Using WORD to format Broadway scripts
This document presumes you have a working idea of the concept of templates and
macros. If you don’t, read the online HELP manual for these concepts before
proceeding.
The most efficient way to use WORD to format your scripts is to create a separate
template for each show you’re working on. That is, your Alice in Wonderland script will
have a different template from your Zorba the Greek script.
However, all of your shows’ templates will be based on a single master template, which
you’ll call Broadway Courier. The first thing to do is to create the master template and a
series of seven styles and accompanying macros. Later, you’ll create additional
templates based on that template, but you won’t have to re-create the styles and macros
for every project.
Creating the Master Template: Broadway Courier
Follow these steps in the order described, as exactly as you can. Some versions of
WORD vary from each other; if the actual menus and boxes aren’t an exact match, look
for their equivalent. Creating the Master Template is actually the trickiest part of the
whole process as each version of WORD is very different in this regard -- use the Help
menu for “creating a new template” if you’re having troubles getting started. It gets
easier from here.
Here’s how it works on WORD 2000:
File/New/Template/Create New Template
You might discover your menus are more like the following:
Format/Style/New (or “Create new template”)
Or, File/New/Word Templates
Save immediate as “Broadway Courier”
Format Margins: 1” top, bottom, left and right
Size: Portrait
Save.
You’ve now created a template called Broadway Courier, based on your Normal
template, but it doesn’t have any macros or styles in it. So, the next step is to create the
Styles. Start with the basic default paragraph, which you’ll call
Normal,BroadwayCourier.
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Create Styles
Format/Style/New
Name: BroadwayCourier (no space between the words)
Style: Paragraph
Based on: Normal
Style for following: BroadwayCourier
Font/Courier New/Regular/Size 12
OK
Add to template - check
OK
All that’s done is change the font for the basic paragraph, but it’s a critical step as all of
the remainder of the styles will be based on BroadwayCourier and not your computer’s
usual Normal. This will give you flexibility for future scripts which won’t affect all the
other files on your computer which are based on Normal.
You now want to create seven additional styles, in the following order:
Dialogue
CHARACTER
(aside)
LYRIC
StageDirection
SceneHeading
SceneDescription
Let’s take Dialogue in detail, and then you’ll be ready to input the rest yourself.
STYLE: Dialogue
Format/Style/New
Name: Dialogue
Style: Paragraph
Based on: Normal,BroadwayCourier
Style for following: Normal,BroadwayCourier
Paragraph
Alignment - left
Left 0”
Right 0”
Outline - [accept default, probably BodyText]
Special - none
By - None
Before/After - 0 pt
Line spacing - single
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Line and page breaks
Keep with next - leave blank
Keep lines together - check
don’t hyphenate - check
OK
add to template - check
OK
Save.
Now create the other six styles; all the answers should be the same as Dialogue except as
noted below:
STYLE: Character
Format/Style/New
Name: Character
based on Normal,Broadway/Courier
Style following: Dialogue
Font: All Caps
Paragraph
Left 3”
Right 0”
Line and Page Breaks
Keep with next - check
Keep lines together - check
Don’t hyphenate
OK
Add to template - check
OK
STYLE: (aside)
Format/Style/New
Name: (aside) (use the parenthesis and small case for clarity)
based on Normal,BroadwayCourier
Style following: Dialogue
Left = .5”
Keep with next - check
Keep lines together - check
Don't hyphenate
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OK
Add to template - check
OK
STYLE: LYRIC
Format/Style/New
Name: LYRIC (use caps for clarity)
based on Normal,BroadwayCourier
Style following: LYRIC
Font = ALL CAPS
Left = 1”
Keep with next = check
Keep lines together = check
Don't hyphenate
OK
Add to template - check
OK
STYLE: StageDirection
Format/Style/New
Name: StageDirection (no spaces between words)
based on Normal,BroadwayCourier
Style following: Normal,BroadwayCourier
Left - 1”
Right - 1”
Keep with next - unchecked
lines together - unchecked
Don't hyphenate
OK
Add to template - check
OK
STYLE: SceneHeading
Format/Style/New
Name: SceneHeading (no spaces between words)
based on Normal,BroadwayCourier
Style following: Normal,BroadwayCourier
Left - 3”
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Font - Underline
Keep with next - unchecked
lines together - unchecked
Don’t hyphenate
OK
Add to template - check
OK
STYLE: SceneDescription
Format/Style/New
Name: SceneDescription (no spaces)
based on Normal,BroadwayCourier
Style following: Normal,BroadwayCourier
Left - 3”
Font - No underline
Keep with next - unchecked
lines together - unchecked
Don’t hyphenate
OK
Add to template - check
OK
(“What’s the difference between SceneDescription and StageDirection?” you ask?
SceneDescription is at the top of a scene, indented at 3”; StageDirection is the stuff after
the characters begin talking. You can also use SceneDescription for the “Scene Two”
header at the beginning of a scene; use SceneHeading for “ACT ONE” at the top of a
scene because it’s underlined and capitalized.)
That’s all the styles you need for a standard Broadway script. You’re welcome to apply
these styles to your script, and you’ll have a beautifully formatted script without much
page break troubles with two exceptions:
1. You’ll want to manually apply a Normal,BroadwayCourier style to the white
space in between LYRIC stanzas to help give WORD a place for automatic page
breaks during songs.
2. You’ll also discover if you have two (aside)s in a single speech, you’ll want
manually to format the first Dialogue paragraph so that it’s “Keep with next” and
“Keep lines together.”
Save.
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Create Project Templates
based on Master Template
Your next step is to create a new template for the specific script you’re writing. This will
be generated from the Master Template (Broadway Courier), but will be its own
template, eventually completely separate from other scripts.
Every time you create an individual project template (Alice in Wonderland template, for
instance), it will be based on your Master Template (Broadway Courier). Individual
project templates will share all the Master Template’s formatting and macros. Alice in
Wonderland’s template will be identical to Zorba the Greek’s template because they’ll
both be created from the Master Template. The reason you want to create separate
templates for each project is so that you can store a series of macros unique to that
project.
For example, since macros are stored with each individual template, which means that
ALT+A for your Alice in Wonderland script might execute Alice’s character name and
dialogue format, whereas ALT+A for your Zorba the Greek script might execute
Alexandros’ character name and dialogue format.
Creating a project template is very easy.
File
New
Template (or More New Templates)
Based on Broadway Courier
Save as “Alice in Wonderland template”
Do this for each script you’re working on, and then you can create a series of character
macros which are unique to that script.
As you begin a new project, you’ll want to spend a portion of your first session creating
macros for each of your characters, typically ones which use the first letter of your
characters’ names: ALT+A for Alice’s dialogue, ALT+Q for the Queen of Hearts’
dialogue, ALT+W for the White Rabbit, etc. If you have characters with the same first
letter in their name, either use other letters of the alphabet, or multiple key combinations
(CTRL+ALT+A for Alice’s Sister, CTRL+ALT+W for White Queen, etc.)
NOTE: Mac users will probably prefer CTRL+A, because ALT-macros are already
assigned to other computer functions which you probably don’t want to override.
Here’s how to create a macro which types ALICE’s character’s name and formats her
following dialogue. Follow these in this exact order:
Tools
Macro/Record New Macro
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Store in Alice in Wonderland template
NOTE: This is the only dangerous step in this whole process. Make sure you
store new macros in the project template, and not in NORMAL.
If you don’t store the macro in your project template, you run the risk of
overriding some of WORD’s default macros (justification, centering, inserting
footnotes, etc). Get in the habit of filling in the “Store in” field before you fill in
any of the other fields.
Macro name: ALICE (you’ll probably prefer capital letters)
Keyboard
Press new shortcut key: ALT+a (CTRL+a for Mac users)
Save changes in: Alice in Wonderland template (template, NOT document)
Assign
Close
Enter
Format/Style/Normal,BroadwayCourier/Assign
Paragraph
Format/Style/CHARACTER/Assign
ALICE
Paragraph
Click on the STOP or END of the macro icon.
Now, whenever you type ALT+a, you should get ALICE’s dialogue ready-to-go.
Create macros for all your characters in exactly the same manner, changing only the
macro name, the shortcut key and the actual letters you type. One more example for
clarity:
Macro name: QUEENOFHEARTS (no spaces)
Keyboard
Press new shortcut key: ALT+q (CTRL+q for Mac users)
Save changes in: Alice in Wonderland template (template, NOT document)
Assign
Close
Enter
Format/Style/Normal,BroadwayCourier/Assign
Paragraph
Format/Style/CHARACTER/Assign
QUEEN OF HEARTS
Paragraph
Click on the STOP or END of the macro icon.
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Macros for paragraph styles
You can get by just applying styles to each paragraph as you type it, but there’s a huge
time savings if you take time to set up a series of macros for each project you’re writing.
You can see, however, that the seven macros which automatically apply the other
paragraph formats (Dialogue, StageDirection, etc.) will be exactly the same in every
single individual project’s template. So you might as well attach them to your master
template, so you don’t have to re-create them for each individual project.
This is a slightly complex concept, so let’s review.
Every time you create an individual project template (Alice in Wonderland template, for
instance), it will be based on your Master Template (Broadway Courier). Individual
project templates will share all the Master Template’s formatting and macros. Alice in
Wonderland’s template will be identical to Zorba the Greek’s template because they’ll
both be created from the Master Template. The reason you want to create separate
templates for each project is so that you can store a series of macros unique to that
project.
As you’re typing your script, however, you’ll want to format one paragraph as a stage
direction, another as an (aside) and others as LYRICS, etc.
But you might as well create one set of macros in the Master Template which will format
these paragraphs; then each of your individual projects will already have those macros
attached to them.
The concept of creating these macros is exactly the same; you’re just storing them in the
Master Template, rather than in the project template.
Let us create these seven macros.
Close all of your WORD documents which are currently open.
Open Broadway Courier template.
Tools
Macro/Record New Macro
Store in Broadway Courier
Macro name: CHARACTER
Keyboard
Press new shortcut key: ALT+1 (MAC users CTRL+1) -- that’s the number “1”
Save changes in Broadway Courier
Assign
Close
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Format/Style/CHARACTER/Assign
STOP or END
All that ALT+1 macro does is to assign the CHARACTER style to a paragraph.
Another example for clarity. This macro, ALT+2, assigns the (aside) style to a
paragraph.
Tools
Macro/Record New Macro
Store in Broadway Courier
Macro name: (aside) (lower case, use parentheses)
Keyboard
Press new shortcut key: ALT+2 (MAC users CTRL+2)
Save changes in Broadway Courier
Assign
Close
Format/Style/(aside)/Assign
STOP or END
Create ALT+3 for dialogue, ALT+4 for LYRIC, etc.
May I request you use the following shortcut keys in your Master Template (it’s
arbitrary, of course, but if you use the same convention, we’ll all be talking about the
same macros in conversation and can even exchange documents):
ALT+1 - CHARACTER
ALT+2 - (aside)
ALT+3 - Dialogue
ALT+4 - LYRIC
ALT+5 - Normal,BroadwayCourier
ALT+6 - StageDirection
ALT+7 - SceneDescription
ALT+8 - SceneHeading
Save Broadway Courier Master Template.
Now, any project which is based on Broadway Courier will have access to these macros.
In most versions of WORD, these macros are automatically available. In some versions,
however, you might need read HELP to study how the Organizer works.
This might seem overly complex, but you’ll see once you start working with a full-length
script how easy it becomes to write, and page breaks are a thing of the past. Once you
Using Word to format Broadway scripts - 9
have the hang of using those paragraph-formatting shortcut keys, you’ll find you can type
a script and barely have to worry about formatting at all.
Good luck.
Any questions? Er, first try try again, then consult HELP, then consult with your fellow
writers, then try try again. I can’t take on the role of word processing tutor for you. Once
you grasp the concept, the rest of the learning curve is just finding the right buttons to
click on each menu -- and you can figure that out on your own, undoubtedly.
Using Word to format Broadway scripts - 10
Automatic Page numbering in Headers
A header should include Act, scene and page number: for example, II-4-37.
We have found the easiest solution is to force a new section number after each scene
(Insert/Break/Section), and type in the Act and scene number, then include the automatic
page number code.
View
Header
Align Right
Type Act Number and Scene number: “I-1-”
“Insert Page Number” (far left button)
Close header
For subsequent headers:
Insert
Break
Section
Then View
Header
Un-click “Same as previous”
Change scene number manually (e.g., “I-2-“
Format page number (usually third-from-left button)
Make sure the page number “continue numbering from previous section”
Close header
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