Quick Formatting Guide (Film)
Helpful Tips for Punctuation, Spelling & Usage
A salesperson sends you an email in hopes of
closing a sale. When you read the email,
you notice it's full of spelling errors, incorrect punctuation and missing
words. Would you buy something from this
person? What if he's selling his
services as a writer? Would hire him to
write something for you?
As professional writers, we must go to
extraordinary lengths to ensure every document we deliver to our creative
partners and employers is correct in very basic ways.
End Punctuation
Every sentence must end with punctuation of
some kind.
Statements:
Statements are not questions. Statements must end in a period or exclamation point even if they
indicate uncertainty:
“I wonder if she likes
football.”
“I don’t know how to
punctuate this sentence!”
One-word Sentences:
“Whatever.”
"Yes."
Exclamations:
Even one-word exclamations or sound effect words need end punctuation:
“D’oh!”
“Hmph.”
“Tsk!”
“Psst!”
“Eew!”
"Shhh."
Questions:
These must end in a question mark even if they are slang:
“What’s up?”
“Hey, how’s it goin’?”
Interruptions:
If a character's line of dialog is cut off by another character before
finishing a sentence, end the sentence with two dashes in Final Draft
("--"). For example, “I can't
believe he would--“ means that the person got interrupted before he could
finish the sentence. The dash counts as the end punctuation:
"But, Dad--"
If the interrupted sentence is a question, put a question mark after the
dash or dashes:
"What in heaven's
name--?"
"Will you please let
me fin--?" (In this case, the word
"finish" is cut off mid-word.)
Unfinished
thoughts:
If a character's line of dialog trails off without finishing the
sentence, use an ellipsis, which is three periods.
“I wonder if. . . ”
If the trailing line dialog would be a question if finished, put a
question mark after the ellipsis:
“What the. . . ?”
"Why in the
world...?"
Commas
Commas are often misused or not used at all. Here are some guidelines for using them
properly.
Commas in run-on
sentences:
Commas do NOT do the same job as periods. Use correct end punctuation even if someone
is speaking very fast:
Incorrect: “Are you crazy, what are you doing, that’s
highly flammable gas!”
Correct: “Are you crazy? What are you doing? That’s highly flammable gas!”
Commas with
Direct Address:
Anytime a sentence directly addresses someone (refers to them by name,
nickname, title, etc.), the addressee is separated from the rest of the
sentence by commas.
When the addressee is mentioned last in the sentence:
Good night, Mom.
Thank you, everyone.
No problem, dude.
Hasta la vista, baby.
Don’t have a cow, man.
Hurry up, slowpoke!
Hi, folks.
Bye, Joe.
How are you, Jane?
When the addressee is mentioned first in the sentence:
Dude, that’s messed
up.
Man, I can’t wait
to party tonight.
Baby, I love you.
All you people out
there, listen up!
Those of you who won, congratulations!
When the addressee is in the middle of the sentence:
Please, Mom, can I
go out and play?
Hey, man, what’s
up?
Commas with exclamations &
interjections:
Use commas in dialog to set off an exclamation or interjection at the
beginning of a line of dialog.
Incorrect: Wow that's awesome!
Correct: Wow,
that's awesome!
Incorrect: Hey look over here!
Correct: Hey,
look over here!
Incorrect: Whoa that's amazing.
Correct: Whoa,
that's amazing.
Incorrect: So tell me more.
Correct: So,
tell me more.
Incorrect: Yeah I can do that.
Correct: Yeah,
I can do that.
Incorrect: No I didn't tell him anything.
Correct: No,
I didn't tell him anything.
Incorrect: Ah I understand now.
Correct: Ah,
I understand now.
Capital Letters
When family identifiers, such as mom, dad,
grandmother, grandfather, aunt, etc., are used as a family member's name
in dialog, they must be capitalized:
Incorrect: Where are you going, mom?
Correct: Where are you going, Mom?
Incorrect: Wait, dad.
Correct: Wait, Dad.
Incorrect: You, auntie, are my favorite.
Correct: You, Auntie, are my favorite.
When family identifiers are used as a simple
noun, they are not capitalized:
Incorrect: My Mom is a studio executive.
Correct: My mom is a studio executive.
Incorrect: You are the best Dad in the world!
Correct: You are the best dad in the world!
Slang
Slang is fine in script dialog because you’re often trying to capture the
way people speak naturally. Keep in mind
that there are commonly accepted ways of writing slang:
Contractions
of “ing” words:
Where’s he goin’?
What’s he doin’?
What’s the big freakin’
deal?
Phonetic
spellings:
gonna (going to)
whatcha (what are you)
gotta (got to)
Sound Words:
eew, ooh, ugh, hmph, psst, tsk, um,
uh-huh, uh-uh
Combo
contractions/phonetic spellings:
hecka, hella, dammit, ain’t, grr, woof.
Apostrophes
Contractions:
An apostrophe replaces omitted letters/spaces/numbers:
it is becomes it’s;
cannot
becomes
can’t
what is becomes what’s
Contractions of Dates:
When you want to shorten a calendar year, put an apostrophe in place of
the first two digits:
The
1970s becomes
The ‘70s.
Possessives:
If the cat has a toy, then it is the cat’s toy (singular
possessive). If several cats have a toy, then it is the cats’ toy
(plural possessive).
Odd plural possessives (these use an
apostophe before the s:)
children’s
people’s
women’s
men’s
Exception plural possessives (these use
no apostrophe:)
ours
yours
theirs
One tricky singular possessive: its (no
apostrophe:)
The singular possessive of it
is its. For example:
Incorrect: That chair is wobbly because it's legs are
uneven.
Correct: That chair is wobbly because its legs are uneven.
This is to keep its (possessive) distinguishable from it’s (contraction
of “it is”).
Plurals:
DO NOT use apostrophes to create plurals! Write all plurals without apostrophes.
CDs
DVDs
1970s
General character ages are also plurals
(because they convey a set of 10 years) and do not use an apostrophe.
Incorrect: A WOMAN, early 20's, walks into the room.
Correct: A WOMAN, early 20s, walks into the
room.
Incorrect: AN OLD MAN in his 80's jogs by the cafe.
Correct: AN OLD MAN in his 80s jogs by the
cafe.
When using the short form of a calendar decade,
do not put an apostrophe before the end s:
Incorrect: '70's or 70's.
Correct: '70s
Plurals of family names DO NOT use apostrophes:
The Simpsons
The
Smiths
The
Joneses
Miscellaneous Common Spellings
Use abbreviations in scripts only if you want the audience to hear the
abbreviation rather than the full word or phrase. For example:
If the character says "U.S.",
write "U.S."
If
the character says “United States,” write "United States."
If the character says,
"ASAP," write "ASAP."
If the character says,
"As soon as possible," write "As soon as possible."
Some abbreviations are never pronounced, so should never be
used in script dialog:
mph (for "miles per
hour:)
St. (for "street")
Oct. (for
"October")
lbs. (for
"pounds")
Always abbreviate "television as TV, not “tv” or “teevee”.
Always use yeah, not “ya” (unless your character is Scandinavian)
or “yea” (this is Old English for “yes.”)
Usage
Be careful to use words correctly.
Some words look or sound alike, but have different meanings and
spellings.
Here are the most common usage errors:
your (possessive form of you)
you're (contraction of you are)
their (possessive form of
they)
there (in that place)
they're (contraction of they are)
its (possessive form of it)
it's (contraction of it is)
were (form of the verb to be)
we're (contraction of we are)
where (related to location
or place)
accept (a verb, meaning to receive or to admit to a group)
except (usually a
preposition, meaning but or only)
who's (contraction of who is)
whose (possessive form of who)
affect (usually a verb,
meaning influence)
effect (usually a noun,
meaning result)
than (used in comparison)
then (refers to a time in
the past)
weather (climatic
conditions)
whether (conjunction,
meaning if)
close (to shut)
clothes (things you wear)
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