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02/04/2007: Scripting the Unspoken


Here's something cool you can do inside parentheses:

A PERSON
And then my rabbit exploded!

ANOTHER PERSON
(Don't piss off the crazy man)
Okay, I'll look into that.

Obviously, what I did here was just put the character's thoughts in the parenthetical. It's often more elegant and more fun to do this, than to find the perfect abstract words to describe the attitude you have in mind. What would it be here, after all? "Cautiously indulgent"? "Nervously placating"? Hmm.

If you've had trouble coming up with the perfect parenthetical, try this. And note that unlike in real dialogue, you can use swear words if you want, even for a network show -- those broadcast standards don't apply to words that only appear in the script but aren't intended to be spoken. So go goddamn nuts!

Lunch: Tried something different. "Buffet City." A big Chinese buffet facility. Oysters as big as kittens, dim sum, inexplicable sushi! Fantastic!