ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html;CHARSET=iso-8859-1"> <META NAME="description" CONTENT="Notes on the pitfalls of poor use of Word Processors when submitting texts of plays, pantomimes, skits and sketches to on-line publisher Lazy Bee Scripts."> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="Scripts,Script,Plays,Play,Pantomimes,Pantomime,Panto,publish,publishing,publisher,publishers,published,style,text,texts"> <META http-equiv="PICS-Label" content='(PICS 1.0 "http://www.classify.org/safesurf/" l r (SS~~000 1))'> <META NAME="GENERATOR" Content="Visual Page 2.0 for Windows"> <TITLE>Word Processing Pitfalls when submitting plays to Lazy Bee Scripts</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%"> <TR> <TD WIDTH="130"><IMG SRC="../Graphics/lazybee.gif" WIDTH="130" HEIGHT="102" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0"></TD> <TD> <P ALIGN="CENTER"><B><I><FONT SIZE="7" COLOR="#990000">Lazy Bee Scripts</FONT></I></B><FONT SIZE="7">&nbsp;<BR> </FONT><B><FONT SIZE="5">Using Your Word Processor</FONT></B> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD> <TD WIDTH="130"><IMG SRC="../Graphics/rightbee130.gif" WIDTH="130" HEIGHT="102" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0"></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="130">&nbsp;</TD> <TD>&nbsp;</TD> <TD WIDTH="130">&nbsp;</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD COLSPAN="3"> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%"> <TR> <TD WIDTH="100%" align="center"><B>The point of this page is to warn about the pitfalls of using your Word Processor as a Typewriter.<br /> </B> (They may look superficially similar, but they are designed to do different things.)</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="100%">&nbsp;</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="100%"> <B><FONT SIZE="4">Pitfalls of Laying-Out Your Script</FONT></B></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="100%"> <ul> <li>Your Word Processor has a variety of tools for laying-out your scripts, these include various forms of paragraph formatting and (in anything other than the bare bones systems like Works) the use of Styles.</li> <li>The Word Processor has ways of centering your text, ways of indenting paragraphs, and so on.&nbsp; If you try to bypass these by using conventional typewriter keys, it is bound to end in tears.</li> <li>If you ever find yourself hitting the space key more than twice in a row, then take a break from the computer, find a labelling machine and create a label to stick to your space bar, emblazoned with the words "This is not a layout tool".</li> <li>If you want to centre a headline, then don't use tabs or spaces.&nbsp; Use your Word Processor's (paragraph) alignment function to set the alignment to "Centre" (or probably "Center", as these things tend to speak US English).</li> <li>If you want to indent after you have typed the name of a character at the start of the line, use the tab key, not the space bar.&nbsp; Do this only once per paragraph.&nbsp; If you are not happy with the alignment of your text, then reset the Tab stops on your word processor, or set up Hanging Indents.&nbsp; (If you can't work out how to do either of those, then don't try to correct it with spaces or multiple tabs.&nbsp; Leave it as it is - with a single tab - and (assuming that we have agreed to publish your script) we will sort out the alignment.)</li> <li>Lines of text should never begin with a space.&nbsp; (In particular, no proper nouns begin with spaces, therefore no line starting with a character name should begin with a space!)&nbsp; The lines of verses may begin with an indentation (tab), but they are the exception.</li> <li>Above all, bear in mind that the final layout of your script will be executed by your publisher.&nbsp; Presenting the publisher with clean text, devoid of unnecessary formatting will make this process easier and more successful - you do not have to do a layout job at all!</li> </ul> </TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="100%">&nbsp;</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="100%"> <B><FONT SIZE="4">Paragraphs and word wrapping</FONT></B></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="100%" style="height: 158px"> <ul> <li>If you are using a typewriter, and you get to the end of a line, but you want to continue on the next line, what do you do?&nbsp; You hit the return key/bar.&nbsp; (In an old-fashioned typewriter, the carriage shoots back and the page feeds forward one line - a Carriage Return and Line Feed.)</li> <li>Using a Word Processor, YOU DON'T NEED TO DO THAT.&nbsp; The Word Processor performs a function called "Word Wrapping" which means that when you reach the end of a line, it automatically carries on for you on the next line.&nbsp; You only need to put in a "return" when you want to start a new paragraph.</li> <li>What happens if you don't want it to wrap to the left hand margin?&nbsp; So, you want your first line to start at the left hand margin, but the rest of the lines (of the same speech) to be indented.&nbsp; Your Word Processor will do that for you, using its Paragraphs function (which you can set for an individual paragraph, or you can set as part of a Style).&nbsp; What you need to do is to set up a Hanging Indent.&nbsp; How do you do that?&nbsp; You start with your Word Processor's manual or you look up "Hanging Indent" in the help menu.&nbsp; (What I am telling you here is that if you can't read the manual or the help, then you do without the function.&nbsp; Don't try to recreated it by using returns followed by tabs.)</li> </ul> <p> <strong> </strong>&nbsp;</p> </TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="100%" style="height: 19px">&nbsp;</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="100%"> <B><FONT SIZE="4">The Sophisticated Approach: use Styles</FONT></B></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="100%"> <p> Wherever possible, use <b>styles</b>. <br /> A <b>style</b> is a template for a block of text, specifying the font type, the font size, tab spacing, indentation and much more.<br /> Moderately sophisticated Word Processors (such as Microsoft Word, but not Microsoft Works) allow you to define different styles and to reuse them.&nbsp; (See your Word Processor's manual or help for more information!)<br /> Styles make it easy to ensure that a document looks consistent  the formatting characteristics of the style are applied to every use of that style. If you need to change a characteristic  the font size or a tab setting  then by changing the characteristic for the style, it is automatically applied to every use of the style within your document, thereby ensuring consistency.<br /> (It also saves us effort in reformatting, which is why I'm going on about it here!)</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="100%" style="height: 19px">&nbsp;</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="100%"> <B><FONT SIZE="4">Find and Replace: A Cautionary Note</FONT></B></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="100%"> <p> Your Word Processor comes with a "find and replace" facility.&nbsp; This is potentially very powerful, but using it blindly carries considerable risks. &nbsp;Think what you are trying to do (and the potential consequences) before you use it, particularly the "replace all" mode.<br /> Journallist Simon Hoggart has told the following story at least a couple of times in print.&nbsp; Since he has told it differently each time, I assume it to be an urban legend...<br /> <em>An author finished the text of a novel, then, in the process of review, she decided to change the name of one of the protagonists from David to Gary.&nbsp; This was easily executed by an automated find and replace.&nbsp; However, as a result, the novel's heroine found herself contemplating the finely sculptured features of Michaelangelo's Gary.</em> </TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="100%">&nbsp;</TD> </TR> </TABLE> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%"> <TR> <TD WIDTH="100%" style="height: 19px"></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="100%">&nbsp;</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="100%" style="text-align: center">Return to the <a href="Style.htm">House Style Overview</a></TD> </TR> </TABLE> </BODY> </HTML>