The screenplay format – when pointless obsession takes hold
I can’t bear widows. They are the bane of my life. Not the black-clad in-mourning type, but the single-word-on-a-line type. They have the power to ruin an otherwise productive writing session – and induce hours of pointless, seemingly-endless fiddling, taking me from creative eagerness to despair with just one word. One word on a line. On its own. Argh.
![Screenplay example](http://trguest.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Widow-example-1.jpg)
I’m not sure if the screenplay format was originally designed to send pedants into a howling rage, but that’s often what happens to me. Time and time again.
Yes, I know it’s insane
For the uninitiated – how I envy you – a widow is a single word on a line at the end of a paragraph. I can’t count the number of times I’ve sat down to write or edit a script, and have found myself sucked into a pointless vortex of trying to get a piece of action all on one line. Once I have widow fever, I can’t rest until I’ve resolved it.
I’m ashamed to admit I’ve even done it with dialogue on occasion. Rather than having a zinging piece of speech in a script, I would often rather it fit neatly in lines with no widows. Ridiculous. Imagine the sparkling lines of All About Eve if I’d got my insanely OCD hands on them when I have widow fever.
![A widow in a screenplay](http://trguest.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Widow-example-2.jpg)
Yes, I know there are bigger things to worry about
I’ve worked extensively as a journalist and copywriter, so part of my background is in preparing copy for print. That means nice, neat columns in a magazine, or online, without any world overhangs. A widow used to mean a sound beating (or near enough) by an irate editor. Now with screenplays, there is no editor. The irate editor is me. Ruthlessly hunting widows and eliminating them.
![Widow in screenplay](http://trguest.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Widow-example-3.jpg)
In my writing workshop group, I find myself judging writers harshly if they have a widow in their script, and for that I can only apologise. I even judge produced scripts on the basis of widows. All of the examples in this post are from garlanded, award-winning scripts. Widows didn’t bother them. No siree.
![A perfect paragraph of action in a screenplay.](http://trguest.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Widow-example-4.jpg)
As part of my therapy to try and get over this ridiculous obsession, I’ve decided I have to just have to embrace the problem, and run towards widows with open arms. I’m just going to leave a word on a line on its own, and see how long it takes before I
crack.
I’ll just leave that there.
*walks away, whistling, pretending it’s not killing me*
“The Honourable Mrs Maxwell-Stuart in Mourning” by lisby1 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0