Hi and kindly indulge me I’m technically illiterate
I’m using the Stage Play UK Format for the first time.
Everything’s been going fine as I fill in the left side panel with front matter, Act, Title, Characters etc; but now I’m writing the play itself.
You can see from the screen shot that I’ve written a character’s name. When I press the tab key the cursor drops down a line instead moving a few stops on the same line as the character speaking.
I’ve tried seeing if anything in formatting works but nothing has.
I know it’s something so simple a chimpanzee could do it but, unfortunately, there aren’t any nearby.
Any help pointing me in the right direction would be very much appreciated - in the most basic of terms please
Thanks,
martin.
On the left side under the heading Elements (you can have different settings for each of the individual Elements), I’ve selected Character & Dialogue . On the right side, I’ve selected the Tab/Return tab. Try the different Tab behavior settings to find what will suit your needs.
There’s also Tab settings in the same pop-over at the Paragraph tab:
Besides the First Tab setting on the right side, also click Options right below it to reveal more possibilities. Again, these can be set independently for each of the individual Elements on the left side.
Before doing some testing, it’d help you to read (at the least) specifically Format Tabs at Sec. 19.7.2 of the manual. Scriptwriting as a whole is chapter 19’s focus.
Hello,
Thanks so much for your response.
There’s no colon in my script.
Another member also sent suggestions and screenshots to illustrate different options I might choose. And advised me to read the tutorial manual where formatting scriptwriting, including tab settings, is explained.
I’ll do that now and report back on my progress.
Thanks again. I’m finding that using the many options available in Scrivener - as good as they are - almost as challenging as writing a play!
best,
martin.
