Copyright: ® Guy Gallo 1991-1994


Contents

Introduction

What does ScriptWright do?

How Does ScriptWright Do What it Does?

Formatting Options

What ScriptWright does that other formatters don't

Installation

Getting Started

ScriptWright Explained

ScriptWright Styles and Layout

Interface Tools

Miscellaneous Usage Notes

FormatScript Examined

FormatScript - Introduction

Limitations

ScriptWright Macros Reference

Overview

Alphabetical Listing of Macros

Advanced Topics

Updating gScript Documents

Changing Default Information

Stranded Continueds

Price, Support, and Updates

Price and Ordering

Support

Notices

About the Author


What does ScriptWright do?

ScriptWright is a suite of styles and macros for Word for Windows to aid in the editing and formatting of a screenplay.

In the olden days, writers hired script services to prepare their manuscripts for submission.  With the introduction of the Personal Computer, screenwriters either settled for the best their word processor could do, or purchased a second application to create a properly formatted print version of the script.

ScriptWright integrates the editing and formatting tasks into a single, seamless program.  It contains scads of tools developed after years writing screenplays on a computer.

ScriptWright formats a screenplay with proper indents, font selection and size, and strings inserted at the top and bottom of the page (when the script is formatted for printing).  It is used in two stages:

•	During the creation of the screenplay, ScriptWright simplifies editing with specially tailored styles, key assignments, toolbar assignments, and macros.

•	ScriptWright can automatically format a draft screenplay with industry standard "tags" marking continued scenes and dialogue by running a single macro: FormatScript.  The resulting layout conforms to the standard established ages ago (before the dawn of the Personal Computer), by the Writer's Guild of America and the Studio System.  This format is based on the formula you've heard a zillion times:

One page equals one minute of screen time.

That may seem like an arbitrary, producer-ish concern.  In fact it possesses a general truth that can be extremely helpful during the writing of the script.

The font used in this template is Courier 12 pt.  If you are accustomed to measuring indentations in terms of characters (rather than in terms of inches), Courier 12 pt is a 10 "pitch" font:  there are ten characters per inch.

Feature	Specification:
Font:	Courier 12 point, 10 pitch (that is, 12 points high, 10 characters per inch).  This is the same font you might remember as standard on the antique IBM Selectric typewriters.
Margins:	Left - 1.5"; Right - 1.0"; Top - 1"; Bottom 1"
Character Name:	2.5" (25 Characters) in from left margin
Dialogue:	1.5" (15 Characters) in from left margin
Parenthetical	2.0" (20 Characters) in from left margin (the first line has a hanging indent of one character).
Transition	4.5" (45 Characters) in from left margin
The fact is, you can cheat and make your screenplays appear shorter by increasing the margins for action and dialogue;  you can use proportionally spaced fonts (like the Times Roman 12pt used in this document).  The reasons against doing so are two fold:

No one is fooled.  A script that comes in at 120 pages of 10pt Helvetica is, we all know, even producers know, actually 132 pages of script.

It helps the actual composition of the screenplay if it is formatted according to these styles and indents.  The flow of the script, the tempo and timing is simply easier to see, to feel, if the script is formatted in Courier 10 pitch with proper margins.  You can sense how much description is on the page, how much dialogue.

In fact, I have come to the conclusion, after an odd experience with a major studio, that it is better to begin your script with more generous margins.  The short form of the story is as follows:  I presented a script that had been fudged only very slightly:  a point here and there, a fraction of an inch on the left and right margins.  When printed the script looked quite normal.  An executive decided that the script read long and sent it to the production department to be re-typed using the studio's standard script format.  What had been delivered as a 121 page screenplay was returned to me as a 158 page behemoth.  Not only were their margins larger, and the paragraph widths smaller, they had also inserted lots of (continuing) parentheticals.  The studio used the extra forty-seven pages (by their count) to insist upon another, free, revision.  Since I had fudged a little, I had no moral ground to stand on.

As a result of the above I have increased the left margin in this template from 1.25 to 1.5 and  shortened the width of the dialogue style.


How Does ScriptWright Do What it Does?

Most writers never wonder (or care much) how computers accomplish the magic.  This section is for the slightly curious.  It explains, without getting too terribly technical, what ScriptWright is and how it works.

ScriptWright is an "add-on" to the word processor Word for Windows 6.0.  The designers of Word for Windows have given programmers "hooks" into the inner working of the program.  As a result it is possible to write custom commands, extending and altering the "default" behavior of the word processor.

This extending, adding on to, Word for Windows is accomplished through mini-programs, stored in W-SCRIPT.DOT, called macros.  You might think of a macro as a complex "batch file," or more generally, as a collection of commands to be performed in a specific order.

Throughout what follows references will be made to "the macro" or "the ScriptWright command."  These should be viewed as interchangeable.

Macros are usually named according to their functionality.  For instance, the macro that formats the draft screenplay for presentation is called FormatScript.  The macro that prints the currently selected text is called PrintSelection.  The macro that displays a control center full of frequently used "macros" is called ControlCenter.

Notice the naming convention:  Two or more words, each capitalized, squooshed together.

One of the great things about Word for Windows is that you can have an add-on like ScriptWright without disabling any other feature of the word processor.  That is, the various customizations--macros, custom menus, custom toolbars, styles--are in effect only when you are typing in a document based upon the ScriptWright template.  If you open a screenplay and you open a letter, the macros and menus (etc) for letter writing will automatically be available when you move to the letter.  The screenplay macros and menus will only be available when you are in the screenplay.  For the curious, this feature of Word for Windows is referred to as "context."  Which menu, toolbar, set of key shortcuts, styles, macros are active depends entirely upon the context in which the insertion point (the cursor) is ready to receive input.


Formatting Options

ScriptWright provides three ways to format your screenplays:  The first, Draft, is simply how ScriptWright comes out of the box.  The other two options, Master and Shooting, should be considered "post" options.  You can refine your screenplay's layout and page breaks using either of these options before submitting the finished draft to a producer.

See also:

DRAFT

MASTER

SHOOTING


DRAFT

DRAFT: This mode is the default and should be used for entering your screenplay.  All paragraph styles are pre-defined, and accessible either from a dedicated toolbar (see The Toolbar in ScriptWright  ) or by using the following short cut key combinations:

Key combination	Paragraph format
Alt+S	slugline
Alt+A	action
Alt+C	character name
Alt+D	dialogue
Alt+P	parenthetical
Alt+B	transition break
As you enter these paragraph styles their definitions take care of indents, spacing, and keeping paragraphs together to avoid breaking dialogue between pages or separating a character name from its dialogue, or a slugline from its action.

For more information about the default styles, see ScriptWright Styles and Layout.


MASTER

Master refers to what is known as a "master shot script" or "master scene script".  The scenes in this type of screenplay are not, usually, broken down by precise camera setups or camera movement, or shot length.   This is intended for first drafts of a screenplay.  It is the most readable form, good for sending to people who are not familiar with the technical aspects of film-making.

This is the most economical way to format a screenplay.  You do so by running FormatScript either from the Control Center, the Script menu, or the ScriptWright toolbar, and selecting "Master - dialogue only" in the Format option box.

Characteristics:

The effect of this is that when FormatScript encounters a page break that would fall in the middle of a paragraph of dialogue, it will insert a hard page break and place the "more" string ("-more-" by default) at the bottom of the page, and then begin the next page with the Character Name and the "dialogue continued" string ("(cont'd)" by default).

It does not insert any "continued" strings either at the top or bottom of a page.

For this reason it is the most economical way to print a screenplay.  The approximate page savings is 15%.  For instance, a script that paginates at 136 pages in Draft mode, will paginate at around 128 or 129 (depending, of course, on lots of small variables).

In this mode it is usually not necessary to have scene numbers for each slugline, but that's a matter of personal preference.  I like to use scene numbers because it makes reference to a scene easier (even if your working copy has added pages between the time you submitted the screenplay and Sam calls you in for the meeting...)

See Format.


SHOOTING

This format is the most thorough and most accurately mimics the format of a screenplay as it would be produced by a script service (in the olden days).

Use this format when submitting a second draft or a director's draft, prior to going into production.

To format a script in Shooting format you must run the main formatting macro FormatScript, accessed either from the Control Center, the Script menu, or the ScriptWright toolbar, and selecting "Shooting - dialogue and Action" in the Format option box.

Characteristics:

Scenes are numbered, significant camera angles and setups are included.

When a page break occurs in the middle of a scene the bottom of the page is tagged with "(CONTINUED)" and the top of the next page is tagged with CONTINUED: (optionally with the scene number as well).

When a page break occurs in the middle of a paragraph of dialogue, the dialogue tags (as described in Master mode, see above) are inserted.

See Format.


What ScriptWright does that other formatters don't

Michael Gross, a Beta Tester, described ScriptWright as "Filesafe".  What he meant was:  ScriptWright makes no changes to your document that cannot be easily reversed.  It does not tamper with the disk file.  The formatted script can optionally be saved to another file name.  Any changes that are made to your draft screenplay can be removed by executing a single command: StripFormatting.

Many other script formatters require some kind of conversion from your word processor to a format they can read and understand.  Even if they can convert in the other direction, back to your word processor, something is inevitably lost in the translation.  Not so with ScriptWright.

More specifically, since ScriptWright is integrated with Word for Windows it possesses several advantages:

You don't have to create an ASCII file for formatting.  ScriptWright is a unified system capable of creating and printing both "draft" scripts, and fully formatted "presentation" scripts.

Other formatters either ignore, strip, or choke on some of the most useful tools found in powerful word processors.  With ScriptWright, since you have complete control over what styles are hidden, you can fill your screenplay with notes, outline levels, footnotes, annotations and the like, and still create a formatted print file without changing a thing.

There is no need for two copies of your screenplay (i.e. one draft, one presentation), since ScriptWright is capable of stripping out all of the added strings and all of the altered styles.


Installation

Requirements

To Install ScriptWright

Running the Demo


Requirements

ScriptWright requires:

•	Microsoft Windows 3.1

•	At least 2MB of memory (4MB or greater is preferable, 8MB better)

•	Microsoft Word for Windows, version 6.0a (If you have 6.0 you can get a free upgrade to 6.0a by calling 1-800-426-9400; If you have version 2.0 you can order an update at the same number.)

•	ScriptWright will run on a lowly 386 processor (even the SL version found in many laptops).  But don't expect speed.  As with most Windows programs, the more hardware you can throw at it, the better.  For several years I ran it well enough on a 16Mhz 386.  I can tell you, it flies on a 66Mhz 486.


To Install ScriptWright

1.	Place the distribution disk in drive A:.

2.	From the Program Manager or File Manager select Run from the File menu.

3.	Type a:setup, and select OK

The setup program automatically determines your template directory and your Windows directory.  It will ask you to confirm the directory in which to place the demo and documentation files.

4.	After entering a satisfactory ScriptWright directory, press OK.

The setup program will copy the following files to the listed locations:

File	Location	Purpose
README.TXT	User specified	Release notes and history.
SW-DEMO.DOC	User specified	A Word for Windows document containing a self-running demo of ScriptWright, frequently asked questions.
SW-NEW.DOC	User specified	Loading this document from the command line or program manager will automatically create a new screenplay project
W-SCRIPT.DOT	User-Dot-Path	The main template.
W-SCRIPT.HLP	Windows  directory	A Windows Help file.
WRIGHT.INI	Windows directory	An ASCII text file that contains various important settings.
Note:  If you are currently using gScript, (ScriptWright's precursor the installation program does not delete the gScript files (DOT, HLP, and INI).  You should manually delete those files, and manually attach W-SCRIPT.DOT to any existing screenplay documents.


Running the Demo

To see ScriptWright in action, simply load the file SW-DEMO.DOC into Word for Windows and follow the instructions.  The demo takes about five minutes to run and will give you a glimpse at the power of ScriptWright.

The demo document also contains some last minute changes to the documentation and some frequently asked questions.  Check it out.


Getting Started

If you are new to Word for Windows or are unfamiliar with the use of styles and templates, please review Chapter 9 "Automatic Formatting and Styles" and Chapter 10 "Document Templates" in the Word for Windows User's Guide.

See also:

Creating a New Project


Creating a New Project

To get up and running with ScriptWright create a new document based on the W-SCRIPT.DOT template:

Select New from the File menu.

Highlight W_script in the list of templates

Press Enter

You will be presented with the following dialog box:

Title of this screenplay

The title entered in the first edit box will be automatically stored in the FileSummaryInfo title field for this document.  That information will be used on the title page and in the header.  You can change this title at any time by selecting Summary Info from the File menu.

File name

The file name entered in the second edit box will be used, combined with the default Word extension of DOC, to save the new document to your hard disk.  It is an unfortunate limitation of DOS (and therefore of Windows) that a file name cannot be more than characters.  That doesn't give you much room.

It is important that you enter only the file name and not the extension.

If you enter the name of a file that already exists in the chosen directory, ScriptWright will warn you and return to the dialog box so you can enter a different file name.

Project will be stored in Directory

The currently "logged" directory is displayed in this group box..  That is, this is the directory where, if you simply did a FileSave, Word would put your new document.

Alternately, you can choose a different directory by navigating the list box.

Changing Directories

You can "navigate" your directory/drive structure by double clicking on the highlighted directory or drive in the list.  Remember that [..] always means "the parent of the current directory."

The MakeDir Button

Here lies the real power of this little utility.  You can create a new directory without having to leave Word.

I recommend putting each screenplay project in its own directory.  Doing so makes it much easier to backup all related files for a given project.  It's neater.  It's faster to find things.  So, move to your data directory or your film directory and make a new directory for the new project.  It takes another click or two and could save lots of headaches later.

If you have named your file before selecting the MakeDir button, the file name will be proposed as the name of the new directory as well.


ScriptWright Styles and Layout

Styles and their proper use give Word incredible formatting power and ease of use.  Without styles this template and its utilities would not have been possible at all.

You should not delete or rename any of the custom styles defined in WSCRIPT.DOT.  Doing so would disable the main formatting macro FormatScript.

You can redefine the custom styles -- changing details of their attributes, such as font name or pitch -- though I would caution against, as I said above, using fancy proportional spaced fonts.

However, you should not add additional styles to W-SCRIPT.DOT or to your document.  Doing so may cause problems when formatting your script.  The reason for this is that ScriptWright assumes the presence of specifically named styles at the top of each page (so it can tell what kind of break to insert).  If it encounters an unknown stylename it will become confused, discouraged, and will quit formatting...

It is possible that you will import a screenplay written in Word prior to getting ScriptWright or a document written in another word processor.  In either case it is likely that the styles in the imported document will not have the same names as those used in ScriptWright (it is even possible that you won't have styles at all).  Although it's a little work, and will likely require some manual clean-up, there are two macros to facilitate converting documents.  See ConvertStyles and ConvertThisPara.

If you are attaching  to a document created and formatted with gScript (ScriptWright's ShareWare precursor) please see Updating gScript Documents.  You should select "Reset Styles to Default" from the Control Center.

The following topics describe the pre-defined and built-in styles used by ScriptWright.

See also:

Definitions and Usage

Styles and "follow" specifications

Styles and Line Spacing

Applying Styles

Headers and Footers

The Title Page


Definitions and Usage

The most important styles in ScriptWright (the ones used most frequently) are:

Style Name	Function	Key
Char	Character Name	Alt+C
Dialogue	Dialogue	Alt+D
Paren	Parenthetical: personal direction to the speaking character	Alt+P Ctrl+Shift+P
Transition	Transition Break;  standard phrases that punctuate scene endings	Alt+B
heading 3	Slugline (Scene Heading)	Alt+S
Normal	Action: scene description and staging directions	Alt+A
Note that ScriptWright has assigned these basic styles to Alt+Key combinations to ease formatting.

These key assignments, with the exception of Alt+A, do not conflict with any default key combination used by Word for Windows.  Alt+A normally accesses the Table menu.  Since I don't imagine you will be inserting tables into your screenplay very often, I have decided, until convinced otherwise, to retain Alt+A for ScriptWright's use.  This will not, of course, effect Alt+A when you are in documents ruled by other templates.

Note: the Paren style has two key combinations.  Ctrl+Shift+P applies Paren to the current paragraph.  Alt+P is a smarter function:  it displays a dialog box for the parenthetical and automatically inserts the parentheses.  Every keystroke saved is a keystroke saved.  See ApplyParen.

In addition, ScriptWright contains specifically defined styles that allow functional use of the outliner, footnotes, and annotations.

Style name	Function
Annotation reference	The Annotation note reference.  It is taken from your initials as defined in ToolsOptionsUserInfo.  (Hint:  you can change those initials to anything.  My initials are "Note")
Annotation text	Notes to yourself
Footnote reference	Superscripted markers
Footnote text	Another way to keep notes
Heading 1	Act divisions
Heading 2	Sequence divisions
HiddenNote	Another way to annotate your script while writing.
These additional paragraph styles are all defined as hidden text so that they will not print unless you specifically tell Word to print them.

ScriptWright is designed to make great use of outline levels when composing and structuring you screenplay.

In addition, there are styles used by ScriptWright for various ancillary functions, and for marking the text inserted during the formatting:

Below is a table of less frequently used styles:

Style	Function
ActDivision	Centered, underlined;  used to mark the beginning of a new Act.  The style is defined to include a page break.
ByLine	For the by line on the title page
DialogueItalic	Italic Dialogue (sometimes used for voice over dialogue)
Heading	Centered, bold, spacing expanded by 3pts.   Used for the title of the screenplay on the first page
Headline	All capitals, flush left;  used for emphasis and punctuation.  For example:  FADE IN:
NormalNumbered	Paragraphs of action description numbered A), B) C) for use in "sequences."
Note	Hanging indent, in parenthesis, notations for the director
SbSChar	Side by Side Character name
SbSDialogue	Side by Side Dialogue
Title	For the title on the title page
TitleAuthor	For the author on the title page
Styles used internally by FormatScript:

Style	Function
bContinued	For the bottom Continued placed between broken scenes
CharCont	For the character name on the page following broken dialogue
More	For the More string  marking dialogue continued on the next page
tContinued	For the top Continued placed between broken scenes.  Includes an automatic page break.
You should not delete any of these styles from ScriptWright.  They must exist for both FormatScript and StripFormatting to function properly.  There should be no reason for you to ever apply these styles manually.


Styles and "follow" specifications

One of the neatest features of Word for Windows is the ability to define what the next paragraph style will be.  As a result, for instance, if you press Alt+C for a Character Name, and then press enter, you don't have to press Alt+D to format the paragraph for Dialogue.  It already is.  Similarly, pressing enter in a line of dialogue automatically styles the next paragraph as Character Name.  This makes for incredibly simple text entry.

The "follow" specifications for the major ScriptWright styles are:

Current Style	Next Style
heading 1	heading 2
heading 2	heading 3
heading 3 (Slugline)	Normal (Action)
Normal (Action)	Normal (Action)
Char (Character Name)	Dialogue
Dialogue	Char
Paren	Dialogue
Transition	heading 3 (Slugline)


Styles and Line Spacing

If you are coming to Word for Windows from one of the less powerful word processors, then you are probably accustomed to entering double spacing by entering two carriage returns between those paragraphs that require extra spacing, as, for instance, between Action and Character Name, or between Dialogue and the next Character Name.

One of the most powerful features of Word for Windows is the fact that you can specify, when defining a paragraph format, how much space to skip before the paragraph, and how much to skip after the paragraph.  As a result, there is no need for extra carriage returns.

Here are the Space Before specifications used in ScriptWright:

Style	Space Before
heading 3 (Slugline)	1.5 lines
Char	1 line
Dialogue	(no space before)
Action	1 line
Transition	1 line
Not only is there no need for using extra carriage returns to space lines, they should be avoided at all costs.  In order for the formatting macros to work properly, your document should not have any extraneous blank lines or extra carriage returns.  See A Note on Double Carriage Returns.


Applying Styles

Normally, you will apply styles as you type using the Alt+Key speedkeys.  Some styles, such as Dialogue, will be entered automatically for you because of the design of the "Next Style" attribute.

You can also choose styles from either the dedicated style toolbar or from the Styles menu.

In addition there is an optional feature, SmartTab, which cycles through the major element styles using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys.


Headers and Footers

ScriptWright's default header uses field codes to display various bits of document information.  If you are completely unfamiliar with fields, please review the Word for Windows User's Guide Chapter 32.  Or even better, Chapter 11 in my book Take Word for Windows to the Edge from Ziff-Davis Press..

In brief, a field is a special code (inserted either from the InsertField dialog box or manually using Ctrl+F9) that displays dynamic information.  The most commonly used is {page}.  The page field, when placed in a header or footer, displays the current page number.

ScriptWright uses fields in the header, on the title page, and as a method for numbering scene headings.

See also:

Header Information

Header Format

No Footer


Header Information

Other useful fields display information about the document as stored in the FileSummaryInfo dialog box.

The default header contains the following elements:

Element	Result
{Author} field	displays the author as contained in FileSummaryInfo
{Title} field	displays the title as contained in FileSummaryInfo
Page -	boilerplate text
{page}	the page number
Because of the definition of the header style, the above fields result in a header that looks something like:

Guy Gallo - Medicine Bear	     (Page - 2)

Your first question might be: "How did you manage to get the text flush left and flush right at the same time?"  Simple.  The header style is defined with a single right aligned tab at 6.5".  The information on the left is followed by a single tab.

If you edit the header footer (Header/Footer from the View menu) and then turn on ViewFieldCodes(Field Codes from the View menu), you will see the following:

{author} - {title}	(Page - {page})

The fact that the header uses "fields" means that any time you change the information in FileSummaryInfo you will also be changing the header information.

Not everyone wants such an information packed header.  Others want more.  For instance, I have had requests to include the act information for movie of the week scripts.

To change the default header information you can either execute the ScriptWright macro ChangeHeaderInfo or edit the template directly.  See Changing Default Information


Header Format

The pre-defined font for Headers/Footers is Courier 12pt.  This is a change from gScript, where the default header font was 10pt.

To change the font information for the header, select Styles from the format menu, find header in the drop down list, and select Define.  Then select the element you wish to change.

If you want the changes you make to the active document to be saved into WSCRIPT.DOT, select Add to template.  Changes saved to the template will affect all subsequent documents based on W-SCRIPT.DOT.


No Footer

ScriptWright makes no use of the footer.  The reason is that when calculating page breaks in Master and Shooting modes, the FormatScript macro takes over the bottom margin setting and resets it to accomodate the new strings.  It is possible that a footer would interfere with this process.

If you require a footer, be careful not to add a multi-line footer or to format the footer with a large font.

I recommend not including footer information.  If you have a footer in a screenplay formatted with another template, I advise removing it.


The Title Page

W-SCRIPT.DOT comes with a pre-defined title page.  When you create a new document the title page will automatically be inserted.

It has the following form:

•	A paragraph formatted as "Title" containing the field {title}.

•	A paragraph formatted as "ByLine" containing the phrase "A screenplay by".

•	A paragraph formatted as "TitleAuthor" containing the field {author}.

•	And a two column table that is absolutely positioned at the bottom of the page.  This table can be used to hold miscellaneous information such as return address, your agent's address, print date or version number.  By default the right hand side of this table contains two fields: {username} and {useraddress}.  These fields are taken from the User Info on the ToolsOptionsUserInfo dialog box.

Since the title page uses fields to display the information realize that if you change the title and author information as it is contained in FileSummaryInfo you will also, automatically, be changing the title page (and the header).

The most important consequence of using fields is the effect of moving a document from your personal machine to another machine.  It is possible, if you run EditTitlePage on someone else's machine that the address information proposed for the bottom right will be incorrect.  The useraddress is specific to each machine.  The fields Author and Title will travel with the document.

Note:  You can replace the fields with their results:

Press F5 twice

Select TitlePage from the list of bookmarks

Press Ctrl+Shift+F9 to execute the UnLinkFields command

If you UnLinkFields (or directly type in title and author information) you will break the dynamic connection between FileSummaryInfo and the title page.

Notes:

The title page is a separate section from the rest of the document.  It is marked by a bookmark named TitlePage.  This bookmark is used to determine if a title page exists by several of the utility macros.  Do not delete this bookmark.

There are two other bookmarks on the title page:  TitleLeft and TitleRight.  These mark the left and right hand cells of the table.  You can use EditGoto to move to these table cells for editing.

To change the default title page information you can run the EditTitlePage macro from the Control Center.


Interface Tools

There are properties stored in a template that modify how the user interacts with Word.  These changes to the menu geography, toolbar, keyboard, and AutoText should be thought of as interface customizations.

ScriptWright includes many customizations designed specifically to ease the writing and formatting of your screenplay.

See also:

Keyboard Customizations:

Menu Item Additions

The Toolbar in ScriptWright

ScriptWright's Use of Outline Levels

Glossaries/Abbreviations

SmartEnter

SmartTabs


Keyboard Customizations:

Following is a table of the default keyboard shortcut assignments in ScriptWright:

Macro	Key Description
ApplyAction	Alt+Enter
ApplyParen	Alt+P
ApplyTransition	Alt+B
AutoText (built-in command)	Ctrl+G
Char style	Alt+C
ControlCenter	Ctrl+Shift+C
Dialogue style	Alt+D
FindStranded	Alt+Ctrl+C
FudgeParaNarrower	Alt+-
FudgeParaWider	Alt+=
Heading 1	Alt+1
Heading 2	Alt+2
heading3 style (slugline)	Alt+S
HiddenNote	Alt+Shift+N
InsertRealTab	Ctrl+Shift+Tab
Macro	Key Description
ListAbbreviations	Alt+L
Normal style (action)	Alt+A
Note	Ctrl+Shift+N
NumberedNormal	Alt+Ctrl+Shift+N
NumberThisSlug	Alt+N
Paren Style	Ctrl+Shift+P
RevisionAccept	Alt+Ctrl+A
RevisionSearch	Alt+Ctrl+S
RevisionUndo	Alt+Ctrl+U
RunHelp	Alt+Ctrl+H
SmartEnter	{Enter}
SmartTab	{Tab}
SmartTabShift	Shift+Tab
SpaceBeforeDecrease	Alt+Shift+-
SpaceBeforeIncrease	Alt+Shif+t=
ToggleHidden	Ctrl+Shift+H
ToggleOutline	Ctrl+Shift+O
ToggleSlugIndent	Alt+Ctrl+I
Transition Style	Ctrl+Shift+B
See also:

Note on Modifying ScriptWright's Key Assignments


Note on Modifying ScriptWright's Key Assignments

Word's built-in key assignment utility is located on the Customize dialog box, accessed through the Tools Menu.

If you add additional key assignments, please be aware of the following:

•	The customizations may be lost the next time you upgrade WSCRIPT.DOT.  You will have to manually copy any of your customizations to the new template, a task that is now possible with the new Organizer function.


Menu Item Additions

Word 6.0 allows customization of the top level of the menu structure.  Instead of placing ScriptWright functions/macros throughout the standard menu items, I have chosen to create two dedicated top menu items:  Script and Style.

See also:

The Script Menu

The Style menu

The Text Shortcut Menu.


The Script Menu

Accessed by pressing Alt+R, contains the following items:


The Style menu

Accessed by pressing Alt+Y, contains the following items:


The Text Shortcut Menu.

When you click the right mouse button on a paragraph of text, the following menu will appear:

In addition, I have placed a menu item on the standard help menu to call the ScriptWright help file.

ScriptWright Help - Loads the ScriptWright Help file.

Note:  I have not removed any of the default menu items.  If, however, you find your menus too cluttered you can actually delete some of the built-in command menu items that you suspect you will never need when writing a screenplay, such as ToolsCalculate or ToolsCreateEnvelope.  To remove an item simply go to the ToolsOptionsMenus dialog box, select the menu item to remove, making sure you are operating on W-SCRIPT.DOT, and press the Delete button.

I have also removed the Alt+A accelerator indication for Table because Alt+A is reserved, in ScriptWright, for applying the action description style.


The Toolbar in ScriptWright

ScriptWright  makes no modifications to the "standard" Word for Windows toolbar.  Instead, there are three dedicated toolbars that load only when you have a WSCRIPT.DOT document (a screenplay or one of the support documents) open.

See also:

The Main ScriptWright Toolbar

The Style Toolbar

The Revision Marking Toolbar


The Main ScriptWright Toolbar

This toolbar contains the most useful and frequently used functions in ScriptWright


The Style Toolbar

Displayed by clicking the third button on the main ScriptWright toolbar:


The Revision Marking Toolbar

Displayed by clicking the fourth button on the main ScriptWright toolbar:

In addition to the built-in commands to display the standard Revisions dialog (1), and toggle revision marking on and off (2) and to display/search/edit revisions (3), this toolbar contains five other buttons that make working with revisions a simpler.

4) ToggleRevHidden.  Word's revision marking facility can be set to display text deleted while revision marking is on in either hidden format or as struckthrough.  Text that is so hidden, however, is always hidden -- it doesn't obey the rules of normal "hidden" character attribute.  (Microsoft calls this a feature, I call it a bug).  To enable quick display of deleted text and equally quick hiding (to show what the revised document will look like) I include this macro and toolbar button combination.

The binoculars (5) jumps immediately to the next revision;  The pencil (6) accepts any revisions within the current selection; The eraser (7) undoes any revision within the current selection.  The 8th button calls the CompareVersions function.


ScriptWright's Use of Outline Levels

The outline definitions in ScriptWright are solely based on my own preferences.  In writing screenplays, I have found it useful to work from a very skeletal outline that consists of general act divisions, beneath which are sequence divisions, beneath which are the actual scene sluglines.  For example:

Note:  the act divisions entered as heading level 1 should be considered "working" divisions.  They will not be printed in the formatted script.  They should not be confused with visible act divisions formatted with the ActDivision style.

The above graphic shows a document with only outline levels showing:  Heading 1 for Act Divisions;  and Heading 2 for "Sequence" descriptions such as "Titles", "Girl meets Boy", and the like.  Sluglines are always (and must be) formatted as Heading 3.  This organization allows for simple navigation through a long script.

To make using the outline simpler, ScriptWright includes a small macro named ToggleOutline accessed with the speed key Ctrl+Shift+O or from the main toolbar..

Outline levels can be entered in one of two ways:

•	Alt+Shift in combination with the left and right direction keys.

•	The speedkeys defined as part of the style definition: Ctrl+Shift in combination with 1, 2, or 3.

•	The Alt+1, Alt+2 or Alt+S (for levels 1, 2 and 3 respectively).

When not in Outline View the first method formats a paragraph in relation to the most recent heading level.  For instance, Alt+Shift+RightArrow will format a paragraph as heading 2 if the most recent prior heading is heading 1.

Alt+Shift+LeftArrow formats the current paragraph at the same level as the preceding level.

When in Outline View these keys promote/demote the current outline level.

You can also absolutely format a paragraph as a given heading level with the following speedkeys:

level	speedkey
heading 1	Ctrl+Shift+1 Alt+1
heading 2	Ctrl+Shift+2 Alt+2
heading 3	Ctrl+Shift+3 Alt+S
Note:  Since heading 1 and heading 2 styles are defined as hidden, you must toggle the display of hidden text on in order to work with outline levels.

And a warning:  I have seen Word do strange things when using Alt+Shift+Left Arrow when not in Outline View.  The symptom is to format all subsequent body text as the previous heading level up to the next heading.  If you press either of the Alt+Shift+Direction key combinations when not in Outline View and the following text looks weird immediately press Alt+Backspace or Ctrl+Z to Undo.  For this reason (unexplained and unduplicated at Microsoft), I recommend using the Ctrl+Shift speedkey combinations when not in Outline View.


Glossaries/Abbreviations

If you are completely unfamiliar with Word's AutoText feature (called Glossary in earlier versions of Word), see Chapter 13 of the Word for Windows User's Guide.

The AutoText function allows you to store boilerplate text, such as character names, scraps of descriptions (to be moved or held in storage), with a short, mnemonic abbreviation or glossary name.

The standard EditAutoText command is accessed from the Edit menu, or with the key combination Alt+E+O.  In addition ScriptWright has a custom key combination for EditAutoText:  Ctrl+G.

You define an AutoText entry (or glossary), using EditAutoText, by selecting the text to store, choosing Auto Text from the Edit menu, and assigning the abbreviation.

You expand an AutoText entry by typing the abbreviation and then typing F3.

The disadvantage of using Word's built-in AutoText feature for storing abbreviations such as character or place names is that they are stored in the document template (in this case in W-SCRIPT.DOT), and therefore are not unique to the specific screenplay being written.  That is, all screenplays share the same set of AutoText entries.

ScriptWright has a custom abbreviation feature called ListAbbreviations.  This macro allows you to store abbreviations within the document instead of within the template.

This allows you to store commonly used phrases, such as camera angles, in W-SCRIPT.DOT as AutoText entries, and to store character names (which may vary from script to script), within the specific document.

ListAbbreviations is accessed by pressing Alt+L.

In addition, SmartEnter provides a convenient alternative way to expand glossaries within paragraphs formatted as Char.

Note: When you use the built-in EditAutoText command, where a newly defined glossary is stored depends upon the "context" displayed in the drop down list box on the EditAutoText dialog.  Be sure to always store AutoText entries within W-SCRIPT.DOT


ScriptWright Explained - Interface Tools - SmartEnter
SmartEnter

SmartEnter is one of the most useful, powerful, time saving features in ScriptWright.  It takes a little getting used to, requires a tiny bit of preparation (to define the abbreviations).  But once you become accustomed to it, you won't be able to write without it.

What it does

This facility allows you to easily expand abbreviations contained in any of three places:  the document (created by using ListAbbreviations), the document template (created by using ListAbbreviations or EditAutoText), the global template (created by using EditAutoText).  It's not as confusing as that makes it sound.

When you press the Enter key, SmartEnter looks backwards to the last word you typed (or character or two characters).  It then looks in the active document for a document variable of that name.  If it doesn't find one, it looks in the list of AutoText entries contained in W-SCRIPT.DOT (the document template).  If it doesn't fine one, it looks in the list of AutoText entries in NORMAL.DOT (the global template).

When it finds a match between the last word and an abbreviation, SmartEnter expands the abbreviation to the user specified word or phrase.

Depending upon where you are

If the current style is any paragraph other than Char (for Character Name) , SmartEnter expands the abbreviation and leaves the insertion point at the end of the inserted text.

If the current style is Char, then after inserting the abbreviation's text (a character name), SmartEnter inserts a new paragraph of Dialogue style.  You are then ready to enter the dialogue.

Special Cases

If the line of Char style consists only a period, SmartEnter runs ListAbbreviations.

If you are in a line of Action (or any other style) and type `<Enter> (that's accent grave+Enter), SmartEnter runs ListAbbreviations.

A SmartEnter Example

Create a glossary with abbreviation C for Carolyn.

1)	On a blank paragraph type Alt+C for Char

2)	Type C

3)	Press Enter.

4)	Type random dialogue

5)	Press Enter again to move to the next Character name

6)	Type a period

7)	Press Enter

8)	Type Alt+A to format as Action.

9)	Type random description

10)	Type ` followed by Enter


SmartTabs

Allows you to use the tab key to move from style to style.  What it does depends upon where the insertion point is located.

If you are in a non-blank paragraph when you press the Tab key, SmartTab will move to the end of the current line and insert a new paragraph before moving to the next style.

If the current line is empty, SmartTab will simply alter its format according to the following logic:

Current Style	A tab will change to:
heading 1 (Slugline)	Normal
Action	Char
Char	Dialogue
Dialogue	Transition
Transition	heading 1 (Slugline)
The tab key will act normally in headers and footers, footnotes and annotations, and in tables (so it works in paragraphs of side-by-side dialogue to move from one column to the next).

However, in all other styles the tab key is disabled.  This should not be a problem when using ScriptWright since the only tabs normally used in ScriptWright are inserted automatically by NumberThisSlug or NumberAllSlugs when inserting a scene heading number.

See also:

SmartTabShift


SmartTabShift

This is a companion macro to SmartTab.  SmartTab moves from style to style from left to right.  That is, it moves through the list of styles in the logical order in which you would use them.  SmartShiftTab, assigned to the Shift+Tab key when you turn SmartTabs on, moves from right to left.

SmartTabShift only works on blank paragraphs.  It is, basically, a way to return to the previous style if you move too far using SmartTab.

Current Style	Shift+Tab will change to:
heading 1 (Slugline)	Transition
Action	heading 3
Char	Action
Dialogue	Char
Break	Dialogue


Miscellaneous Usage Notes

Printing Act Numbers

Colors

Revision Marks

Accessing Macros

A Note on Double Carriage Returns

A Note on Removing Extra Carriage Returns

Scene Numbering


Printing Act Numbers

There may be times when you want to divide your screenplay into acts, not only using the heading 1 outline level (which is hidden and intended for organizational purposes only), but so that the act number displays on the first page of each act.

In order to insert an act break that will be recognized and handled appropriately by FormatScript, use the pre-defined style ActDivision.

You should not insert a hard page break or section break between acts.

The ActDivision style is defined with "Page break before" set to yes, so wherever you insert an ActDivision paragraph it will be the first paragraph of a new page.

ActDivision does not have a speedkey combination or any special macros associated with it (mainly because you should only have to apply it 3 or 5 times).

Simply insert a blank paragraph where you want the new act to begin and then select ActDivision either from the Style menu, the style toolbar, or the text shortcut menu.

To have the act number print at the top of each page you must alter the header.  See Header Information.


Colors

ScriptWright has pre-defined color attributes.  For instance, the hidden heading levels 1 and 2 are red;  heading 3 (Slugline) is blue;  Annotations are red, footnotes are blue, and headers and footers are green.

You can change any of these particular paragraph styles to other colors if you wish (since they are hidden to FormatScript).

However, do not change any of the "visible" paragraph styles (Char, Dialogue, DialogueItalic, etc.) to red or cyan.  FormatScript uses these colors to mark paragraphs of action and dialogue that have been broken by formatting and StripFormatting uses them as search criteria when restoring those paragraphs that were broken by FormatScript.


Revision Marks

Screenplay formatters sometimes allow you to mark "X-Changes", that is, lines that have changed from draft to draft.

Since ScriptWright is integrated with Word for Windows you have only to turn on Revision Marks for all changes to be displayed between drafts.

There are three macros in ScriptWright that will aid in using Revision Marks.

RevisionSearch -- looks for the next instance of revised text

RevisionAccept -- accepts the currently selected revised text

RevisionUndo -- undoes the currently selected revised text

These three macros have been installed on the toolbar (See "The toolbar" on page 31), along with a button to easily access the main ToolsRevisionMarks macro (that is, the macro that would be accessed if you selected RevisionMarks from the Tools menu).


Accessing Macros

Just a reminder to those of you who are new to Word's macro facility:  You can access any macro in a template without using the various "access methods" such as speedkeys or menus or the toolbar.  This means you can easily access macros that don't have access methods.

To execute a macro that does not have an access method, simply select Macros from the Tools Menu.  You will be presented with a list of macros.  Normally, when called from within a template based document (such as your screenplay) this list will automatically reflect the macros in the template.  You can press Alt+A and select W-SCRIPT.DOT (Template) in the "Macros Available In" drop down listing.

From the list of macros, find the one you are interested in running.  Then press Enter or Alt+R.

A macro selected in this way can also be deleted or renamed (don't do so to ScriptWright's macros, please).  If the Edit button is available (not grayed) then the macro can be edited as well.  If the Edit button is grayed then the macro is encrypted.

You can also access the executable macros contained in ScriptWright by clicking the second button on the main toolbar.  This will execute the ListMacros macro.  It displays a list of macros with description and key shortcut (if any).  See ListMacros .


A Note on Double Carriage Returns

One of the most common errors in entering a screenplay with ScriptWright, and one that often results in blank pages and incorrect formatting, is the use of extra carriage returns to insert more blank space between scenes.

It is very important that you do not use extra carriage returns to create "white space" between scenes or paragraphs.

In order to change the line spacing between scenes or between sluglines you must change the definition of the style.

ScriptWright includes a macro, ChangeLayout, to facilitate changing default line spacing.  It can be accessed from the ScriptWright Control Center and from the main toolbar.


A Note on Removing Extra Carriage Returns

If you are importing a document from another word processor, or from a text file, it is possible that you will have double spacing doubled by the existence of multiple carriage returns.  (The best indication that this is a problem is if your action paragraphs are separated by much more than one line).

If this is the case then you must strip out the extra carriage returns.  You could do so using Word for Windows to Search and Replace carriage return pairs with a single carriage return:

1.	Select Replace from the Edit menu

2.	In the Search Field enter

^p^p

3.	In the Replace Field enter

^p

Whether you Replace one at a time or choose Replace All depends upon your patience and your trust.  (This should work on most files, but cannot be guaranteed for all.)

Also, if you have a document that contains carriage return "triplets" or more, you may have to run the above EditReplace more than once.

If you fail to check for carriage return pairs the main formatting macro, FormatScript, will do it for you.


Scene Numbering

You can number sluglines (scene headings) in one of two ways:  as you enter a new slugline pressing Alt+N inserts a field, {seq slug}.  By default a scene number inserted in this way is placed on the left of the slugline.

If the slugline number is flush with normal text, rather than indented into the left margin, you need to "ToggleSlugIndent" by pressing Alt+Ctrl+I or selection the so-named macro from the Control Center.

Executing NumberAllSlugs (accessible from the Control Center) goes through the entire document inserting scene numbers either at the left, the right, or both left and right of the slugline.  NumberAllSlugs saves the current setting for scene heading number placement within the document

You can also update all numbers or insert new numbers before running FormatScript.

Note:  if you want a line that looks like a slugline (when printed) but isn't to be numbered, insert a paragraph of style Headline.

See also:

Why {Seq Slug} instead of {Autonum}?


Why {Seq Slug} instead of {Autonum}?

The reason ScriptWright uses "sequence" fields to number sluglines rather than the more automatic (and faster) "outline" numbering is simple:  it is an easy matter to "refer" to the most recent {seq} field, while there is no way, that I have discovered, to refer to the most recent {autonum}.  This is how ScriptWright can duplicate the current scene number right of the slugline text, and how FormatScript can place the scene number left of the top continueds.

If you select the entire document and press Ctrl+Shift+F9, you will "unlink fields", replacing the field codes with their result.

You should only unlink {seq slug} fields when the screenplay is complete because once unlinked, the slugline numbers cannot be automatically changed (added to or subtracted from) nor can they be removed automatically.

An unintended, but useful consequence of using fields to number sluglines is that pressing F11 moves from the current point to the next field.  So, if you have only Left numbers inserted (which is the default when you press Alt+N), you will move to the slugline for the next scene.


FormatScript - Introduction

While the paragraph styles defined in ScriptWright are useful in and of themselves, and would produce a printable copy of your screenplay, the meat of the matter lies in a macro called FormatScript.

FormatScript examines each page break in your screenplay, and performs one of several actions depending upon which style it finds at the top of the break:

If the page break falls in the middle of a scene, either between paragraphs of action or within a paragraph of action, FormatScript adds a page break ( and the bottom and top Continued strings if you are generating a Shooting format).

If the page break falls at a slugline FormatScript adds a page break before the slugline.

If the page break falls within a paragraph of dialogue, FormatScript inserts the Dialogue More String, inserts the bottom and top Continued Strings (for Shooting format), and inserts the character's name at the top of the continued speech along with the Character More String.

When you run FormatScript you will see the following dialog box:

See also:

Mode

Format

Options

PushButtons


Mode

There are two Break options.  They are grouped as Option Buttons.  You will notice that you can only have one button active at a time.

Automatic - No Intervention

If you select this mode, ScriptWright operates without user intervention, making intelligent decisions about page breaks when they fall within paragraphs of dialogue or action.

By default the break will be placed one line up, unless doing so would strand single lines at either the bottom of this or the top of the next page.

Interactive - Confirm Breaks

In this mode ScriptWright will stop and prompt you for confirmation when it encounters a page break that falls within a paragraph of dialogue or action.  It will present you with the following menu:

By default ScriptWright recommends one line up from the current cursor position.  However, you can break the paragraph at the insertion point, or two lines above the insertion point, or at the top of the current paragraph.

Note: ScriptWright allows you to force a page break one line down or at the next paragraph.  I put this facility in at the request of several users, but I must warn you that it is extremely precarious.  It is most likely that if you force a page break at the next paragraph you will end up with "stranded continueds."  If you force a break after the next line it is quite possible all will be well.  Use with caution,  and only if you are willing to do some manual clean-up.


Format

Master - dialogue only

This option is useful if you are printing a draft of a screenplay and do not want to break scenes.

In this mode FormatScript will check to see if a page break falls in the middle of a paragraph of dialogue, and if so, place the "more" string at the point where the dialogue is interrupted, and place the character name and the "dialogue continued" string before the continuation of the dialogue.

This mode does not insert top and bottom "continued" strings.

Shooting - scene & dialogue

If you select this option button, FormatScript will paginate your document and place breaks on each full page, determining if the page break falls in the middle of a scene, and if so, will place a "continued"  string at the bottom of the current page, and at the top of the next page.

It will also check to see if the page break falls in the middle of a paragraph of dialogue, and if so, place the "more" string at the point where the dialogue is interrupted, and place the character name and the "dialog continued" string before the continuation of the dialogue.  (This is in addition to the "continued" strings.)

The following check boxes are only relevant if you are breaking both scene and dialogue paragraphs.

Number CONTINUEDS

Checking this option before beginning formatting will cause FormatScript to insert the current scene number before the Top Continued inserted on the continuation pages.

This option is saved with the document from format run to format run.  If you do not have scene numbers, checking this option will have no affect.

This option is only available when you select Shooting as the Format type.


Options

The following check boxes tell FormatScript how to behave while formatting.

Renumber All Sluglines

If this option is checked, ScriptWright will renumber all sluglines before proceeding with the format.  (Like StripFormatting, you can run this macro independently of FormatScript.  It is called NumberAllSlugs).  See "NumberAllSlugs" on page 23.

Save To New File Name

If this option is checked then before anything else, ScriptWright will prompt you for a new file name and make a copy of your script.  This is useful if you don't trust ScriptWright (which you shouldn't at first, I suppose).  It isn't, as I've said before, necessary, since the StripFormatting macro will remove all ScriptWright formatting from the document.

Quiet Screen

Checking this box will turn off the screen display during the formatting process.  However, some people like to watch the script go flashing by page by page.  So, to each his own taste.

Iconize During Formatting

If this option is checked, and the Mode selected is Automatic, ScriptWright reduces the Word application to an Icon.  Progress of the formatting will be displayed on the Icon title.

However, due to limitations in Word and Windows, iconizing the formatting run will not allow you to work in other applications easily unless you have a  very powerful machine.  That is to say, you can move to another application, but all processes will be slowed to a crawl.  This is due to the fact that some actions in Word, such as repagination and many macro functions, do not release any time at all to the rest of Windows.  This option will clear your screen, and perhaps marginally speed things up, but it will not, sadly, allow you to go on about other business at a normal rate.


PushButtons

Here follows a list of the various buttons found on the FormatScript dialog box.

Begin

Begin formatting using the selected settings.

Note:  If, for whatever reason, the formatting is interrupted, you must StripFormatting and begin the format process again.  I have had reports of certain screensavers being incompatible with Word for Windows macros.

Cancel

Cancel formatting.

Settings

Displays the Settings dialog.  Allows you to change settings, such as strings to insert, before running FormatScript.

Layout

Runs the ChangeLayout macro.  This allows you to fine tune the page layout before formatting.  ChangeLayout should not be run after FormatScript.

Help

Display the W-SCRIPT.HLP file.  This file should be located in your Windows directory.


Limitations

At this time, FormatScript is an all or nothing proposition.  That is, you cannot run it on a half formatted screenplay.  If you have created a formatted screenplay, added some scenes, deleted others, and then want to format the script again, you must first StripFormatting and start over.

A future version of ScriptWright will contain facilities for reformatting a formatted script (and automatically numbering new pages as A/B pages).

Whether or not you have to renumber all scene headings will depend on whether or not you numbered the new slugs as you entered them.

If you attempt to format a script that has already been formatted, you will be warned and asked to start over.


Overview

Many of the macros found in W-SCRIPT.DOT cannot be edited.  I have tried to limit this "encryption" to macros that need never be customized or to macros whose complexity, such as FormatScript, means that any change, deliberate or inadvertant, might result in the macro failing to function at all.

Other macros can be examined and studied and, if you understand WordBasic, customized.  I would advise doing so with extreme caution.

Of course, you can still add your own custom macros to the W-SCRIPT.DOT, or modify the speed key and menu and toolbar assignments.


Alphabetical Listing of Macros

ApplyAction

ApplyParen

ApplyTransition

AutoClose

AutoNew

AutoOpen

BackupThisDoc

ChangeFonts

ChangeHeaderInfo

ChangeLayout

Character Report

ControlCenter

ConvertStyles

ConvertThisPara

CopyToScrapFile

CountContinuations

DocumentHistory

EditGotoScene

EditTitlePage

FindMissingContinuings

FindStranded

FormatScript

FudgeAllParas

FudgeParaNarrower

FudgeParaWider

FudgeThisPara

gsLib

gsLibHelp

InsertABScene

InsertOmittedScene

InsertRealTab

ListAbbreviations

ListMacros

LoadPreferences

NumberAllSlugs

NumberThisSlug

OpenProjectNotes

PrintSelection

RemoveBlankParas

ResetStyles

RevisionAccept

RevisionSearch

RevisionUndo

RunHelp

SceneReport

SetHeaderDistance

Settings

SideBySideDialogue

SmartEnter

SmartTab

SpaceBeforeDecrease

SpaceBeforeIncrease

StripFormatting

StripNumbers

ToggleHidden

ToggleOutline

ToggleRevHidden

ToggleSlugIndent


ApplyAction

Alt+Enter

This macro provides an alternative way to apply the Normal style associated with action description.

The difference between this macro and applying the Normal style using Alt+A is that this macro applies the Action Description style to the next paragraph.

It can be used instead of Enter, for instance, when typing dialogue and you wish to move not to another Char style, but to Normal.

Like most things to do with computers, this is easier to use than to explain.


ApplyParen

Alt+P, Style Menu

There is a speed key associated with the Paren Style.  Ctrl+Shift+P.  That speedkey combination simply applies the Paren Style to the current paragraph.

ApplyParen is a macro that goes one better than applying the style:

•	If you are currently in a paragraph of Char or Dialogue style, ApplyParen will assume you wish to insert a parenthetical after the current paragraph.

•	If the insertion point is within an existing parenthetical remark, ApplyParen will snatch it from the screen and display it for editing:

The following dialogue box will be displayed

This dialog box allows you to enter parentheticals in three ways:

•	typing directly into the Text edit box

•	selecting pause or continue from the option buttons

•	both typing in the Text box and selecting pause or continued

For instance, Alt+C with nothing in the text box would insert

(continuing)

Alt+P with "she collapses" in the Text box would result in:

(pause; she collapses)

ApplyParen automatically inserts the parentheses and inserts a new paragraph of Dialogue style.  If the paragraph following the parenthetical is already Dialogue or DialogueItalic, ApplyParen does not insert a new paragraph.

If you execute ApplyParen on an existing parenthetical the text between the parenthesis is inserted into the Text edit box.

There are two ways to abort ApplyParen:

•	Cancel (or Esc) returns the insertion point to its position prior to executing ApplyParen.

•	Enter with a blank Text box and the nothing button selected leaves the insertion point in a new paragraph of parenthetical

Note:  If you execute ApplyParen on a paragraph other than Char, Dialogue, DialogueItalic, or Paren an error message will display on the status bar.


ApplyTransition

Alt+B

This macro not only formats the current paragraph as Transition Style, it also formats the previous paragraph with the Keep With Next attribute.  This is useful if you are printing a Draft screenplay since it will insure that a paragraph of Transition is never the first paragraph on a page.


AutoClose

This macro is executed every time you close a document based on W-SCRIPT.DOT.

It checks to see if you have  "Automatically run when you close a screenplay doc" set to yes (checked) in the BackupThisDoc dialog box.  If so it executes BackupThisDoc.


AutoNew

This macro will run whenever you create a new document based on W-SCRIPT.DOT and prompts you for relevant project information.  See Creating a New Project.


AutoOpen

This macro will run whenever you open a document based on W-SCRIPT.DOT.  What it does depends entirely upon what preferences you have set in the LoadPreferences dialog box.  See LoadPreferences.

The various options set in LoadPreferences allow you to maximize Word and the Document, display hidden text, return to last editing location, set the Zoom factor and the View mode (outline, draft, normal, page layout).


BackupThisDoc

Control Center , Toolbar, Menu

Copies the currently active document to a specified backup directory (usually A:, but it could just as easily be a directory on your hard disk).

If the file has not been saved before executing this command you will see a check box option asking if you want to save the document first:

This macro will copy the current disk version of your screenplay to a user-specified drive/directory.  Whatever drive/directory you used last time will be saved in the document and will be presented as the default upon subsequent executions.

If the current document has changed since the last save, a checkbox will be available to save before copying to the backup destination.

If the backup destination already contains a copy of the document to backup, you will be asked for confirmation before overwriting.

If you Check the "Automatically run..." checkbox, a switch will be set that will tell ScriptWright to execute this macro every time you close a document.  This is useful since it reminds you to backup your work every time you end a session.


ChangeFonts

Control Center, Menu

This macro searches through the available fonts looking for the standard "mono spaced fonts."  It does not include all fonts available on your system (since ScriptWright will not encourage the use of proportionally spaced fonts.  See What does ScriptWright do? for some background on why not.

ChangeFonts also allows you to select the point size for the screenplay.  The default (and normal) size is 12 points (which is the same as 10 pitch on a typewriter).

You can fudge by selecting 11.5 points.  Which, if you use a font such as Prestige Elite, looks very good (since Prestige Elite is actually a bigger font than Courier).

You can fudge even more by selecting 10 points, but this size font is noticeably smaller than the norm.

The "Set line spacing to font size" checkbox requires some explanation.  Word for Windows automatically inserts a few points of what is called "leading" between lines of text.  This means that even if you have a paragraph set to single space, the spacing between the lines is actually slightly greater than it would be on a typewriter (or in most other wordprocessors).  If you look in the FormatParagraph dialog box you will see "Single" and "Auto" as possible settings for line spacing.  Both insert different amounts of leading.  The intention is to make a document more legible.  However, with monospaced 12 point fonts it is not as necessary a feature as with other, more complex documents.

Therefore, ScriptWright allows you to remove all leading from within a paragraph.  If your font is 12 points, the line spacing will be set to "Exactly 12 pts."

The affect of this is to save two to three pages in the overall length of the screenplay.  Since the rule of 120 pages as the normal length of a screenplay was formulated on typewritten scripts, I don't consider the removal of leading as a "cheat."

The "Save as Default" checkbox allows you to save whatever changes you are making to the current document to the W-SCRIPT.DOT template as well.  The consequence of checking this box is that all subsequent screenplays will also have the new font definition as their default.


ChangeHeaderInfo

Control Center

You can easily change what will print at the top of each page with this utility.  The two drop down boxes contain frequently used header information.

Your header will be automatically edited for the first section of the screenplay (if you have no title page) or for the second section (if you do have a titlepage).

If the body of your screenplay contains more than one section (for instance, if you are writing a television movie divided into acts), then you must be sure that the default definition for header connection has not been changed.  By default any new section's header is connected to the previous section.

Also note that by default the first page header of every section does not display header information.  In order for an additional section to display the header on its first page you must manually change the definition for the header in that section.

This macro does not offer an exhaustive number of combinations for your header information.  It does list some of the most common header styles, including Act numbers.

If you wish to customize your header in ways unavailable in ChangeHeaderInfo, see Changing Default Information.


ChangeLayout

Control Center, Menu

Purpose:  This macro allows you to change the number of lines skipped between scenes and between paragraphs of action or dialogue.

When you run this macro (available from the gsControlCenter), you will see the following dialog box.

Indents

This command makes it easier to change the indents and widths of the standard paragraphs.  For one thing you can do it all at once.  For another you don't have to fiddle with style definitions.

All measurements for starting positions are taken from the left margin, not from the left edge of the page.  So, for instance, in the default W-SCRIPT.DOT, which has a 1.5" left margin, Dialogue will start at approximately 3" from the left edge of the page (fudging allowed for the "unprintable region" of .25" necessary for most printers).

What this function is actually changing is the Left Indent (Start) and Right Indent (which rules the width) of the Normal, Dialogue, Char, Paren, and Transition styles.

Lines to skip

Since ScriptWright removes all extra paragraphs, you should never try to increase the amount of space between scenes or paragraphs by inserting an extra carriage return.  Instead, use ChangeLayout to modify the number of lines to place between the end of one scene and the next slugline and the number of lines to skip between action and action and action and character name.

What this function is actually changing is the Space Before setting for the styles heading 3 and Char.

Margins

This performs the same function as modifying Left and Right settings in FormatPageSetup.  You cannot change the top and bottom margins for the compelling reason that FormatScript takes over those settings when it reformats your script.

Note:  You should make any layout changes before you run a screenplay through FormatScript.  Since FormatScript calculates according to page breaks it requires that all settings that affect pagination have already been established.  In fact, if you change any of the layout settings on an already formatted script, the chances are good that you will force repagination that results in stranded lines.


Character Report

Menu, Control Center

This macro will generate a table of all the characters in your screenplay, how many times they speak, and the page and scene numbers containing their speeches.

The character report file is named with the following convention:

The screenplay file name plus the extension "CST".

So, for instance, if you screenplay is title "MYBREAK.DOC", the character report will be named MYBREAK.CST and will be stored in the same directory as the screenplay.

If you generate a character report on a screenplay in which the scene headings have not been numbered, the table will include only the page numbers, not the scene numbers.


ControlCenter

Ctrl+Shift+C, Menu, Toolbar

A dialog box that displays buttons for several ScriptWright functions.

Thirty of the more frequently used macros in ScriptWright.

If you check the Redisplay button, the Control Center will reappear after executing a macro.


ConvertStyles

Speedkey:  None

Control Center:  Yes

Converts style names to those expected by the FormatScript.

This is particularly useful when you are converting a script already written in Word for Windows or Word for DOS.

If the screenplay is based on a template, with styles defined for the six screenplay paragraphs (Slugline, Dialogue, Parenthetical, Action, Character Name, and Transition), then simply run this macro.

You will be presented with a dialog box that looks like:

The left hand list box contains all of the styles currently defined in the document.  The right hand list box contains eight functions -- the six basic screenplay paragraph styles, plus Italic Dialogue and Notes.

You simply select a style in the left box and the function it corresponds to in the right box.  In the above example, "C" would map to "Character", "D" would map to "Dialogue".

What the macro actually does is a search and replace for all paragraphs styled as "C" and changes them to "Char" style (Char is the name for the Character Name style).

Hint for Word for DOS users:  in earlier versions of Word for Windows the conversion of a Word for DOS  style sheet mapped styles using the mnemonic key combination for the name in Word for Windows.  For instance, a style accessed with Alt+D was copied into Word for Windows as a style named D.  This always struck me as odd, and, thankfully, has been changed.  Now the name of the new style is not based on the mnemonic, but on the style description.

So, if you want a Word for DOS screenplay style sheet to map accurately to Word for Windows, go into the Gallery and edit the styles so that the descriptions match the specifications found in the table on page 10.

Note:  If you have used one of Word's built-in styles in a way not supported by ScriptWright, that style will not show up in the list of unmapped styles.  For instance, if you used the List style for numbered paragraphs, you must manually do an EditReplace to change all styles of List to NumberedNormal.


ConvertThisPara

Speedkey:  None

Control Center:  Yes

Converts a paragraph style to the style expected by the FormatScript.  Does the same as Convert Styles, but on a paragraph by paragraph basis.

This is useful if you have directly formatted paragraphs rather than styles.

What happens if you have directly formatted your screenplay using the ribbon and ruler?  The result would be that all paragraphs would be variations on the Normal style, just with different indents.

In this case, you can use the macro named ConvertThisPara.  What this macro does is look at the current paragraph (the one containing the insertion point), determines all of its specific characteristics (indents etc.), then presents a dialog box that looks like:

You simply select the function that all instances of this paragraph should map to, and the macro searches through the document for paragraphs with the same characteristics and formats them with the appropriate ScriptWright style.


CopyToScrapFile

Alt+Shift+S, Toolbar (the paste bottle icon), Menu

If you are like me you're constantly snipping chunks of your script out, but you don't want to delete them forever.  One way to store these bits and pieces is to copy them to the AutoText gallery (using Ctrl+G and giving the scrap a name).  This will store the scraps within W-SCRIPT.DOT.  But this means you have one collection of scraps for all projects.

Another, preferable in my opinion, solution is to have a dedicated scrap file for every screenplay.  That's why I wrote this macro.

The first time it is executed CopyToScrapFile will ask you to confirm a proposed scrap file name.  This proposed name is built from the document name.  For instance, if you are working on a document titled MYVOICE.DOC, CopyToScrapFile will propose creating a scrap file named MYV_SCP.DOC.

Once you accept this (or enter an alternative) name, CopyToScapFile will save the scrap file name and path information within your document using a document variable.  From then on copying a chunk of text to the scrap file is as simple as selecting the paragraph or scene or section and clicking on the paste bottle icon.

You will be prompted for heading text to mark the for the pasted scrap:

Checking the "Keep scrap file open" box will leave the scrap file open in the workspace.  Unchecking it will automatically close and save the file.

Checking the "Cut after copying" box will remove the selected text from the screenplay after pasting it into the scrapfile.


CountContinuations

Menu, Control Center

This macro will run only on a fully formatted "Shooting" script that contains top and bottom continueds.

It goes through the document and counts the number of times each scene has been continued over a page break.  If the scene has been "broken" more than once, the number of continuations will be placed to the right of the top continued string.

For example, if scene 111 is four pages long and begins on page 75, the following would be printed at the top of the following pages:

Page 76 (Nothing.  This is the first "over-run" and is not noted):

111  CONTINUED:

Page 77 (This is the second full page of over-run):

111  CONTINUED: (2)

Page 78:

111  CONTINUED: (3)

Page 79:

111  CONTINUED: (4)

Note:  this is not a precise determination of a scenes page length.  Rather it reflects how many pages a scene spans.


DocumentHistory

Toolbar, Control Center, Menu

This macro allows you to annotate the process of writing your screenplay.  It can be used to document the time spent on a project, what was solved when (and by whom).

It relies upon the new "document variable" feature in Word 6.0.  It stores information "invisibly" within the structure of the document.  The only way to get the information out is to print it to a new document (done by selecting the List push button).

You can Edit an existing notation, but you cannot change the time.

The Add button will prompt you for a one line description to associate with the current date and time.

Some may wish to execute this macro automatically, when opening or closing (or both) a document.

To make this macro run automatically you would simply add the line:

ToolsMacro .Name = "DocumentHistory", .Run, .Show = 3

Immediately after

Sub MAIN

in either/both the AutoOpen and AutoClose macros.


EditGotoScene

Toolbar, Control Center

A simple macro that searches for a specified bit of text in any slugline in either direction.

If the Find text box is blank, the macro will simply find the Previous or Next scene heading.

Used with the Redisplay box checked, this is an easy way to glide through your screenplay.

The Match Case and Whole Word check boxes behave as they do in the EditFind dialog.  However, since heading 3 (sluglines) is formatted as all caps automatically, chances are that the match case will have no affect.  Chances are most of your sluglines are really all lowercase and only seem upper case because of the style definition for heading 3.


EditTitlePage

Menu, Control Center

When you create a new screenplay project based upon W-SCRIPT.DOT, there is already a title page that is put together from information contained in the FileSummaryInfo and ToolsOptionsUserInfo commands within Word.

However, you may wish to edit or print the title page.

Obviously, you can do so in Word.  This macro makes it a little easier and adds one or two advantages from editing your title page directly.

EditTitlePage gathers the information about the existing title page by searching for styles.  It makes the following assumptions:

•	That the title is formatted with style Title.

•	That the script information (e.g. "an original screenplay by") is formatted as style ByLine.

•	That the author's name is formatted as "Author".

The above are the case with the default ScriptWright titlepage.

If you need you byline to be two separate lines, do not use a hard carriage return.  Instead you should create the second line by pressing Shift+Enter to insert a line feed.  This will create what looks like a single paragraph to EditTitlePage.

Note:  If you inserted a title page manually (that is, you deleted the default title page created when you create a new project and you typed a title page directly into the document rather than using this facility) it is possible that EditTitlePage will not recognize the existing title page.  The lesson here is:  if you create a title page manually, cover it with a bookmark named TitlePage.

See also:

Advantages to Using EditTitlePage


Advantages to Using EditTitlePage

•	Edit Title page will automatically update various fields in FileSummaryInfo.  If you type the title directly, for instance, the changes will not be saved in the Document Statistics for the file.

•	You can easily print the title page.

•	Checking the Manual Feed check box will automatically switch your printer to manual fee mode.  This is useful if you wish to print only the title page or wish to print a cover on heavier stock than the rest of the script.

•	Checking the "Without bottom info" box will print only the title, byline, and author information.  This is useful for printing covers.


FindMissingContinuings

Control Center, Menu

A friend of mine submitted a script to a studio.  They had it re-typed.  And when they came upon a section such as

FRANK

One chimpanzee.

He lifts the knife high above his shoulder.

FRANK

Two chimpanzee.  Three...

They changed it to

FRANK

One chimpanzee.

He lifts the knife high above his shoulder.

FRANK

(Continuing)

Two chimpanzee.  Three...

This added a total of 138 lines.  So I figured I should give ScriptWright a way to anticipate this additional length.  It goes through the entire document and checks to see if a single character's speech is separated by action description.  You will be prompted with a message box whether or not to insert a parenthetical continuing.


FindStranded

Alt+Ctrl+C, Control Center, Menu

This macro should be run after formatting a script.  It begins from the current insertion point and moves to the end of the document, stopping when it hits a page with less than 256 Characters (a good sign that something's amiss).

When it encounters such a "short page" it stops, beeps, and moves to the previous page.

You can then see if there are any paragraphs you can "fudge" using FudgeThisPara.

See Stranded Continueds.


FormatScript

Menu, Control Center, Toolbar

Formats the screenplay.  This is the big cheese.

FormatScript - Introduction.


FudgeAllParas

Control Center

Word automatically wraps paragraphs as you type.  It is often the case that this will result in a last line consisting of a single, short word.  That doesn't bother everybody.  It sometimes bothers me.  Especially if I'm trying to conserve space and shorten the total page count of the screenplay.

This macro will go through your document and search for paragraphs that end with words of 4 characters or less.

The Interactive checkbox allows you to confirm all changes.

The drop down list allows you to change the word length FudgeAllParas will consider "too small" to be left on a single line.


FudgeParaNarrower

Alt+Ctrl+-

Increases the right indent for the current paragraph (and consequently makes the paragraph narrower).


FudgeParaWider

Alt+Ctrl+=

Decreases the right indent for the current paragraph (and consequently makes the paragraph wider).


FudgeThisPara

Menu, Control Center

This macro simply presents a friendly interface to four macros:  FudgeParaWider, FudgeParaNarrower, SpaceBeforeIncrease, and SpaceBeforeDecrease.

You can select a button multiple times, until the paragraph is fudged.  Pressing Cancel ends the macro.

By pressing the Prev or Next button you can move to other paragraphs to change their indents/space before settings.

This macro is important to the putting the finishing touch on a formatted script.


gsLib

This is a macro library used by many other macros in ScriptWright.

Do not delete.

Executing this macro directly will simply display a message.


gsLibHelp

This is a macro library used by many other macros in ScriptWright.

Do not delete.


InsertABScene

Control Center, Menu

Allows you to number a scene with an alphabetic modifier:  1a, 1b, 11a.

If you wish to number a scene with an a, b, c mark (rather than renumber the entire screenplay), simply run the macro InsertABScene (found on the Insert Menu).

You will be presented with the following dialog box:

Enter the scene number and which alpha increment to append.

You must currently be located on a heading 3 paragraph (a Slugline).  If you aren't, an error message is printed.

This command is intended for use after you have formatted a presentation script and do not wish to renumber the sluglines.  For that reason you might wish to freeze all fields by selecting the entire document and pressing Ctrl+Shift+F9.


InsertOmittedScene

Menu, Control Center

Allows you to specify that a scene or range of scenes has been omitted.

If you are preparing a shooting script and wish to denote omitted scenes, run the macro InsertOmittedScene (found on the Insert menu).

You will be presented with the following menu:

Know that you must currently be located on a heading 3 paragraph (a Slugline).  If you aren't, an error message is printed.

This command is intended for use after you have formatted a presentation script and do not wish to renumber the sluglines.  For that reason you might wish to freeze all fields by selecting the entire document and pressing Ctrl+Shift+F9.


InsertRealTab

Key:  Ctrl+Shift+Tab

All this macro does is to insert the tab character (usually accomplished by pressing Tab...).

It exists to compensate for the loss of the normal Tab key when SmartTabs are in effect.


ListAbbreviations

Alt+L, Control Center, Toolbar

This macro allows you to store abbreviations, such as character and place names or standard format notations, for easy retrieval.  Used in combination with SmartEnter, ListAbbreviations obviates the need for use of Word's built-in EditAutoText (a.k.a. EditGlossary) function.

In gScript this macro was named ListGlossaries and was invoked with Alt+G.

The major enhancement in this version of ListAbbreviations is the ability to store an abbreviation in the current document as opposed to the underlying template upon which the document is based.  This allows you to have discrete lists of abbreviations for each screenplay.

When executed you will see the following dialog box:

You will see the name of the current document in the "List abbreviations from" group box.  When this button is selected, the list, of abbreviations, and any new abbreviation added, are stored within the document itself, in a reserved space called "document variable."

If you select "Document Template" the abbreviations will be stored in WSCRIPT.DOT.

So, for example, you might store all character names in the document itself, and store formatting instructions such as CT as an abbreviation for CUT TO: within the template.

If you use the built-in Word command EditAutoText to create AutoText entries please be certain to save them to the W-SCRIPT.DOT template.  If you accept Word's (dumb in my opinion) default action of storing a new AutoText entry into NORMAL.DOT, that autotext entry will be invisible to ListAbbreviations.

You can create a new abbreviation in one of two ways:

•	Select the word or phrase to store as an abbreviation and press Alt+L.

•	From the ListAbbreviations dialog box you select Add.

You will be presented with two text edit boxes:  one for the abbreviation and one for the text the abbreviation will expand.

The limitation of ListAbbreviations is that you cannot include formatting instructions in the text stored in a glossary defined in this way.  However, you aren't supposed to have fancy formatting in a screenplay.

If you do need italic or underline in a glossary, use EditAutoText to define, but be sure to store in W-SCRIPT.DOT and not NORMAL.DOT.

See Glossaries/Abbreviations for general comments about glossaries.


ListMacros

Toolbar

This macro, accessible from the main toolbar, provides an alternative way to execute ScriptWright macros (alternative to the Control Center).

The advantages of ListMacros are three:  it displays all of the executable macros; it displays a description of each macro;  it displays the shortcut key combination (if there is one).


LoadPreferences

Menu, Control Center

This macro allows you to set the default action ScriptWright will take when you first open a document.

It needs to be run only once to set your preferences.


NumberAllSlugs

Control Center, Menu

Inserts a {seq slug} field to number all slug lines.  Takes some time.  You can turn off the display (speeding things marginally) by checking the Quiet Screen check box.

You will be presented with a dialog box that looks like:

Left: 	Places the scene number left of the slugline

Right: 	Places the scene number right of the slugline

Both:	Places the scene number both right and left .

Note that if you select either Left or Both then the left indent of heading 3 (Slugline) will automatically be changed to a "hanging indent" of -.5" so that the numbers will print in the "gutter" region of the page.

Strip current numbering:

This button is necessary only if you wish to remove all numbers before proceeding...  It runs an independent macro named StripNumbers.

See "NumberThisSlug" on page 25.

Quiet Screen: turns off the display while the macro is working.


NumberThisSlug

Alt+N, Heading Text Shortcut Menu, Control Center

Numbers the current slug line.  If you number every scene heading /slugline as you write, then it is unnecessary to NumberAllSlugs.

NumberThisSlug determines where to place the scene number by reading a document variable named Side.  If there is no such document settings (for instance, the very first time you execute NumberThisSlug) you will be prompted for the placement.


OpenProjectNotes

Main Toolbar:  idea bubble, Menu

In addition to a scrap file, I find it useful to have a dedicated note document in which I can track the progress of the script, dabble with new ideas, keep random thoughts, bitch about producers.  A sort of project journal.

Like CopyToScrapFile, this macro will create a document for you, storing it in the same directory as the screenplay.

The first time you run OpenProjectNotes, it will ask you to confirm a proposed note file name.

This proposed name is built from the document name.  For instance, if you are working on a document titled MYVOICE.DOC, OpenProjectNotes will propose creating a scrap file named MYV_NTS.DOC.

Once you accept this (or enter an alternative) name, OpenProjectNotes will save the scrap file name and path information within your document using a document variable.  From then on opening and adding to your note document is as simple as selecting the paragraph or scene or section and clicking on the paste bottle icon.

A heading 1 line will be inserted with the date and time at the bottom of the document.


PrintSelection

Control Center, Toolbar

This macro allows you to quickly print a section of your screenplay.  You can specify the type of header and you can specify where to start the numbering.

This allows you to print only changed pages and insert them into a working draft.


RemoveBlankParas

This macro simply checks to see if there are any blank paragraphs (doubled carriage returns) and if so, removes them.

If you need to run this macro you must select it from the list of template macros displayed when you select Macro from the Tools menu, or from ListMacros.

It is not necessary to run this macro.  FormatScript will automatically check to see if the document contains doubled carriage returns and will remove them before proceeding with the format.


ResetStyles

Control Center

Resets all style definitions to the defaults contained in W-SCRIPT.DOT.  This can be useful if you are converting documents from other word processors or from the predecessor to ScriptWright, gScript.


RevisionAccept

Alt+Ctrl+A, Revision Toolbar (pencil)

This macro marks the currently selected revision as accepted.

There is no default speedkey (however you could assign one).

It is located on the Toolbar as Icon:


RevisionSearch

Alt+Ctrl+S, Revision Toolbar (binoculars)

This macro searches for the next revision marked text.

It is located on the Toolbar as Icon:


RevisionUndo

Alt+Ctrl+U, Revision Toolbar (eraser)

This macro undoes the currently selected revision.

It is located on the Toolbar as Icon:


RunHelp

Alt+Ctrl+H, Control Center, Toolbar, Menu: Help

This macro loads the ScriptWright help file at the contents page.


SceneReport

Control Center, Menu

After formatting your document in Shooting mode, you can execute this macro to create a report of the scenes in your screenplay, their length, and on which page the scene begins.

This is useful to see that your use of scene heading description has been consistent and to give an overview of the screenplay.

The following dialog allows you to change some the appearance of your report:

This macro will generate a new document containing a table of all the scenes in your screenplay.  The table will have the following form:

No.	Slugline	Length	Page
1	EXT.  DARK AND STORMY NIGHT	1	1
The scene report file will be named with the same file name as your screenplay with the extension RPT.  It will be saved into the same directory as your screenplay.

A dialog box will prompt you for the font and point size to use for the report file.  You will also be asked whether to use portrait or landscape orientation for the report.  If your sluglines are long, you might want to use landscape.  If you wish to modify the footer information, edit the resulting file directly.


SetHeaderDistance

Sets the header distance to the default .3".  If your header is printing too close to the top continueds in a fully formatted script, execute this macro.

If you need to run this macro you must select it from the list of template macros displayed when you select Macro from the Tools menu, or from ListMacros.


Settings

Speedkey:  None

Control Center:  Yes

Menu: Tools

The settings dialog box allows you to customize several aspects of ScriptWright's behavior:

See also:

Strings

Post-Formatting

Vertical Margins

Smart Enter ON

SmartTab ON

Unprintable region for this printer is .5 inch

Use status bar for non-critical messages

Edit INI


Strings

These are the specific strings that will be placed in your script at page breaks.

Dialogue More String

What will be inserted below a broken paragraph of dialogue::

Character Continued String

What will be inserted next to the character name on the top of the following page, when a page break is inserted into a paragraph of dialogue, e.g.:

Bottom Continued String

What will be inserted at the bottom of the page when a scene continues:

(CONTINUED)

Top Continued String

What will be inserted at the top of the page when a scene continues:

CONTINUED:


Post-Formatting

This drop down list contains various options that tell FormatScript what to do when formatting is complete.

•	Nothing - returns the view settings to whatever they were when FormatScript began.

•	PrintPreview - toggles the document into Print Preview mode (where you can scroll through and examine how things look before printing).

•	PageView - toggles to Page View using the existing zoom factor.

•	Fullpage - toggles to Page View and sizing the page to fit in your screen (this is faster than PrintPreview and just as useful if you have a high resolution monitor).

•	Print - print the document.  This should only be used if you know that the formatted script has no stranded continueds (for instance, if you have successfully formatted with the current settings previously).


Vertical Margins

This drop down list contains four settings: Generous, Normal, Tight, and Risky.  This setting controls how many lines FormatScript will attempt to place on each page, and as a consequence, how much whitespace will be at the top and bottom of the formatted screenplay.

•	Generous - results in slightly more than standard top and bottom margins in the formatted screenplay.  Use this setting if you screenplay is a tad short.  It should result in no stranded continueds (pages where a break has pushed a fragment of text across the page break).

•	Normal - results in 1" top and bottom margins.  This setting will normally not cause any stranded continueds.

•	Tight - my personal preference.  It fills the page most efficiently.  It can result in stranded continueds under some circumstances.  If you use this setting be sure to examine each page or run FindStrandeds after formatting.

•	Risky - use with caution.  This setting will in all likelihood, result in a formatted script that requires some manual tweaking.  If you script is a tad long, this setting will conserve perhaps 5% (3-6 pages).

You'll notice that none of the above statements are scientifically accurate.  This is because how FormatScript will manage a particular script is dependent upon many variables, such as how many instances of broken dialogue, how often you use parentheticals, how many pages end in transition breaks.


Smart Enter ON

When checked this enables SmartEnter.  When SmartEnter is on, typing a glossary on a line of Char, followed by Enter, will expand the glossary and move to dialogue style with a single keystroke.

See: SmartEnter.


SmartTab ON

When checked this enables the use of the Tab and Shift+Tab keys to move from style to style.

See: SmartTabs


Unprintable region for this printer is .5 inch

By default ScriptWright assumes that the unprintable region is .25 inch.  This is the case with most laser printers.  However, some printers, notably the HP DeskJet, will not print outside of .5 inch from the paper edge.

If you have seen an error message stating that the margins are outside the printable region, check this box and try formatting again before printing.


Use status bar for non-critical messages

By default ScriptWright uses message boxes to notify the user of certain things -- like the completion of a format run.

When this box is checked non-critical status messages are displayed at the bottom of the Word application.


Edit INI

Load WRIGHT.INI into the NOTEPAD application.  Use with caution.


SideBySideDialogue

Menu

Inserts a two column table for side by side dialogue.

ScriptWright contains macros and styles for easily inserting side by side dialogue.  The command is located on the Insert menu;  the styles associated with this command are:

Style Name	Function	Speedkey
SbSChar	Side-by-side Character	(no key)
SbSDialogue	Side-by-side Dialogue	(no key)
The command that inserts a table of two columns is located on the Insert menu.

Note:  Once you are in a table it's sometimes confusing how to get out.  Pressing Tab will simply insert another row.  You can either press the Down arrow key or press Alt+NumPad5 to select the table and then press the Right arrow key.


ScriptWright Macros Reference - Alphabetical Listing of Macros - SmartEnter
SmartEnter

See: SmartEnter.

Turned on and off on the Settings dialog.


SmartTab

See: SmartTabs

Turned on and off on the Settings dialog.


SpaceBeforeDecrease

Alt+Shift+-

Decreases the space before a paragraph by 1 point each time it is executed.

Also accessible from the FudgeThisPara macro.


SpaceBeforeIncrease

Alt+Shift+=

Increases the space before a paragraph by 1 point each time it is executed.

Also accessible from the FudgeThisPara macro.


StripFormatting

Control Center, Menu

This is one of the great virtues of ScriptWright.  It is a simple matter to remove all formatting instructions, page breaks, and additional strings inserted by running FormatScript in Automatic or Interactive mode.

After running StripFormatting you are left with a version of the document that is suitable for draft printing.  There will be no inserted "Continueds" or "Mores", etc.

This is, I think, very useful, since you may wish to print "draft" copies of the screenplay as you work, and only FormatScript when a draft is completed.


StripNumbers

Control Center, Menu

If you entered slugline numbering as you wrote the script, then this is unnecessary.  If however, the script is not numbered, or not completely numbered (you just added a scene), then you should either run this macro from the Control Center or check the appropriate check box when you format the script.


ToggleHidden

Ctrl+Shift+H

Toggle between displaying and hiding text formatted as Hidden.

Since, by default, ScriptWright uses hidden to format Outline Levels 1 and 2, this is a useful toggle to have installed.

Note:  There are two ways to display hidden text:

•	ToggleHidden -- changes the status ONLY of hidden text.

•	ShowAll -- this is a built in Word command, accessed by pressing Ctrl+Shift+8 (the thinking here is Shift+8 is the asterisk).

If ShowAll is active then toggling Hidden off will have no effect.  So:  use one or the other method.  Not both.


ToggleOutline

Ctrl+Shift+O, Toolbar

A small utility macro that will toggle in and out of Outline View.


ToggleRevHidden

Revision Toolbar (struckthrough abc)

Word 6.0 allows you to specify how text that is deleted when Revision Marking is active will be displayed.  You can choose either strikethrough or hidden.  The difficulty is that these attributes are different from the character formatting that is available in the FormatFont dialog box.

This means that turning "hidden on" with Ctrl+Shift+H will not display text that is hidden because it was deleted with revision marking on.

This macro, accessed from the Revisions toolbar, allows you to toggle between revision-deleted displayed as strikethrough and revision-deleted displayed as hidden.  This allows you to keep your "temporarily" deleted passages and to quickly see what the page count and "look" would be if you accepted the deletions.


ToggleSlugIndent

Alt+Ctrl+I, ControlCenter

Toggles the left indent of sluglines (heading 3) so that if there are numbers they will print in the gutter.  If you have sluglines numbered, then the indent should be -.5;  if you have no numbers, it should be 0".  This macro toggles between the two.


Updating gScript Documents

If you have used the precursor to ScriptWright called gScript there are a few things to consider.

You must manually attach the new template, W-SCRIPT.DOT to your gScript document.

You should check the option to merge styles when the template is attached.  This is necessary because there are several new styles in ScriptWright.

Alternatively, you could copy the current ScriptWright styles into a document by executing  ResetStyles from the ListMacros list or selecting Reset Style to Default from the Control Center.

If your gScript document is already formatted, and you have no plans to re-format it, then you don't need to do anything.  It will print with the page breaks and inserted strings applied by gScript.  However, if you wish to reformat your screenplay with ScriptWright, you must remove the gScript formatting.

You can strip formatting using gScript or you can run the StripFormatting macro contained in ScriptWright.  This macro will recognize a file created with gScript and remind you to backup before continuing.

Be certain to ResetStyles after stripping formatting from a gScript file.  In gScript styles were automatically reset during a StripFormatting.  This is no longer the case (so that minor manual changes to styles are not lost).


Changing Default Information

ScriptWright contains various layout and boilerplate settings which are automatically passed on to every new document based on W-SCRIPT.DOT.

You can easily modify this information within the document.  But it may be that you want to change this information for all subsequent documents based on WSCRIPT.DOT.

The easiest way to do this is to modify the template directly.

A template is just like a Word document.  You can load and edit it as you would any other document.  So, the first step in modifying the default definitions contained in W-SCRIPT.DOT is to learn to load it:

1.	FileOpen

2.	Alt+T to pull down the list of File Types

3.	Select Document Templates

4.	Navigate through your directories until you are in the directory containing your templates (files with the extension DOT)

5.	Select W-SCRIPT.DOT and press Enter

See also:

Margins and Paragraph Indents

Header


Margins and Paragraph Indents

By default the margins in ScriptWright are 1.5" left, and 1" right, top and bottom.

To change the default margins simply select PageSetup from the Format menu and fiddle the settings.

If you want to change both margins and the default paragraph indents for the screenplay styles, execute ChangeLayout by selecting Layout from the Tools menu or from the Control Center.


Header

The default header in ScriptWright contains the title, the author, and the page.  If you wish to change what will print on the top of every page (starting at page 2), you must edit the header in the template.

Load the template, select Header/Footer from the View menu.  Select header and press Enter.

Since the default header uses field codes and tabs, it is advisable that you turn on ViewFieldCodes (Alt+V+C) and that you turn on ShowAll (Ctrl+Shift+8).

You can move from field to field by pressing F11.

Alter and fiddle the formatting of the header to suit your preferences.

You can also change some of the header information by executing Change Header Info from the Control Center.  This macro presents you with a list of commonly used header information.


Stranded Continueds

Though I've tried to make FormatScript's page breaking logic as economical as possible -- striving to fit as much on the pages as possible without being cramped -- there will still be times when, because of the nature of the last paragraph on a page, ScriptWright will put one line too many on a page and force the bottom continued break to the next page.  That's the bad news.  The good news is I've come up with several small tools to help you rectify this manually (and I'm working on an automatic solution).

The manual solution consists of three parts: finding the stranded continued, making appropriate paragraphs wider, and decreasing the space before selected paragraphs.

See also:

Finding Stranded Continueds

Making paragraphs wider

Decreasing Space Before a Paragraph

Interactively Fudging a Paragraph


Finding Stranded Continueds

There is a macro, available from Control Center and by pressing Alt+Ctrl+C, named FindStranded.

Once the macro locates what it suspects is a stranded continuation page, it moves to the previous page.  You should then locate any paragraphs containing a single word on the last line and execute FudgeThisPara (which is located both on the Control Menu and on the Text Shortcut menu, click the right mouse button).


Making paragraphs wider

Two macros:

FudgeParaWider - increases the current paragraph's width by .15 each time it is pressed, , accessed with Alt+=

FudgeParaNarrower - decreases the current paragraph's width by .15 each time it is pressed.accessed with Al+-

For instance, if a paragraph ends with a single word of three characters, pressing Alt+ twice should wraps that paragraph, saving a line on the current page.


Decreasing Space Before a Paragraph

If the Continued doesn't move to the current page, you can also select paragraphs and change the default space before.  That is, the default space before is 1 li (or 12 pt).  By pressing Alt+Shift+, you decrease the Space Before a paragraph by one point.

SpaceBeforeIncrease - increases the current paragraph's Space Before setting by one point, accessed with Alt+Shift+=

SpaceBeforeDecrease  - decreases the current paragraph's Space Before setting by one point, accessed with Al+Shift+-


Interactively Fudging a Paragraph

Perhaps the easiest way to change either the width or the space before a paragraph is to execute FudgeThisPara from the Text Shortcut menu (accessed by clicking the right mouse button on the paragraph to fudge).  See FudgeThisPara


Price and Ordering

ScriptWright costs $99.95.  Upgrades from prior versions are $49.95.

You will be notified of upgrades via mail.


Support

Indelible, Ink.
156 Fifth Avenue
Suite 228
New York, NY 10010

Voice: 	212-255-1956
FAX:	212-255-1735

Email:	CIS:  71171,3555
MCI:   GJGALLO
Internet: gallo@pipeline.com


Notices

ScriptWright is copyright 1991, 1993, 1994 by Guy J. Gallo.  No portion of the macros contained in this template, or this documentation, may be modified, copied, distributed or otherwise altered without the express permission of the author.  This includes, but is not limited to, basing a similar application upon the macros contained in ScriptWright, distributing the package for a fee via any method, disk or electronic.

ScriptWright is provided as is.  I make no warranties and take no responsibility for possible data loss or corruption.  With a system this complex there is always the possibility of error.  Make backups first...


About the Author

Lest you think this template is the creation of a Word for Windows programmer who knows nothing of screenwriting, I have written screenplays, including Under The Volcano (1984), an adaptation of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (PBS 1986), a single episode of Tales from the Darkside:  The Enormous Radio (1987), and, of course, the large handful of scripts withering in development hell.

I teach screenwriting in the Film Division of Columbia University.

Putting this together is one of the myriad ways I avoid finishing the novel...


Glossary of Terms

Auto Macros

Document Templates

Document Variables

User-Dot-Path

Field Codes

Headline

Hidden Text

Paragraph Styles

Scene Slugline

Stranded Continueds

Take Word for Windows to the Edge


Auto Macros

An Auto Macro is a macro that is executed every time a condition is met.  AutoNew is executed every time a new document is based on the template containing the AutoNew Macro.  AutoOpen is executed every time a document based on the template containing AutoOpen is opened.  Other Auto Macros are AutoClose, AutoExec, and AutoExit.  See the user manual or HLP file for more detail.


Document Templates

A template is a specialized Word for Windows file which contains style information, macros, glossaries, menu, key, and toolbar assignments to be associated with a class of documents (like screenplays).  When you create a Word for Windows document you base it on a template.  W-SCRIPT.DOT is one such template.


Document Variables

Word for Windows 6.0 now allows the macro language to store string variables "inside" the document.  Several features in ScriptWright 6.0 -- such as ListAbbreviations and DocumentHistory -- use Document Variables to store project specific settings.


User-Dot-Path

The directory containing all of your DOT files.  By default this is your Word for Windows directory.  It can be any directory, but if you have moved your templates you must have a User-Dot-Path variable set in WIN.INI.


Field Codes

A "field"  is a special code inserted into a Word document that displays information or performs an action.  ScriptWright uses fields for three functions:  title page, header, and numbering scene headings.  For more information on field codes see the Word for Windows User's Guide, chapter 41, or Take Word for Windows to the Edge, chapter 11.


Headline

A style used for single lines that are mid-way between Action and Slugline.  That is, it requires more emphasis than Action but should not be numbered like a Slugline.  For instance:

FADE UP:

or

INTERCUT:

might be formatted as Headline.


Hidden Text

Word for Windows allows you to define a style as "hidden".  Text formatted with this style will display on the screen only when ToolsOptionsView is set to either display hidden or ShowAll.  Text formatted as hidden will not print unless you explicitly tell Word for Windows to do so.

In ScriptWright the styles heading 1, heading 2, and HiddenNote are defined as hidden.


Paragraph Styles

A style is a collection of indentation, font, and spacing information saved under a specific name.  For instance, "Char" contains the indentation and font information for the character name paragraphs.


Scene Slugline

The line marking the beginning of a new scene or camera setup within a scene.  Sometimes called a Scene Heading.  A Slugline usually has the format:

INT. LOCATION - TIME

Distinguished from a "Headline" by the fact that in Shooting Script Mode a Slugline is numbered while a Headline is not.


Stranded Continueds

Sometimes, when formatting in Shooting mode, ScriptWright will miscalculate where to place a break.  The result is that a single line, usually the bottom continued, will be forced to the next page.  It will be "stranded" all by its lonesome.


Take Word for Windows to the Edge

My book on maximizing the power of Word for Windows.  ISBN 1-56276-079-3.  Published by Ziff-Davis Press, 1-800-688-0448 and your local computer bookstore.