When I’m writing a script, I often fill in dialog first, then go back and add actions/scene descriptions/etc. This worked really well in scriv 1.5, but in 2.0(-ish?) there a new “feature” where pressing [enter] on a blank line pops up a menu instead of doing whatever enter is supposed to do.
This is really quite annoying. I either have to leave out the action all together (not ideal) or put a single space in there to convince scriv that, no, I really don’t need help in deciding what format I want for this line and yes, I would like it if you would move on to the next like and format it as dialog if-you-please.
Is there (or might there be?) a preference to disable this? I’ve looked around what I thought the likely places for it would be, but see nothing.
Many thanks. Loving every bit out of the rest of the 2.0 improvements!!
-Joshua Emmons
This is standard in scriptwriting programs, and was one of the things that many scriptwriters asked for - although I have learned that scriptwriters really are the toughest bunch of customers to please.
I guess I’m not sure what the problem is, though, because this only pops up when you enter a second blank line, and scripts don’t usually have a whole empty line in them - the paragraph padding is all added using formatting.
I could make it a preference in the future I suppose, but this was a much-requested feature.
Haha the screenwriters do seem to be the bane of Keith’s existence at times
For what it’s worth you’ve done an exceptional job on this over the years and I for one could hardly be happier with the latest toys - page layout, FDX integration, splitting on import and the rest - it’s all magnificent and I’m sure I speak for everyone when I thank you for your hard work.
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Joshua - the workaround for the extra return characters you want is exactly the same as in Final Draft - just cursor down to the start of the next formatted line and hit enter there. It reformats the line you’re on but hardly a big problem.
(The technical reason for doing this by the way is to create a big white space on the page in the middle of which we can write “something brilliant goes here”)
I’m confused about this request? You’re typing in a scene heading, then hitting return, yes? Which gets you to the next line down and an action setting.
If you don’t want to input action, just hit TAB and it takes you right to character. That’s how FD works too.
I really, really, REALLY like typing in screenplay mode in 2.0. It’s standard, and it just works. I request not changing anything.
Yes, exactly. Well, that and to get a more accurate estimate of ultimate page counts when hammering out a dialog-only draft.
But it’s not how scriv used to work, and I use scriv, not FD. My workflow (not to mention muscle memory) is built around it.
Thanks for taking time out to un-request something I’ve requested
I only thought that – seeing as it used to work differently – maybe it was the sort of thing I could just stick a parameter in a .plist and get the old functionality or something. If it’s nothing that simple, it’s probably not worth the effort of making it a formal preference.
