Screenwriting : English issues... by Conrad Ekeke

Stick with English. You can convey accents or exotic dialects in the prose.

Like everything, it depends, and there's no single right answer. It's possible that you could send a query letter to an agent or manager using British English, and the person could react with greater interest. Maybe they've just read 20 bad American scripts, have a bad taste in their mouths, and they want to sign an Englishman. Maybe they happen to rep a UK director looking for British material. It really shouldn't matter much, but there could be an advantage for you, as the foreigner who's cooler and more exotic than the writer from Arkansas. :-)

Yes I really think that getting the idea behind some literary work of arts is what's vital. But all the same, if the language can't communicate the idea, I think it's all messed up :) thanks Lee.

Yeah Kent I strongly agree with you. Some vernacular don't really have direct translations, especially when handling loglines. Keeping 'em short and straight to the central idea, not withstanding, those key factors that make up a good logline. :)

Allow me to clarify. What I meant by British English are alternate spellings that would be covered by the British dictionary in Microsoft Word (e.g. colour instead of color, realise instead of realize), grammar rules (e.g. the family are instead of the family is) or commonly known terms (e.g. boot instead of trunk), but I would avoid using highly region-specific "vernacular" that would require Googling to understand. Typically, you don't want to be misunderstood. However, in the script itself, yeah, you should give proper voice to your characters. Again, it depends on the situation and the audience who is reading your material.

With dialogue, I think you should write the dialogues as true to your characters and the way they speak as you can. I read The Hateful Eight and Straight Outta Compton this week, and the dialogues in both scripts have a lot of flavors that are unique to those characters. With regards to a logline and synopsis, if I was using terms that are unique to an area or people, I would put the unique word there, and the "proper English word" next to it in parentheses. Good luck!

Bill I agree with you. I think dialogues should have that feel of expression but then, Lee, those alterations in spelling between the two, plus sentence structure are a big deal for most writers who want their material understood. I tell you this, I've experienced such critiques more from Americans as it seems they virtually have an upper hand in the domain - just a supposition ;).