Page break question.

[Ron Maiden]

hi all, another format question.
got someone talking, with various action bits interpersed, like
"RON
blah blah blah.

He types some more

RON (Cont'd)
more blah blah blah

HE erases the text and type some more

RON (Cont'd)
Last blahs.
"

my page has broken after one of the actions : is it ok to start the new page with a RON (Cont'd)? i believe you need to put a "More" indicator if breaking the speech itself.

TIA

[clockwork]

It's fine.

If you're set up correctly in whatever programme you're writing with, it should take care of the formatting for you.

[dpaterso]

Ron, what software are you using? Screenwriting program, or ordinary word processor?

Those of us who use major screenwriting packages like Movie Magic or Final Draft don't need to think about this stuff, it happens automatically.

-Derek

[Plot Device]

I have disabled ALL of my "more's" and "continued's" in my screenplay software. Too much clutter.

[Ron Maiden]

i use ScreenPro.
personally speaking, i find things that do too much automatically tend to do things that annoy me, especially if it's stubborn about not letting you change back whatever it thinks is "right".

Plot Device - i'd prefer not to use "Cont'd"s myself, i just kinda fell in the habit : they're one of the things where i find conflicting advice scattered over the WWW : some say use it, some say don't, some say it's only for TV scripts, etc etc.

[Plot Device]

I'm told that now adays it's totally optional. So I have ditched them entirely.

Too





much





clutter.

[NikeeGoddess]

the page break dilemma changes each time you print out your script. you can make a simple change on a page and it will (like a domino effect) move all your page breaks. so you should ignore them until you're ready to print.

if you put con't on the bottom of a page it could end up on the top of your next page. don't force it. if your software doesn't correct it automatically then doing it manually will cause so many more headaches.

when you are ready to print i suggest you print out a few pages at a time and proofread before you print the next few pages. then you can correct any page break mistakes if you must fix a typo or something in an earlier page. if you print out the entire document and then find a mistake on page 2 that shifts the entire script you'll be so mad at all the ink and paper that you've wasted.

[Ron Maiden]

i've had that prob with "CONTINUED"s (as opposed to speech COnt'ds) - that's one thing i ditched a ways back, several sites said it was an obsolete format.

[NikeeGoddess]

that does make the "continueds" moot but some people still feel the need to alter a new page without have an action or dialogue break. it has the same problems. don't try to fix them until you're ready to print.