This is an aesthetic, rather than technical, question. I'm seeking advice on how to best format a script for ebook reading. The standard line-between-each-speaker seems to leave a lot of blank spaces, especially when the spoken parts are often single words or very short dialogue exchanges.
Background: I've got a book I'm planning to convert (and if I can sort out the copyright issues, release widely)--
The Tales of Hoffman, one of the transcript-based books about the Chicago 8/7 conspiracy trial. The trial text itself is public domain; the formatting & editors' notes are not. (I'm considering making two versions--one for me with all the original content; one to release, with just the transcript sections & my own editorial notes.)
Trying to decide on formatting. For me, I'll play with page layout settings until I find one I'm happy with, and make a PDF sized for my reader. But I'd like to be able to release parts of it on the web, and make it ePub-able, and need some advice about markup and display options, 'cos this isn't in standard paragraphs.
I could potentially put the speakers' names in bold, or instead of indenting initial lines of paragraphs, indent everything else. (I know indents are troublesome things in HTML, and I'm not competent with CSS. But I suppose I could learn.) Or I could do something else. There are sections with actual paragraphs rather than dialogue (long explanations by various witnesses, and exhibits read into the record), and those could be formatted more normally.
Attaching a 2-page sample, which should be well within fair use, no matter what the overall copyright status is. Theoretically, only the italicized parts should be copyrighted.