Classical Storytelling and Contemporary Screenwriting

Thirty-TwoFormatting

Ah, the Lovely White Space

“To attain the proper vividness in reading, the poet must place the speech 2.5 inches from the parchment’s left, align transitions right, and double space after headings, creating the most pleasurable arrangement of elements. Alternately, as Homer bade, download Final Draft^®.”

(Poetics, Part XVII)

Okay, you got me. Aristotle doesn’t really have anything to say about screenplay formatting. At least not explicitly.

Still, several of the principles we’ve been discussing are wholly relevant when deciding how to physically arrange our words on the page.

First, is the principle of CLARITY. As we’ve seen, Aristotle believes the reading of a script should be pleasurable, not a chore or struggle. And ...