SCREENPLAY FORMAT?

It amazes me how intense and defensive people get about the finer details of screenplay formatting.  I will say firstly that screenplay formatting is extremely important. But, at the same time, it is not the most important part of a screenplay - off the start.

Basic screenplay format is key.  You must have proper sluglines, you must have proper margins, you must do the basics like using all caps when you introduce characters for the first time, and have the proper positioning of parentheticals. But if you write within a proper industry standard program, like FADE IN (my favorite), all of these things will be pretty much automatic.  But the thing to remember is that basic formatting is all you need to worry about off the start.  What you should be focusing on more strongly, is getting the story down on that page.

Final passes are the time for making sure you use style and focus with your formatting choices to make that story pop, and push and pull the reader in the directions you want them to go, in emotional and mysterious and active ways.

Too many writers, it seems, worry too much about whether or not to use the word WE or to use CUT TO or to have a CONT'D if a character speaks again after an action line.  Or whether to underline or use ALL CAPS over a few words they want to have stand out, or whether to bold a slugline or not.  Nobody will care about any of this, unless you use them poorly and sloppily.  But using them with finesse is the trick!  Half the battle of screenwriting is mastering the use of the words on the page, and the way those words come across.  An action line can be written in many different ways.  Such as:

Jake stares at the open grave before him.  He lightly darts his eyes to see the shovel just out of his reach. He moves his hand toward it and the shadow of the man behind him moves as well. Jake spins his body with force, rolls, scoops up the shovel, and slams it into the man's kneecap, slicing the clothing and flesh, buckling the man to the grass.

OR

Jake stares at the open grave, his knees deep in the soft earth. From his peripherals, Jake sees the handle of the shovel. Without hesitation, he darts his hand to it -- rolls -- whips the shovel up --SLASH -- blood splatters from the severed kneecap of the man standing over him.

OR

We see the shovel just out of Jake's reach. His hand quivers... then -- whoosh -- he grabs the shovel, rolls to his back, and with all the energy he has left swipes the edge of the shovel through the kneecap of the man behind him.

The thing is, none of these are wrong.  And at the same time, none of them may be the best way to write this sentence.  Every writer is going to write this action section different from the other.  And that is the point, isn't it?  To be different?  To not read exactly like the next writer?  Yes, there are format "rules" to stay within, but they are not the end all and be all of choices.  You can do things in a way that makes certain things stand out, or certain action explode, or time to stop and focus, or slow down for us to feel the beat and cry.

Basic format must be followed, I agree.  But every single working writer I ask tells me the little things, the choices that push or stretch certain standard expectations, don't matter, if done well.

And that is the key.  You must do it well.  And not just the formatting, but the entire thing.  If the formatting is standardly perfect, and the story sucks and the characters are shit, then it doesn't matter.  And if your formatting is a little different in a couple spots, or you use a lot of ellipses, or you bold and underline your slugs at the same time -- if the story kicks as nobody will care.

It's all about pulling that reader into the world of the characters and story, and manipulating their minds to feel like they are watching something.  And however you choose to do that, well, that is your choice.  Nobody elses.

Now go, and WRITE HARD!