trouble writing in the stage play format (US)

Scrivener Scrivener for macOS
1

Hi,
I’m trying out Scrivener for the 30 day trial and I want to use it to write plays. It’s a bit confusing though because how do I know when I’m writing in the different elements? (stage direction, character, dialog, etc). In Final draft for example, there would be a little drop box that tells you what element you’re on. There doesn’t seem to be for Scrivener unless I’m overlooking something?

I went under Text–>scriptwriting–>script settings, but have no idea how selecting the elements can affect changing the elements on the actual manuscript.

Or would I have to format everything myself, which would defeat the purpose and I might as well use word?

Thanks in advance.

(also, is there a way to view the mss on a preview page instead of just seeing it as one long piece of text, ie broken down into pages? Thanks)

2

It should tell you in the footer view beneath the text (the grey bar at the bottom of the window). Is that what you mean?
Best,
Keith

3

You know what, I was just watching the instructional video and realized. :blush: thanks Keith. I guess the software will take some getting used to.

Is there a way to look at the mss broken down in pages? Like a Print Preview in Word?

4

Not in the current version. Pages don’t really have any meaning in Scrivener given that everything is broken into chunks. However, because scriptwriters tend to need that sort of thing more than novelists, the next update does allow that - though there is no fixed release date for the next update as yet.
Best,
Keith