Quick Start: Writing and Formatting
The Main Window in Between The Lines works just like a standard word processor, but with special features to make formatting your screenplay almost automatic.
- BTL opens to a default script. Use it as a format guide. The first page is your title page. Replace its content with information about your script.
- Many formatting tasks are handled while you write. For example, if you enter a character name and hit "return," BTL automatically moves the cursor down one line and sets the margins for the dialog to follow.
- Some formatting requires your adjustment. For example, if you didn't want to go directly to dialog, but wanted to add a parenthetical, just click on the "Parenthetical" button in the tool bar, and the margins will be reset accordingly.
- New scenes are always started with a Slug Line. Just push the INT or EXT button to automatically create a new Slug Line. As you type the Slug Line, your words will automatically be capitalized.
- Page breaks automatically follow the rules of proper format. As examples, BTL will never leave a dangling Slug Line, but will split it to the next page, along with the action text that follows. And, dialog that runs over a page break will be automatically split, adding (MORE) on the outgoing page, and repeating the Character Name and (CONT'D) on the incoming page. You can also adjust any page break manually, if you so desire.
- All formatting commands are also available through the various menu items, or by hitting the "tab" key, which cycles through them, or by keyboard commands.
- Check out all the menu items for complete access to all of the features including spell checking, auto-capitalization of the first letter of a sentence, and many other tools and preferences.