Has anyone read his _How Not to Write a Screenplay_ book?  Most
screenplay books I've seen look fairly useless becuse they all tell you
to write a script with a tried and true (i.e. hackneyed) formula because
it's what Hollywood knows how to market and the easiest way to a
paycheck.  I notice one of the amazon.com reviews complains that he has
a problem with the use of the word "beat," as a stage direction, even
though _The Sixth Sense_ is plastered with it, which strikes me as
making the book less credible.

I got the impression from the reviews that leaving characters' names in
all capital letters is not desirable, even though I often see it.  I
tend only to use it when it refers to the character DOING something, as
opposed to something about the character, or the character as an
indirect object.  Of course, I still write these as a hobby, right now,
and I want to direct these things myself, so I am hardly an authority on
what to do.

Scott

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