Book titles

[bluejester12]

Can anyone please tell me how to format a books title in a script (fictional book)? Thanks!

[Joe Calabrese]

If I understand you correctly, you want to know how to reference a title of a book in a script?

Whether a book or any item that has a published name (a CD Album, magazine title, etc...) I would put it in quotes. Some people do underline instead, but I find it takes the reader out of the story to see things underlined.

So I would do it like this.

Bob picks up a used, hard cover edition of "The Davinci Code" from the shelf and skims through the obviously well read, dog-eared pages.

or

BOB
Did you read "The Davinci Code?" It was so cool. I can't wait for the film.

[Linoge]

When you're typing out a novel's title or a movie's title or a magazine's title you ought to use italics. To send in a manuscript to an agent, though, you ought to underline them. They'll appear in italics in the story or the book or whatever.

When it comes to short stories or poems or an article in a magazine, use quotation marks.

Example: The Shining by Stephen King . . . And then: "Everything's Eventual" by Stephen King.

My English teacher gave us a useful analogy for this. If it's a "heavy" piece of literature, like novels or anthologies, et cetera, use a shelf. If it's lighter, use "hangers."

[Joe Calabrese]

That is true in regular writing, but trust me, screenplay format is a beast onto itself. Use quotes.