Numerical values

I read somewhere that you should write out numerical values rather than using numerals as in, "Is he really fifty-nine years old?" rather than just writing, "59."

Recently, I've been reading, "Radio" by Mike Rich, and have noticed he uses numbers in action lines, but spells out numbers in the dialog. What about in scene headings or characters? Should you write, "Cop one," or "Cop #1?"

Is this another case like whether or not to use, "we see," in that established writers can write what they wish, but the rest of us should abide by rules of numerical values, in case it is seen as an indicator of an amateurishly written script?

Ugh, first of all "We see" is not limited to established writers.

second of all, it really doesn't make a difference if you write "59" or "fifty-nine." Whatever makes it for an easier read?

Now at the production stage or later, they (people re-type the script for production) might type out "fifty-nine" so that the actor won't say "five nine."

But again, it makes NO DIFFERENCE.

Just be consistent. Don't do a "59" here and a thirty-six there.

I think the general rule of thumb for most writing (screenwriting or otherwise) is to write out the whole word when the number is under a hundred. But I agree that consistency is most important.

lowell

yes, this is true in dialogue. if you write '59' in the dialogue it may be spoken as 'five nine'. get it? there is only one correct way to speak 'fifty nine'

same thing goes for stuff like 1/4, etc


zilla

Re: numerical values

I highly doubt that if you wrote the number 59 in dialogue an actor would say it as "five nine" unless you wrote it as 5-9 or 5 9.

But you can write it as a number or a word, just be consistent.

I always heard to write out numbers in dialog and action up to one hundred and then use numbers like 132. (except for character ages which are numbers, like CHARLES, 18 or BILL, 40's)

If you want an actor to say individual numbers in a series, like coordinates, then you would write five-- nine-- zero, and such.

As long as your consitant throughout with whatever system you use, I'm sure people can figure it out.

I'm beginning to wonder if these forums are good for me or not. Some of these things, such as this subject, I would never have thought of as a problem: I'd have just done them: Then someone brings them up as a problem and I begin to think of them as a problem and wonder if I remember the solution correctly.

Maybe I'm disimproving.

Helpful or Hurtful?

Good point, Writing Again. It is easy to get bogged down in these micro issues and lose your focus.

Of course it is important to make sure your script is formatted correctly, etc. But no reader and I mean NO READER is going to pass on a great script because the writer wrote the number 9 instead of spelled it out.

In the end it's about the story. As Justino, who used to be a reader, has pointed out on a number of these threads, scripts are evaluated for the strength of the story, the characters, the commercial viability and the writer's talent.

Those are the things that matter, and those are the things you should be focusing on. That the plot is strong, that it's paced correctly, that the dialogue sounds like people talk and is appropriate for the characters, that the characters are multi-dimensional and that they grow, that the descriptions pop. That you show instead of tell whenever possible. That the tone of the scripts reflects the tone of film (so if you are writing a thriller, there should be suspense in the writing itself).

And the chances that these areas of your writing will improve by the visiting forums like this, aren't very great. Partly because you cannot address these issues in a soundbite. They are complicated and complex.

Re: Helpful or Hurtful?

I agree with Simon,

Everyone has thier own style which will not be the same as other writers. We all have our personal preferences and pet peeves.

Sure, follow the rules of good grammar and format, but don't sweat the little things.

I know some people who write 20's (like me) and others write 20s for character ages. Technically, the latter would be grammatically correct, but with the apostrophe, it somehow looks balanced (visually on the page) to many people.

No reader in the world would penalize you for using one over the other (except for contest readers, who tend to be overly harsh-- but that's another topic).

I think the consensus and bottom line here would be... Be consistent in anything you choose.

Re: Helpful or Hurtful

Once caveat to Joe's point on good grammar.

Good dialogue is not necessarily correct grammatically. Unless a character is a stiff and proper English professor, then you should not use correct grammar in dialogue. You should write like people talk. Fragments, non sequiters, contractions, etc.

Re: Helpful or Hurtful

Of course Simon. Dialog aint following them rules I said.
But thanx for the clear up.