Every measurement in screenplay format, and the reason each rule exists.
What is Fountain? Writing a screenplay in plain text
The format that lets you write a screenplay as plain text you could open in Notepad. The full syntax, its limits, and when not to use it.
What is an FDX file and how do you open it?
Final Draft's file format is really just XML. How it differs from Fountain, how to open one, and what you can do without Final Draft.
V.O., O.S., CONT'D and MORE explained
The parentheses beside a character cue each do a different job. When to use which, whether CONT'D should be automatic, and how they differ from CONTINUOUS.
Screenplay transitions: CUT TO, DISSOLVE, FADE OUT
What each transition does, which ones are now considered obsolete, and where they go on the page. The consensus: fewer is better.
What makes a good screenplay? — The Dr.Script manifesto
Structure is a diagnostic tool, not a production tool. A short history from Aristotle to Save the Cat, the criticism it drew, and the five questions Dr.Script asks of a script.
What is character, and how do you write it?
Character is not a description but a choice made under pressure. Want versus need, the function of contradiction, subtext, and why an audience follows anyone at all.