Output formatting: "Keep with following paragraph"-option?

Scrivener Scrivener for macOS
1

Hello, everyone,

I am currently evaluating Scrivener and was wondering: Can a screenplay be formatted in a way that certain paragraph types always stick to their following paragraph (eg. “Character” and “Dialogue”) with no page break in between? I miss this from my self-made screenplay template for Apple Pages.

Marc

2

Hi,

No, there’s no way to do this at present. I’m looking into it for 2.0, but the difficulty of implementing this sort of thing in the given OS X text system means it’s not trivial and not a definite. The idea in general, though, is that you would take a screenplay to a different program (such as Final Draft) after the first draft is done, for polishing, final formatting or printing. Scrivener is intended more as a place to hammer out a first draft and doesn’t really attempt to do everything.

Thanks for trying!

All the best,
Keith

3

Ah, I see. If TextEdit can’t do it then Scrivener can’t either,right? Well, this is not going to make me not buy the software after the trial but it would have been nice.

Marc

4

No, that’s not quite right. Obviously Scrivener can do hundreds of things that TextEdit can’t do, or I wouldn’t be selling it for $40. :slight_smile: But the text system is built on OS X’s built-in text system, which is also used in TextEdit, so there are certain limitations there or certain things that are technically difficult to achieve within that system, which are, as I say, on my list but with no set date. But obviously if you can see a corkboard or outliner or full on structuring tools in your version of TextEdit then I must have missed something. As I explained, Scrivener is not intended to be a full layout tool, and as is made clear on the product page, it isn’t intended to replaced traditional word processors or scriptwriting programs but instead is intended to fit into the step before such programs, providing a place to hammer out a first draft. But of course, you must go with the software that suits you best.

5

Sorry for the TextEdit simplification in my previous post. Didn’t mean to force you to write a lengthy clarification. I did actually see a difference between TextEdit and Scrivener before. :wink:

Marc
(still enjoying your software)