
This includes some “invisible” elements, such as the asterisks that make text **bold,** or the leading period that forces a Scene Heading. What you see as you write in Slugline looks a lot like a printed screenplay, but in fact, you’re seeing the raw text file you’re creating. Select any text and press ⌘B to make it bold, ⌘I to italicize, or ⌘U to underline. Slugline shows them in a muted color to indicate this.Īll your usual keyboard shortcuts work as well. The asterisks and underscores don’t print, of course.

They are not as common as they once were, but they are still useful. Transitions are used to indicate special information about how one scene transitions to another. When you’re done, you can press Return without having to move the cursor outside of the parentheses. If you type an open paren ( after a Character element, Slugline adds the closing paren ) and places the cursor between them so you can type your parenthetical. Parenthetical elements are wrapped in parentheses, and follow a Character or Dialogue element. In Slugline, Dialogue cannot exist without a Character element immediately before it. Dialogueĭialogue comes right after Character: NAK Slugline remembers your Character names, and will suggest them to you if you begin typing them at the start of a new line. If that’s not what you want, just press Return again. If you type a line entirely in UPPERCASE, Slugline will assume you’ve typed a Character, and will set you up to begin typing Dialogue when you press Return. CharacterĬharacter elements are in UPPERCASE and are followed immediately by Dialogue. It’s where you tell the reader what happens on the screen.Īction elements are easy in Slugline. ActionĪction is the catchall element of screenwriting. As you create them, Slugline handles this for you. Scene Headings are always shown in UPPERCASE.

You can either type the period manually, or choose Format → Force Scene Heading. The period doesn’t print - it’s just used to “hint” the formatting of the line. In Slugline, you create these by beginning the line with a single period. Some are short and punchy a quick reminder of where/when we are. “INT/EXT” is often used for scenes in vehicles. “EXT” stands for “Exterior.” To create a Scene Heading in Slugline, just begin a new line with one of the common Scene Heading prefixes: INT. Scene Headings mark any change in location or time in your screenplay. The first screenplay Element type is a Scene Heading, also known as a Slugline. Just start typing, and Slugline will figure it out. You almost never have to tell Slugline what kind of element you’re writing.

Now here’s the most important thing you need to know about Slugline: Each element has a standard format, including margins and text styling - but, as you can see, it’s never more than what could be achieved with a typewriter.
