The styles are designed to have simple follow on. For example, when you press the [Enter] key at the end of a character name, the next paragraph is automatically tagged with the dialog style. This holds good most of the time. However when you want to insert a parenthetical comment, you must apply the style parenthetical manually to the line. Follow-ons are listed below.
| Style | Next style |
| Action | Character |
| Character | Dialog |
| Dialog | Character |
| Parenthetical | Dialog |
| Scene number | Action |
| Transition | Character |
To apply a style using the keyboard, (and so reduce the danger of “mouse wrist”) use the following short cut keys:
[Shift Ctrl A means hold down the shift and ctrl keys and press A. MAC systems use different keys.]
| Short cut keys | Style applied |
| Shift Ctrl A | Action |
| Shift Ctrl C | Character |
| Shift Ctrl D | Dialog |
| Shift Ctrl P | Parenthetical |
| Shift Ctrl S | Scene number |
| Shift Ctrl T | Transition |
How to attach script.dot to an existing script