Hello,
I don’t really understand for the moment what is the différence between the script writing styles (cmd 8), and styles list.
Even if all of this is not clear in my mind, I was wondering how to create my own script writing style? Then I will be able how to use it, and what are the différences with the styles list.
Thanks for your help
style_List.pdf (28.5 KB)
script_writing.pdf (145 KB)
Basically, formatting styles are only used in general text, script styles are only used in Scriptwriting Mode.
Formatting Styles are used for quickly applying a set of formatting options to a selection of general text. So, for example, you could select:
This is a Heading
and apply the Heading style preset (Format > Formatting > Apply Preset > Heading) style and it will turn the selection bold, increase the font size and so on.
You would normally ONLY use formatting presets (styles) in general text, not in Scriptwriting mode.
Scriptwriting mode is special because it allows you to use the Tab and Enter and other keys to format script elements easily. For example, on a new line press tab and it may automatically put you into dialogue mode with the character name centred and in capitals. Press enter and it will indent the next line for the dialogue, and so on.
Of course, different types of script require different settings (film scripts are different from UK stage plays, for example). When you choose one of the styles in Format > Screenwriting (e.g. Screenplay, Stage Play etc), you are essentially telling Scrivener what to do when you press Tab, Enter or other shortcuts in Scriptwriting mode (and only in Scriptwriting mode).
If you open the Script Settings… dialogue, you can see which script elements are available in the currently selected script style: and you can then edit their format and behaviour, or create your own.
So if you want to create your own scriptwriting style, then
a) Select the script style (nearest to the one you want to create) in the Format > Scriptwriting menu. You will see that the first item changes to reflect your choice e.g. ‘Script mode - Screenplay cmd-8’.
b) Try out the various elements (Screen Heading, Action, Dialogue etc). If you want to change any of the elements then open the Format > Scriptwriting > Script Settings menu and make the changes there.
There’s quite a lot to all this, but it’s fairly intuitive once you’ve played around with it for a bit and it’s explained well in the manual.
Hope this helps…
Formatting presets (or what you’re calling styles, we don’t use that word because it has a specific meaning in word processing which this feature is not) are very simple: you select some text with formatting you want to use repeatedly in the future, and make a preset out of it. Now when you select other text and apply that preset, the two will look the same. That’s all it is, very basic, and the best tool for the job if you’re just needing some easy formatting done.
As for making your own, refer to §20.7, Creating Your Own Script Formats, pg. 291 in the user manual PDF.
Scriptwriting is generally used by people writing to standard, rigidly adhered to formats to produce scripts for theatre, screen and so on. There are a few exceptions, but if you’re just looking to format your text a certain way it’s probably overkill in some ways, and not enough in other ways (for example, scripting tools only have limited paragraph ruler settings, because scripts rarely need more than very basic ruler settings).
That is more clear now.
I’ve expected to create my own scriptwriting for special documents (in relation with law) which they need to respect a specific look. I’ll try to do that, with the user manual.
Thanks