Splitting files
+Splitting files
Complete dramatic works are divided into acts, scenes, and sometimes short plays. The se split-file tool automatically uses prose book file structuring, semantics, and naming conventions. These five easy steps will help you avoid some manual work.
-
-
Check your titles
+Check your titles
Instead of dealing with chapters, you need to check that your titles for acts, scenes, or short plays are marked with
<h2>elements. Headers are usually incorrect or missing in play transcriptions. -
-
Add markers
+Add markers
Like novels, we add markers before the
<h2>elements in the source file before splitting.perl -pi -e 's|<h2|<!--se:split--><h2|g' src/epub/text/body.xhtml -
-
Make a template file
+Make a template file
The
se split-filetool defaults to a chapter template. To add the correct file semantics, we need to create the template file/src/epub/text/drama-template.xhtml. If you wish to split the work into acts or scenes, you can copy and paste the following code to your new file:<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> @@ -59,7 +101,7 @@ -
-
Commands and positional arguments
+Use commands and positional arguments
Now it’s time for
se split-fileto do some heavy lifting. With the help of positional arguments, we can simultaneously change the file names and which file template to use when we split the source file. You can see what arguments are available by runningse split-file -h.If you are splitting the text into acts, you can use:
se split-file -f act-%n.xhtml -t src/epub/text/drama-template.xhtml src/epub/text/body.xhtml mv act* src/epub/text/@@ -67,21 +109,21 @@se split-file -f scene-%n.xhtml -t src/epub/text/drama-template.xhtml src/epub/text/body.xhtml mv scene* src/epub/text/ -
-
Remove unwanted files
+Remove unwanted files
Once we’re happy that the source file has been split correctly, we can remove
body.xhtmlanddrama-template.xhtml.rm src/epub/text/body.xhtml src/epub/text/drama-template.xhtml
Dramatis personae
-Semantics
+Dramatis personae
+Semantics
The <body> element has the semantic inflection of frontmatter, z3998:fiction, and z3998:drama; the <section> element has the semantic inflection of z3998:dramatis-personae.
Typography
+Typography
Most plays have periods after each character description. Make sure to remove the ending periods of each list item, except for abbreviations. The letter case of various speakers can vary widely for stylistic purposes. Convert the speakers’ names and descriptions into sentence cases. Remove any bold, caps, or small-caps styling for personas.
-Descriptions
+Descriptions
Any descriptions are placed in <p> elements after the list of speakers and end with periods.
Example
+Example
<body epub:type="frontmatter z3998:fiction z3998:drama">
@@ -106,7 +148,7 @@
Introductory scene descriptions
+Introductory scene descriptions
Speakers mentioned in scene descriptions are wrapped in <b epub:type="z3998:persona"> elements.
<h3>
@@ -124,10 +166,10 @@
Personas
-Typography
+Personas
+Typography
Names, titles, or other speakers are in title case and without ending periods.
-More than one
+More than one
Sometimes multiple speakers talk at the same time. The containing <tr> element has the together class. The speakers are all placed in a <td epub:type="z3998:persona"> element with <br/> elements in between the names.
<tr class="together">
@@ -136,7 +178,7 @@
<td>Alcibiades banished!</td>
</tr>
Abbreviations
+Abbreviations
Expand all abbreviated personas, whether its the speakers’ names or ordinals.
<tr>
@@ -152,8 +194,8 @@
Dialog
-Multiple paragraphs
+Dialog
+Multiple paragraphs
When there is more than one paragraph of dialog will you use <p> elements.
<tr>
<td epub:type="z3998:persona">Bianca</td>
@@ -163,7 +205,7 @@
</td>
</tr>
Prose and verse
+Prose and verse
In certain complex plays, you may encounter a mix of prose and verse in a character’s speech. Verse is surrounded by <div epub:type="z3998:verse">.
<tr>
@@ -178,7 +220,7 @@
</td>
</tr>
Stichomythia
+Stichomythia
Stichomythia is a technique used in drama where two speakers engage in a rapid or intense exchange of alternating dialog. Here is an example found in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
@@ -186,8 +228,8 @@
This highlights moments of conflict, urgency, or intense emotion and conveys dynamic interactions between characters. Unfortunately, there is no great way to format this technique with clear, predictable structuring. The text displayed has no additional indents or margins.
Stage directions
-Right-aligned and brackets
+Stage directions
+Right-aligned and brackets
Exit or exeunt stage directions are traditionally shown right-aligned and bracketed. These are formatted like other inline stage directions and placed at the end of the preceding dialog. Compare how the following page scan source is structured in HTML.
@@ -210,7 +252,7 @@
</td>
</tr>
Interrupting dialog
+Interrupting dialog
Occasionally, there is a stage direction row in the middle of the dialog. For the second half of the dialog, the first child of the row is an empty <td> element. Do not use the together class for this, as the interrupting stage direction usually doesn’t pertain to the speaker.
<tr>
@@ -228,7 +270,7 @@
<td>Aside, aside; here is more matter for a hot brain: every lane’s end, every shop, church, session, hanging, yields a careful man work.</td>
</tr>
Attached to personas
+Attached to personas
Some stage directions are attached to the persona. These directions are placed in <td> elements with the dialog. For prose dialog, the stage direction is on the same line as the dialog. For verse dialog, the stage direction is in a separate paragraph before the dialog. The stage direction is not part of the meter; the meter sets specific line lengths and emphasis.
@@ -252,7 +294,7 @@
</td>
</tr>
Songs
+Songs
Some songs are given a title or just labeled as “Song”. Treat these as stage direction rows.
<tr>
@@ -286,7 +328,7 @@
</td>
</tr>
Parentheses
+Parentheses
If there are parentheses inside of stage direction, leave them as is.
<tr>
@@ -296,7 +338,7 @@
</td>
</tr>
A stage direction for a stage direction
+A stage direction for a stage direction
If there is a stage direction for a stage direction, they should not be combined. Instead, each direction should be marked individually with <i epub:type="z3998:stage-direction">.
<tr>