Write lyrics and spoken lines

Robin sings The road is calling me. during Time to go. Alex answers Wait for me. as a spoken line while the music continues.

Write the first sung line

1. Choose Robin as the speaker in a Character block.
2. Press ⏎ Enter. The default next type is Dialogue.
3. Open Change block type in the toolbar and choose Lyrics.
4. Write The road is calling me.

Lyrics gives the text its sung role. Placing a Song does not automatically turn the following Dialogue into Lyrics; choose the type for the words you are writing.

Continue the lyrics

At the end of a nonempty Lyrics block, ⏎ Enter creates another Lyrics block with the default writing flow. Write Beyond the open door.

Your flow settings can change the next type. At the end of a nonempty Lyrics block, ⇧ Shift + ⏎ Enter continues with Lyrics too.

Add a note about the singing

1. After a sung line, create an empty Lyrics block.
2. Press ⇥ Tab to change it to Aside.
3. Write quietly.
4. Press ⏎ Enter at the end to resume Lyrics and write the next sung line.

Using an empty block puts the note between lines. Pressing ⇥ Tab in a filled Lyrics block changes that whole block to Aside instead.

Give Alex a spoken reply

1. After the final sung line, create another empty block.
2. If it is Lyrics, press ⏎ Enter while it is empty. It becomes Character. If your flow gave another type, choose Character from the type menu.
3. Choose Alex as the speaker and press ⏎ Enter.
4. Use Dialogue for Wait for me.; choose it from the type menu if your flow gives a different type.

For a spoken passage by the same speaker, choose Dialogue directly in the block for that passage. To sing again, choose Lyrics. On macOS, ⌥ Option + ⇥ Tab also switches directly between Dialogue and Lyrics.

Switching the text type does not end the music. Choose its ending separately.

Related tasks

• Write for multiple speakers or a character group.
• Understand the general writing flow.