This article explores academic and industry perspectives on the use of dialect, slang, and historical language in screenwriting. It offers a chronological overview of major screenwriting manuals' treatment of dialect and slang (or lack thereof) 1946-2020. It then presents survey data of 53 currently-practicing screenwriters' views on working with…

Offers advice from a playwright on how to use a play's stage directions. States that stage directions (1) are one playwriting technique for eliminating unnecessary words, (2) are strong suggestions from the playwright, and (3) often reveal character traits. Discusses script analysis. (PA)

There is a fundamental division of purpose between scholarship and television. Academics deal in nuances, qualifications, and subtle distinctions, while film makers seek broad strokes, drama, and simple, vivid ideas. By accepting that difference, the two can cooperate to make good television that is good history. (MLW)