Screenwriting : Quotation marks in scripts by Tom Norton

Songs and movies can be quoted or italicized. Quoting another character can also be in quotes.

CHARACTER

What do you mean by, "I'm a misogynist?"

Tom Norton I have seen quotation marks denoting songs, real IP, and actual real-life quotes, and indubitably there will be a host of responses here re: protocols, but just like underlining, all-caps for words, bold words, italics, etc. it seems just be consistent throughout scripts is the golden rule.

The real golden rule is to write song titles backwards, i.e. Eriflleh." ;)

E Langley "Come on man!"

Scripts can have quotation marks in a script, Tom Norton. I use them for titles sometimes, text messages, character thoughts in action lines, quotes, etc.

Those last 2 messages were pretty funny.

In all seriousness though, I'm kind of freaking out about such a seemingly small aspect because every single tiny mistake adds up. Heck, I've even gotten paranoid about when you're supposed to use italics!

Tom, no one is going to fault your for putting quotes around a song title, book title. Just be consistent in your script and then "Take The Money And Run" ...

Tom Norton I am at the same place, i.e. make yourself (through your writing) seem as one of them (Trojan Horse), but when you read actual scripts (both those for studio pitching and competitions) the whole thing is like basically any other human construct, i.e. multiple means of doing everything. If someone claims formatting/style superiority just ask for the source of their specific "knowledge". I tend to side with those who have sold their works, and are in the game currently.

I wonder if in dialogue, the quotations are inferred so when you quote inside dialogue, maybe the one apostrophe quotes kick in? “Our teacher called it ‘the most difficult exam of the year,’” Almir complained to his parents.

C'mon where," Mikey Wikey?

Would putting them in italics work better? There's so much contradictory information about this sort of thing.

"The Screenwriters Bible" might help.

'I wouldn't like to say '

Tom Norton I suggest you stick to (or with) Tom Norton's advice and parrot it along.

E Langley If in the future you should fail to refer to me as "Mikey Wikey" I will be IMMENSELY disappointed hahaha

Oh, muy macho. What a way with seduction. Whatever it is should be bottled. Make a fortune. hahaha

I will call said fragrance..."Essence de Macho Miguel" (should I use quotation marks here?)... Once you splash some on...INSTANT ability to charm internet strangers (slowly) into submission!

I’d say go for it. Anyone with the slightest bit of comprehension will understand what you put them in there for.

Stop, stop, I'm all a'twitter.

"In all seriousness though, I'm kind of freaking out about such a seemingly small aspect because every single tiny mistake adds up. Heck, I've even gotten paranoid about when you're supposed to use italics!"

Yeah, because screenwriting communities constantly fester all this fear-based nonsense about what you can and cannot do. Use quotation marks, move on, focus on aspects that actually matter.

That's my man.CJ Walley On one of the courses I attended in Real Estate many years ago, the lecturer challenged the attendees. He asked us "What are you guys selling?" Answers were thick and fast... Houses, blocks of land, apartments... His answer was simple - a dream and all is based on HOPE AND FEAR. The same with any industry. So, do what you wanna do and FTR. If you're desperate, do another job that pays. Otherwise, you could be living in hope and fear for the next twenty years until somebody asks for an option and that would make you feel good. Of course, I tend to exaggerate a little. It's fun.

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer." This is one area where manuscript writing > screenwriting in the fact that for the former it's The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS). End of story. For fiction writers there are unofficial extensions of CMOS on the CMOS Shop Talk site (Fiction+). Easy peasy. What I am guessing is most copy editors would still care more for consistency throughout the manuscript if there are minute divergences from CMOS, because some of the rules can seem illogical.

Re: script readers (in any realm) I can only "speak" on what I have read online, and from limited interactions with people on here claiming to have done the job, and as one would expect the ideas on formatting and protocols are somewhat wide-ranging. Some individuals are obviously going to be nit-picky about the minutiae, and some seem to just want read an interesting, well-constructed story with intriguing characters. We always return to the subjective nature of script reading, which is something we obviously cannot control. So personally I scan through scripts to see what other writers are doing, especially contest winners, and those who have sold scripts, scripts for famous movies, etc. Empirical data for the win.

I use "The Screenwriter's Bible" by David Trottier for formatting guidance. It would have the details about using quotation marks. In general, I'd use quotation marks in dialogue only if I thought it was necessary for the reader to understand what the dialogue was saying. And I'd err on the side of letting the talent decide how to present it.

For the title of a song (or other work), I would use quotation marks around it. This eliminates any potential ambiguity. The exception would be if a character was discussing a song informally and used part of the title or didn't get it correct.

Dan Guardino Ten hearts for your comment. Ten clicks.

Mike Childress Do you feel that new writers often (yes often) come undone by readers in general.

Charles V Abela Not entirely sure what to think about readers...in general! I read a bunch of stuff on Scriptmag today and one guy had read over 6,500 scripts, and he posted a chart of EIGHTY don't-dos in spec script writing. Another article featured a guy who was more nonchalant about formatting, but still listed his must-dos which included formatting stuff. As someone who is pretty analytical in general, probably going to do my head in with rules, but hopefully my scripts look more professional as a result. I just ordered the seventh edition of The Screenwriter's Bible mostly because it will be nice to have an actual paper reference for formatting questions I have.

Thanks Mike Childress I like your analytical style and I say that as a complement. Your answer seems to be very appropriate for this fora.

I know it's easy to want to follow what industry standards want but I've found that produced script have a compelling nature to their script in which they have the uniqueness of their storytelling!

Sam Rivera There are times when I think about just cranking out a script Shane Black-style, and then I remember this is not 1987...and I am NOT Shane Black! Obviously you are right though, i.e. the actual story is the nucleus of the work.

i use quotation marks for irony mainly. for mimicking impressions, i typically just write them without quotation marks because the reader will probably get it

I suggest reading "The Screenwriters Bible" by David Trottier

Pat Savage I started reading that on Friday (a little over a hundred pages in now), but have also skipped ahead for some formatting consultations, which is really why I bought it, because it's great to have a paper text to consult when writing, and not having to trawl the depths of the internet every time I have a question about proper format. One thing I like about TSB is Trottier will at times still explain to the reader there are multiple accepted ways of doing things, e.g. for Supers: putting the superimposed text in quotations marks vice doing all caps.

Mike Childress Excellent!