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15 simple screenplay rules you need to know.

By Ken Miyamoto from ScreenCraft · January 17, 2021

script writing rules

This is a guest post by Ken Miyamoto from ScreenCraft .

There are lessons to master about story, structure, and characterization in your screenplays — these fifteen simple but important screenplay rules have nothing to do with them. They won’t make you a better cinematic storyteller. They won’t catapult you up the Hollywood totem pole. However, they will certainly make your scripts more professional-looking, streamlined, and easier to read — the happier the script reader, the better chances of getting that coveted Consider or Recommend when they write their script coverage.

Once you’ve got these simple rules down, write your next screenplay in 5 weeks with this guide .

Remember and implement these simple rules, and you’ll jump ahead of 95% of the screenplays and screenwriters out there.

Read More: What Is Plot?

1. Keep Title Pages Simple

Studios and companies don’t need or want too much information on the title page. It’s the 21st century. They don’t need your mailing address, home phone number, cell phone number, and pager number (you may laugh, but it happens). Chances are your query was sent through email. If they want your contact information beyond that email address, they’ll ask for it through email.

While copyright numbers and WGA registration numbers are fine, know that it’s not necessary. You have those numbers in your records and in the unlikely event that your script’s content is stolen and produced by another, your records of those numbers will be more than enough.

Other unnecessary elements include draft numbers, loglines, character breakdowns, or any other superfluous information.

All that your title page needs is the title of the script and who it is written by.

2. Only Use FADE IN and FADE OUT at the Beginning and End of Your Script

Too many novice screenwriters use FADE IN and FADE OUT transitions — and variations thereof — throughout the whole script as stylistic camera or editing directions (more on that later). That’s not what those transitions are for. FADE IN is the first text on the first line of your script (the beginning).

script writing rules

FADE OUT — or FADE TO BLACK — is for the end of the script. Writing THE END in place of either of those will work as well.

DISSOLVE TO is the proper transition to use within the script, if needed .

It’s a common mistake, but a very annoying one.

3. Slug Lines — a.k.a. Location Headings — Should Only Have Three Pieces of Information

INT/EXT LOCATION – DAY/NIGHT

Those are the general choices. Specific examples include:

INT. CAR – DAY

EXT. HOUSE – NIGHT

Interiors are comprised of any location set inside of a building, structure, vehicle, etc. Exteriors are outside. Thus, if your character is in a school class room, and they are beckoned into the hall by a friend, you don’t write EXT. CLASSROOM – DAY when they are in the hall. Instead, you create a new location by writing INT. HALLWAY – DAY. Why? Because the hallway is still inside the school.

If your character is inside of a car, which is obviously driving outside, it is an interior scene, not an exterior scene. Some screenwriters add things like MOVING (INT. CAR – MOVING – DAY), but it still creates a slug line that is too busy. The scene description (referred to as action within screenwriting software) should be used to convey that they are driving.

Some other additions include SAME or LATER in place of DAY or NIGHT. SAME conveys that the scene takes place within the same moment of the previous scene, as would be the case with telephone conversations, cutting back and forth between action sequences, etc. LATER conveys that we’re in the same location established in the previous scene, but at a later time.

Using terms like EARLY MORNING, DAWN, DUSK, in place of DAY or NIGHT should only be used if it is partial to the story. Obviously, a vampire movie script would be a good excuse to use DAWN or DUSK now and then. But, again, keep it simple. DAY or NIGHT is all we need. The scene description can be used to convey other information like time of day.

Lastly, slug lines should not contain dates or times ala EXT. TOMBSTONE – 1850 – DAY or INT. BEDROOM – 5:56 AM – DAY .

Time and dates should be communicated within the scene description below the slug line — preferably within the first sentence. Too many screenwriters use the slug line to convey date and time.

If the date or time needs to be conveyed to the eventual audience visually, use Supers or Title Cards (one in the same) in the left margin within the scene description. Examples and variations include:

SUPER: May 14th, 1850

TITLE CARDS READS:

May 14th, 1850

TITLE CARD:

Avoid this like the plague though. Too many supers and title cards throughout the script means that it’s going to be a very busy read. Keep it simple — slug line/location heading, scene description, character names, and dialogue. Supers, title cards, and transitions should be used few and far between.

For a great free screenwriting software to automate your formatting, check out Arc Studio Screenwriting Software .

4. little to no camera directions.

Things like CAMERA PULLS BACK, WE ZOOM IN, CAMERA DOLLIES RIGHT, EXTREME CLOSE-UP, and other camera directions have no place in a spec script (script written under spec ulation that it will be sold and produced).

Screenwriters often read scripts directed by auteurs like Quentin Tarantino, the Coen Brothers, and Paul Thomas Anderson. You surely will see camera directions in those types of scripts. If you’re reading shooting drafts that have been published or shared, camera directions may be in there as well. That doesn’t mean you, the non-auteur, should be including them in your script.

Most will say to only include them if they are partial to the story, but you just shouldn’t include them at all. You’re the writer, not the director. Unless you’re the director too, then nevermind.

5. Dialogue Never Follows the Slug Line

Another common mistake occurs when screenwriters write their slug line/location heading and then immediately follow that with dialogue (and accompanying character names).

This should never happen. Whenever you move into another location, there has to be at least one line of scene description between the slug line/location heading and the dialogue (and accompanying character names).

Before you start to think of reasons why this should be allowed, just stop and assume that it isn’t to avoid poorly formatted screenplays.

6. All New Notable Character Names Need to be in CAPS the First Time They Appear

script writing rules

When a new character appears, you have to cue the reader to their first appearance by putting their name in CAPS that first time. This is generally saved only for characters that have dialogue or are prevalent to the story. A passerby that doesn’t have a line and doesn’t have anything to do with the story (likely only appearing in one scene), doesn’t need to be featured in that manner.

Furthermore, the first name you use for one character has to be the name you use throughout the whole script. You cannot introduce them as GUY and then once they are introduced or referred to by name in dialogue, change it to JOHN. Introduce him as JOHN from the get-go. While this may make it difficult to have some sort of reveal moment or anything within your script, do your best to set those reveals up within the scene description.

An exception would be if you had different versions of your characters from different time periods — or any equivalent. In those cases, you can use YOUNG JOHN, OLD JOHN, or something to that effect.

7. Scene Description Is Not for Background

It’s a common cheat for screenwriters to use the scene description to explain away story elements, character history, and background.

Screenplays are a visual medium. You are tasked with telling the story cinematically through visual actions, reactions, and audible dialogue. If it’s not going to be on the screen, you can’t include it within your screenplay, which is a blueprint for communicating to the director and cinematographer what is to be seen and heard on screen.

Thus, you can’t describe a character as “a trouble-maker who has been through prison multiple times and is a recovering drug addict.” You would have to showcase scenes of that character in prison, going to drug addict support group meetings, or include all of that information within the dialogue.

If it’s not going to be shown on the screen, you can’t include it in the script. And if you need it to be shown on screen, you have to do so through scenes and the format that communicates those scenes — slug line/location headings, scene descriptions, character names, and dialogue.

8. Dialogue Is Not for Exposition

Exposition is defined as “a comprehensive description and explanation of an idea or theory.” In screenplay context, it’s information that is communicated through dialogue explaining either what has already been described within the screenplay (redundant) or what has clearly happened off screen.

Expositional dialogue is the worst kind of dialogue — and often the biggest crutch that a writer clings to in order to explain elements that they did not show onscreen in their scenes.

Yes, exposition is sometimes needed, but avoid it whenever you can. It points to the age-old screenwriting adage of Show, Don’t Tell .

9. CUT TO Transitions are Useless in Screenplays

Forget what you’ve seen in the screenplays you’ve read from older classics. The transition CUT TO between scenes is overly redundant because once we move from one new scene or location to the next, we obviously CUT TO that next one (with minor exceptions). There’s no need to waste important screenplay real estate by typing CUT TO in between every — or any — scene or location.

10. It’s Not Your Job to Dictate Where Actors Should Improvise 

A common annoyance in screenplays occurs when the screenwriter uses the scene description to tell us that characters are engaged in small talk, are talking on the phone, or that actors portraying those characters are tasked to improvise.

Again, everything within the screenplay needs to communicate what is going to be seen or heard onscreen — thus, in this case, we need to know what those characters are saying.

If a character is in the background talking on the phone as is not meant to be heard, you need to communicate that within the scene description.

John is talking on the phone just out of earreach.

In short, don’t be lazy. If there’s something meant to be heard onscreen — or not — it’s your job to tell us.

11. Use “We See” Few and Far Between

When you’re writing scene description, it’s okay to use “we see” as a way to communicate an image or action every now and then .

We see the shadow of the shark within the water.

When it’s in a majority of scene description blocks, it’s overbearing.

We see the shark’s fin penetrate the water. Brody rushes to the side of the boat. We see the fin turn and move briskly towards the boat. As we see Quint and Hooper ready their equipment, the fin disappears underneath the boat. 

That’s too much.

12. Less Is More

The true testament of a seasoned screenwriter is the ability to convey style, atmosphere, and substance with as little scene description as possible — and the same goes for dialogue as well.

Less Is More is a mantra that all screenwriters need to embrace because it serves the script so much better than overwriting, which describes too much atmosphere, too much direction, and too much information for the reader’s mind to process while they’re trying to visualize your cinematic story.

Overwritten Version of Scene Description

script writing rules

Correct Version of Scene Description

script writing rules

The latter version takes it to the extreme, but you hopefully get the point.

In screenplays, detail is poison. Film is a collaborative art form. The director, cinematographer, set designer, makeup artist supervisor, special effects supervisor, and so many others will decide the details. Your job is to convey the broad stroke image as quickly as possible so the reader can visualize it quickly and move onto the next image they’re supposed to be seeing.

13. It’s Not Your Job to Create the Movie Soundtrack

You may feel the need to create atmosphere by including song selection throughout your script — it’s time to stop that habit now.

First and foremost, your inclusion of a particular song in your script is saying that it’s partial to the story. But what if the studio that produces your script can’t get the rights to the song — either because another studio owns it or the rights holder doesn’t want it used?

Secondly, if it is partial to the story enough where you’ve included it within the script, what happens if the script reader doesn’t know the song or band?  That’s an instant disconnect.

Instead, just use the scene description to explain what type of music your character is listening (Grunge, Classic Rock, Indie Rock, Hip Hop, etc.).

If your character isn’t listening to music and you simply included the song as something to be played over the scene, that’s not your job.

14. Smarty Pants Vocabulary

Put down the thesaurus and just use plain and simple words. Remember, your job is to convey images, sounds, and dialogue in the most simple ways possible. Big words that nobody really uses will only slow the read of your script to a halt.

15. Don’t Market Your Script to the Wrong People

When all is written and done, and you’re ready to get your script out there, don’t just look for the top agents, managers, and producers to query them. You have to choose very wisely who you approach.

You’re not going to take your erotic thriller to Disney. You’re not going to market your period romance drama to Michael Bay’s production company. Utilize IMDBPro to find movies that are similar to yours and then find out who is producing them. Then find out who wrote them and who represents those writers.

Blanket marketing is a newbie mistake. Target specific people and companies for specific scripts.

Bonus Rule! Don’t Write Sequels, Reboots, or Remakes to Already Produced Movies

You don’t own the rights. The studios and rights holders aren’t going to read them because they’re only going to entrust their intellectual property to well-established screenwriters.

If you’re doing it for fun — fan fiction — that’s one thing. Writing them in hopes of the studio seeing your “brilliant” take on Batman , Superman , or Star Wars ? It’s a waste of your time.

Follow these fifteen screenwriting rules (plus the bonus) and you’ll find yourself in good standing with most script readers — offering you a better chance at making those screenwriting dreams come true.

script writing rules

Ken Miyamoto has worked in the film industry for nearly two decades, most notably as a studio liaison for Sony Studios and then as a script reader and story analyst for Sony Pictures. Make sure to read his  growing archive of posts at ScreenCraft  for more inspiration.

He has many studio meetings under his belt as a produced screenwriter, meeting with the likes of Sony, Dreamworks, Universal, Disney, Warner Brothers, as well as many production and management companies. He has had a previous development deal with Lionsgate, as well as multiple writing assignments, including the produced miniseries  Blackout , starring Anne Heche, Sean Patrick Flanery, Billy Zane, James Brolin, Haylie Duff, Brian Bloom, Eric La Salle, and Bruce Boxleitner. Follow Ken on Twitter  @KenMovies

For all the latest from The Script Lab, be sure to follow us on  Twitter ,  Facebook , and  Instagram .

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How to Write a Script

Last Updated: December 5, 2023 Approved

This article was co-authored by Melessa Sargent and by wikiHow staff writer, Hunter Rising . Melessa Sargent is the President of Scriptwriters Network, a non-profit organization that brings in entertainment professionals to teach the art and business of script writing for TV, features and new media. The Network serves its members by providing educational programming, developing access and opportunity through alliances with industry professionals, and furthering the cause and quality of writing in the entertainment industry. Under Melessa's leadership, SWN has won numbers awards including the Los Angeles Award from 2014 through 2021, and the Innovation & Excellence award in 2020. There are 14 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. This article received 32 testimonials and 82% of readers who voted found it helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 3,424,963 times.

Writing a script is a great way to stretch your creativity by making a short film, movie, or TV show . Each script starts with a good premise and plot that takes your characters on a life-changing adventure. With a lot of hard work and correct formatting, you can write your own script in just a few months!

Script-Writing Help

script writing rules

Creating a Story World

Step 1 Think of a theme or conflict that you want to tell in your story.

  • For example, “What if you went back in time and met your parents when they were your age?” is the premise for Back to the Future , while “What if a monster rescued a princess instead of a handsome prince?” is the premise to Shrek .
  • Carry a small notebook with you wherever you go so you can take down notes when you get ideas.

Step 2 Pick a genre for your story.

  • Combine genres to make something unique. For example, you may have a western movie that takes place in space or a romance movie with horror elements.

Picking a Genre

If you like big set pieces and explosions, consider writing an action film.

If you want to scare other people, try writing a horror script.

If you want to tell a story about a relationship, try writing a drama or romantic comedy .

If you like a lot of special effects or what could happen in the future, write a science fiction film.

Step 3 Choose a setting for your script to take place.

  • For example, if one of your themes is isolation, you may choose to set your script in an abandoned house.
  • The genre you pick will also help you choose your setting. For example, it's unlikely that you'd set a western story in New York City.

Step 4 Make an interesting protagonist.

  • Don't forget to figure out a memorable name for your character!

Step 5 Create an antagonist that opposes your protagonist.

  • If you're writing a horror story, your antagonist may be a monster or a masked killer.
  • In a romantic comedy, the antagonist is the person your main character is trying to woo.

Step 6 Write a 1-2 sentence logline to summarize the plot of your script.

  • For example, if you wanted to write a logline for the movie A Quiet Place , you may say, “A family is attacked by monsters,” but it doesn't give any details. Instead, if you wrote, “A family must live in silence to avoid being captured by monsters with ultra-sensitive hearing,” then the person reading your logline understands the main points of your script.

Outlining Your Script

Step 1 Brainstorm plot ideas on index cards.

  • If you don't want to use index cards, you may also use a word document or screenwriting software, such as WriterDuet or Final Draft.

Step 2 Arrange the events in the order you want them in your script.

  • Have events in the future take place early in your film if you want to make a mind-bending movie with twists, such as Inception .

Melessa Sargent

Melessa Sargent

Also be sure to consider how many acts to include. A TV script should be 5 acts if it's for a commercial network like CBS, NBC, or ABC. A non-commercial script, such as for Netflix or Amazon, should be 3 acts. Feature scripts are also usually 3 acts.

Step 3 Ask yourself the importance of each scene you want to include.

  • For example, if the scene is your character just shopping for groceries, it doesn't add anything to the story. However, if your character bumps into someone at the grocery store and they hold a conversation related to the main idea of the movie, then you can keep it.

Consider how many acts should be included. Melessa Sargent, the President of Screenwriters Network, says: "A TV script should be 5 acts if it's for a commercial network like CBS, NBC, or ABC. A non-commercial script, such as for Netflix or Amazon, should be 3 acts. In either case, a teaser is included and is considered the first act. Feature scripts are also usually 3 acts."

Step 4 Use high and low moments as your act breaks.

Tip: TV scripts usually hit act breaks when they cut to commercials. Watch shows similar to the story you're writing to see what happens just before they go to a commercial break.

Formatting the Script

Step 1 Create a title page for your script.

  • If the script is based on any other stories or films, include a few lines with the phrase “Based on the story by” followed by the names of the original authors.

Try scriptwriting software to make formatting your script easy. It can help a lot, especially if you've never written a screenplay before.

Step 2 Use size 12 Courier font throughout your whole script.

  • Use any additional formatting, such as bolding or underlining, sparingly since it can distract your reader.

Tip: Screenwriting software, like Celtx, Final Draft, or WriterDuet, all automatically format your script for you so you don't need to worry about changing any settings.

Step 3 Put in scene headings whenever you go to a different location.

  • For example, a scene heading may read: INT. CLASSROOM - DAY.
  • Keep scene headings on a single line so they aren't too overwhelming.
  • If you want to specify a room in a specific location, you can also type scene headings like: INT. JOHN'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY.

Step 4 Write action blocks to describe settings and character actions.

  • Avoid writing what the characters are thinking. A good rule of thumb to think about is if it can't be seen on a screen, don't include it in your action block. So instead of saying, “John thinks about pulling the lever but he's not sure if he should,” you may write something like, “John's hand twitches near the lever. He grits his teeth and furrows his brow.”
  • When you introduce a character for the first time in an action block, use all caps for their name. Every time after you mention the character name, write it as normal.

Step 5 Center character names and dialogue whenever a character speaks.

  • If you want to make it clear how your character is feeling, include a parenthetical on the line right after the character name with an emotion. For example, it may read (excited) or (tense). Make sure the parenthetical is 3.1 in (7.9 cm) from the left side of the page.

Writing Your First Draft

Step 1 Set a deadline so you have a goal to reach.

  • Tell others about your goal and ask them to hold you accountable for finishing your work.

Step 2 Plan to write at least 1-2 pages per day.

  • Choose a set time each day to sit down and write so you don't get distracted.
  • Turn off your phone or internet connection so you can just focus on writing.

"Feature scripts should be between 95-110 pages. TV scripts should be 30-35 pages for a half-hour show or 60-65 pages for a 1 hour show."

Step 3 Say your dialogue out loud to see if it sounds natural.

  • Make sure each character sounds different and has a unique voice. Otherwise, a reader will have a hard time distinguishing between who's speaking.

Step 4 Keep writing until you're between 90-120 pages.

  • If you're writing a TV script, aim for 30-40 pages for a half-hour sitcom and 60-70 pages for an hour-long drama.
  • Short films should be about 10 pages or less.

Revising Your Script

Step 1 Take a 1-2 week break from your script when you finish it.

  • Start work on another script while you wait if you want to keep working on other ideas.

Step 2 Reread your entire script and take notes on what doesn't make sense.

  • Try to read your script out loud and don't be afraid to act out parts based on how you think they should be performed. That way, you can catch dialogue or wording that doesn't work as well.

Tip: If you can, print out your screenplay so you can directly write on it.

Step 3 Share your script with someone you trust so they can look over it.

  • Start each draft in a new document so you can cut and paste parts you like from your old script into the new one.
  • Don't get too nit-picky with yourself or you'll never finish the script you're working on.

Expert Q&A

Melessa Sargent

  • There are no set rules to writing a screenplay. If you feel like your story should be told a different way, try them out. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
  • Read scripts to movies you enjoy to learn how they were written. Many PDFs can be found online with a simple search. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 1
  • Read books like Save the Cat by Blake Snyder or Screenplay by Syd Field to get ideas and information about how to format your stories. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

Tips from our Readers

  • Make sure that you give credit to everyone who helped and make your ideas original. Don't steal other people's ideas.
  • If you were to perform a play at school, you could try a play that has a warning or a moral.
  • The more you practice writing, the better you will be at it.

script writing rules

You Might Also Like

Write an Effective Screenplay for a Short Film

  • ↑ https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/how-i-write-a-script-part-1-story-concept-ab6d5a25fc27
  • ↑ https://scriptmag.com/page/5-tips-for-choosing-writing-genres
  • ↑ https://thescriptlab.com/features/screenwriting-101/2982-how-to-create-a-convincing-setting-in-your-screenplay/
  • ↑ https://www.well-storied.com/blog/the-four-main-types-of-epic-antagonists
  • ↑ https://www.scriptreaderpro.com/how-to-write-a-screenplay-2/
  • ↑ https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/how-i-write-a-script-part-6-outline-697aedb321ef
  • ↑ https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/three-act-structure/
  • ↑ https://screenwriting.io/what-does-a-screenplay-title-page-look-like/
  • ↑ https://screenwriting.io/what-is-standard-screenplay-format/
  • ↑ https://scriptwrecked.com/category/scene-headings/
  • ↑ https://scriptangel.com/8-tips-to-writing-great-action-lines/
  • ↑ https://screenwriting.io/how-long-should-it-take-to-write-a-screenplay/
  • ↑ https://thescriptlab.com/features/screenwriting-101/9296-mastering-the-art-of-revising-and-editing-your-screenplays/
  • ↑ https://screencraft.org/2014/05/18/revising-screenplay-rewriting-screenwriting/

About This Article

Melessa Sargent

To write a script, always start with a scene heading that's aligned to the left margin whenever you go to a new location. You should also include action blocks whenever you want to describe the setting and character's actions, which should also be aligned with the left margin. For example, you might write, "John takes a sip of his coffee and smiles." When you want to include dialogue, center the character's name in all caps, and center the dialogue under their name. To learn how to come up with a good story and realistic dialogue, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Write a Script (Step-by-Step Guide)

Luke Leighfield

So you want to write a film script (or, as some people call it, a screenplay – they're two words that mean basically the same thing). We're here to help with this simple step-by-step script writing guide.

Or better yet, use our AI script writing generator -- it's designed to take your idea and flesh out a film script with voiceovers and camera directions for your storyboard. Bring your vision to life.

Lay the groundwork

1. know what a script is.

If this is your first time creating movie magic, you might be wondering what a script actually is. Well, it can be an original story, straight from your brain. Or it can be based on a true story, or something that someone else wrote – like a novel, theatre production, or newspaper article.

A movie script details all the parts – audio, visual, behaviour, dialogue – that you need to tell a visual story, in a movie or on TV. It's usually a team effort, going through oodles of revisions and rewrites, not to mention being nipped ‘n' tucked by directors,  actors , and those in production jobs. But it'll generally start with the hard work and brainpower of one person – in this case, you.

Because films and TV shows are audiovisual mediums, budding scriptwriters need to include all the audio (heard) and visual (seen) parts of a story. Your job is to translate pictures and sounds into words. Importantly, you need to show the audience what's happening, not tell them. If you nail that, you'll be well on your way to taking your feature film to Hollywood.

2. Read some scripts

The first step to stellar screenwriting is to read some great scripts – as many as you can stomach. It’s an especially good idea to read some in the genre that your script is going to be in, so you can get the lay of the land. If you’re writing a comedy, try searching for ‘50 best comedy scripts’ and starting from there. Lots of scripts are available for free online.

3. Read some scriptwriting books

It's also helpful to read books that go into the craft of writing a script. There are tonnes out there, but we've listed a few corkers below to get you started.

4. Watch some great films

A quick way to get in the  scriptwriting  zone is to rewatch your favourite films and figure out why you like them so much. Make notes about why you love certain scenes and bits of dialogue. Examine why you're drawn to certain characters. If you're stuck for ideas of films to watch, check out some ‘best movies of all time' lists and work through those instead.

Flesh out the story

5. write a logline (a.k.a. brief summary).

You're likely to be pretty jazzed about writing your script after watching all those cinematic classics. But before you dive into writing the script, we've got a little more work to do.

First up, you need to write a ‘ logline '. It's got nothing to do with trees. Instead, it's a tiny summary of your story – usually one sentence – that describes your protagonist (hero) and their goal, as well as your antagonist (villain) and their conflict. Your logline should set out the basic idea of your story and its general theme. It's a chance to tell people what the story's about, what style it's in, and the feeling it creates for the viewer.

6. Write a treatment (a.k.a. longer summary)

Once your logline's in the bag, it's time to write your treatment . It's a slightly beefier summary that includes your script's title, the logline, a list of your main characters, and a mini synopsis. A treatment is a useful thing to show to producers – they might read it to decide whether they want to invest time in reading your entire script. Most importantly, your treatment needs to include your name and contact details.

Your synopsis should give a good picture of your story, including the important ‘beats' (events) and plot twists. It should also introduce your characters and the general vibe of the story. Anyone who reads it (hopefully a hotshot  producer ) should learn enough that they start to feel a connection with your characters, and want to see what happens to them.

This stage of the writing process is a chance to look at your entire story and get a feel for how it reads when it's written down. You'll probably see some parts that work, and some parts that need a little tweaking before you start writing the finer details of each scene.

7. Develop your characters

What's the central question of your story? What's it all about? Character development means taking your characters on a transformational journey so that they can answer this question. You might find it helpful to complete a character profile worksheet when you're starting to flesh out your characters (you can find these for free online). Whoever your characters are, the most important thing is that your audience wants to get to know them, and can empathise with them. Even the villain!

8. Write your plot

By this point, you should have a pretty clear idea of what your story's about. The next step is breaking the story down into all the small pieces and inciting incidents that make up the plot – which some people call a 'beat sheet'. There are lots of different ways to do this. Some people use flashcards. Some use a notebook. Others might use a digital tool, like Trello , Google Docs , Notion , etc.

It doesn't really matter which tool you use. The most important thing is to divide the plot into scenes, then bulk out each scene with extra details – things like story beats (events that happen) and information about specific characters or plot points.

While it's tempting to dive right into writing the script, it's a good idea to spend a good portion of time sketching out the plot first. The more detail you can add here, the less time you'll waste later. While you're writing, remember that story is driven by tension – building it, then releasing it. This tension means your hero has to change in order to triumph against conflict.

Write the Script

9. know the basics.

Before you start cooking up the first draft of your script, it's good to know how to do the basics. Put simply, your script should be a printed document that's:

Font fans might balk at using Courier over their beloved Futura or Comic Sans. However, it's a non-negotiable when you write a script. The film industry's love of Courier isn't purely stylistic – it's functional, too. One script page in 12-point Courier is roughly one minute of screen time.

That's why the page count for an average screenplay should be between 90 and 120 pages, although it's worth noting that this differs a bit by genre. Comedies are usually shorter (90 pages / 1.5 hours), while dramas can be a little longer (120 pages / 2 hours). A short film will be shorter still. Obviously.

10. Write the first page

Using script formatting programmes means you no longer need to know the industry standard when it comes to margins and indents. That said, it’s good to know how to set up your script in the right way.

11. Format your script

script-screenplay-example.jpg

Here’s a big ol’ list of items that you’ll need in your script, and how to indent them properly. Your script-writing software will handle this for you, but learning’s fun, right?

Scene heading

script-screenplay-scene-heading-example

The scene heading is where you include a one-line description of the location and time of day of a scene. This is also called a ‘slugline’. It should always be in caps.

Example: ‘EXT. BAKERY - NIGHT’ tells you that the action happens outside the bakery during the nighttime.

script-screenplay-subheader-example

When you don’t need a new scene heading, but you need to make a distinction in the action, you can throw in a subheader. Go easy on them, though – Hollywood buffs frown on a script that’s packed with subheaders. One reason you might use them is to make a number of quick cuts between two locations. Here, you would write ‘INTERCUT’ and the scene locations.

script-screenplay-action-example

This is the narrative description of what’s happening in the scene, and it’s always written in the present tense. You can also call this direction, visual exposition, blackstuff, description, or scene direction. Remember to only include things that your audience can see or hear.

script-screenplay-character-example

When you introduce a character, you should capitalise their name in the action. For example: ‘The car speeds up and out steps GEORGIA, a muscular woman in her mid-fifties with nerves of steel.’

You should always write each character’s name in caps, and put it about their dialogue. You can include minor characters without names, like ‘BUTCHER’ or ‘LAWYER.’

script-screenplay-dialogue-example

Your dialogue is the lines that each character speaks. Use dialogue formatting whenever your audience can hear a character speaking, including off-screen speech or voiceovers.

Parenthetical

script-screenplay-parenthentical-example

A long word with a simple meaning, a parenthetical is where you give a character direction that relates to their attitude or action – how they do something, or what they do. However, parentheticals have their roots in old school playwriting, and you should only use them when you absolutely need to.

Why? Because if you need a parenthetical to explain what’s going on, your script might just need a rewrite. Also, it’s the director’s job to tell an actor how to give a line – and they might not appreciate your abundance of parentheticals.

script-screenplay-extension-example

This is a shortened technical note that you put after a character’s name to show how their voice will be heard onscreen. For example: if your character is speaking as a voiceover, it would appear as ‘DAVID (V.O.)’.

script-screenplay-transition-example

Transitions are film editing instructions that usually only appear in a shooting script. Things like:

If you’re writing a spec script, you should steer clear of using a transition unless there’s no other way to describe what’s happening in the story. For example, you might use ‘DISSOLVE TO:’ to show that a large portion of time has passed.

script-screenplay-shot-example

A shot tells the reader that the focal point in a scene has changed. Again, it’s not something you should use very often as a spec screenwriter. It’s the director’s job! Some examples:

12. Spec scripts vs. shooting scripts

A ‘spec script' is another way of saying ‘speculative screenplay.' It's a script that you're writing in hopes of selling it to someone. The film world is a wildly competitive marketplace, which is why you need to stick to the scriptwriting rules that we talk about in this post. You don't want to annoy Spielberg and co.

Once someone buys your script, it's now a ‘shooting script' or a ‘production script.' This version of your script is written specifically to produce a film. Because of that, it'll include lots more technical instructions: editing notes, shots, cuts, and more. These instructions help the production assistants and director to work out which scenes to shoot in which order, making the best use of resources like the stage, cast, and location.

Don't include any elements from a shooting script in your spec script, like  camera angles  or editing  transitions . It's tempting to do this – naturally, you have opinions about how the story should look – but it's a strict no-no. If you want to have your way with that stuff, then try the independent filmmaker route. If you want to sell your script, stick to the rules.

13. Choose your weapon

While writing a big-screen smash is hard work, it's a heck of a lot easier nowadays thanks to a smorgasbord of affordable  screenwriting software . These programmes handle the script format (margins, spacing, etc.) so that you can get down to telling a great story. Here are a few programmes to check out:

There are also a tonne of outlining and development programmes. These make it easier to collect your thoughts and storytelling ideas together before you put pen to paper. Take a peek at these:

14. Make a plan

When you're approaching a chunky project, it's always good to set a deadline so you've got a clear goal to reach. You probably want to allow 8-12 weeks to write a script – this is the amount of time that the industry would usually give a writer to work on a script. Be sure to put the deadline somewhere you'll see it: on your calendar, or your phone, or tattooed on your hand.

For your first draft, concentrate on getting words on the page. Don't be too critical – just write whatever comes into your head, and follow your outline. If you can crank out 1-2 pages per day, you'll have your first draft within two or three months. Easy!

Some people find it helpful to write at the same time each day. Some people write first thing. Some people write late at night. Some people have no routine whatsoever. Find a routine (or lack thereof) that works for you, and stick to it. You got this.

15. Read it out loud

One surefire way to see if your dialogue sounds natural is to read it out loud. While you're writing dialogue, speak it through at the same time. If it doesn't flow, or it feels a little stilted, you'll need to make some tweaks. Highlight the phrases that need work then come back to them later when you're editing.

16. Take a break

When your draft's finished, you might think it's the greatest thing ever written – or you might think it's pure dross. The reality is probably somewhere in the middle. When you're deep inside a creative project, it's hard to see the forest for the trees.

That's why it's important to take a decent break between writing and editing. Look at something else for a few weeks. Read a book. Watch TV. Then, when you come back to edit your script, you'll be able to see it with fresh eyes.

17. Make notes

After you've taken a good break, read your whole script and take notes on the bits that don't make sense or sound a little weird. Are there sections where the story's confusing? Are the characters doing things that don't push the story along? Find those bits and make liberal use of a red pen. Like we mentioned before, this is a good time to read the script out loud – adding accents and performing lines in a way that's true to your vision for the story.

18. Share with a friend

As you work towards a final version of your script, you might want to share it with some people to get their feedback. Friends and family members are a good first port of call, or other writers if you know any. Ask them to give feedback on any parts you're concerned about, and see if there's anything that didn't make sense to them.

Boords App Screenshot

The Shortcut to Effective Storyboards.

Boords is an easy-to-use storyboarding tool to plan creative projects.

Wrap things up

19. write final draft.

After you've made notes and gathered feedback, it's time to climb back into the weeds and work towards your final draft. Keep making edits until you're happy. If you need to make changes to the story or characters, do those first as they might help fix larger problems in the script.

Create each new draft in a new document so you can transfer parts you like from old scripts into the new one. Drill into the details, but don't get so bogged down in small things that you can't finish a draft. And, before you start sharing it with the world, be sure to do a serious spelling and grammar check using a tool like Grammarly .

20. Presentation and binding

There are rules for everything when writing a script. Even how you bind the thing. Buckle up!

This is a list of stuff you’ll need to prepare your script before sending it out and taking over the world:

And this is how to bind your script:

Related links

More from the blog..., how to write a logline.

Before you start work on your Hollywood-busting screenplay, you'll need a logline. It's a one-sentence summary of your movie that entices someone to read the entire script.

How to Write a TV Commercial Script

Writing commercial scripts for TV ads is entirely different from screenwriting a screenplay. Learn the format and download a handy template.

How to Tell a Story

It takes a lot of work to tell a great story. Just ask all the struggling filmmakers and authors, hustling away at their craft in an attempt to get a break.

Writers Store

How to Write a Screenplay: Script Writing Example & Screenwriting Tips

Posted by Web Services on April 1, 2021

Combine that with the right screenwriting software, books and supplies, and you'll be ready to type FADE IN before you know it.

Enter your email below and receive our Screenwriting Starter Package, a $120 value, absolutely free! Inside you'll find industry-best resources for those just getting started. 

In the most basic terms, a screenplay is a 90-120 page document written in Courier 12pt font on 8 1/2" x 11" bright white three-hole punched paper. Wondering why Courier font is used? It's a timing issue. One formatted script page in Courier font equals roughly one minute of screen time. That's why the average page count of a screenplay should come in between 90 and 120 pages. Comedies tend to be on the shorter side (90 pages, or 1 ½ hours) while Dramas run longer (120 pages, or 2 hours).

A screenplay can be an original piece, or based on a true story or previously written piece, like a novel, stage play or newspaper article. At its heart, a screenplay is a blueprint for the film it will one day become. Professionals on the set including the producer, director, set designer and actors all translate the screenwriter's vision using their individual talents. Since the creation of a film is ultimately a collaborative art, the screenwriter must be aware of each person's role and as such, the script should reflect the writer's knowledge.

For example, it's crucial to remember that film is primarily a visual medium. As a screenwriter, you must show what's happening in a story, rather than tell. A 2-page inner monologue may work well for a novel, but is the kiss of death in a script. The very nature of screenwriting is based on how to show a story on a screen, and pivotal moments can be conveyed through something as simple as a look on an actor's face. Let's take a look at what a screenplay's structure looks like.

The First Page of a Screenplay

While screenplay formatting software such as Final Draft, Movie Magic Screenwriter, Movie Outline and Montage frees you from having to learn the nitty-gritty of margins and indents, it's good to have a grasp of the general spacing standards.

The top, bottom and right margins of a screenplay are 1". The left margin is 1.5". The extra half-inch of white space to the left of a script page allows for binding with brads, yet still imparts a feeling of vertical balance of the text on the page. The entire document should be single-spaced.

The very first item on the first page should be the words FADE IN:. Note: the first page is never numbered. Subsequent page numbers appear in the upper right hand corner, 0.5" from the top of the page, flush right to the margin.

Screenplay Elements

Below is a list of items (with definitions) that make up the screenplay format, along with indenting information. Again, screenplay software will automatically format all these elements, but a screenwriter must have a working knowledge of the definitions to know when to use each one.

Scene Heading Indent: Left: 0.0" Right: 0.0" Width: 6.0"

A scene heading is a one-line description of the location and time of day of a scene, also known as a "slugline." It should always be in CAPS.

Example: EXT. WRITERS STORE - DAY reveals that the action takes place outside The Writers Store during the daytime.

Subheader Indent: Left: 0.0" Right: 0.0" Width: 6.0"

When a new scene heading is not necessary, but some distinction needs to be made in the action, you can use a subheader. But be sure to use these sparingly, as a script full of subheaders is generally frowned upon. A good example is when there are a series of quick cuts between two locations, you would use the term INTERCUT and the scene locations.

Action Indent: Left: 0.0" Right: 0.0" Width: 6.0"

The narrative description of the events of a scene, written in the present tense. Also less commonly known as direction, visual exposition, blackstuff, description or scene direction.

Remember - only things that can be seen and heard should be included in the action.

Character Indent: Left: 2.0" Right: 0.0" Width: 4.0"

When a character is introduced, his name should be capitalized within the action. For example: The door opens and in walks LIAM, a thirty-something hipster with attitude to spare.

A character's name is CAPPED and always listed above his lines of dialogue. Minor characters may be listed without names, for example "TAXI DRIVER" or "CUSTOMER."

Dialogue Indent: Left: 1.0" Right: 1.5" Width: 3.5"

Lines of speech for each character. Dialogue format is used anytime a character is heard speaking, even for off-screen and voice-overs.

Parenthetical Indent: Left: 1.5" Right: 2.0" Width: 2.5"

A parenthetical is direction for the character, that is either attitude or action-oriented. With roots in the playwriting genre, today, parentheticals are used very rarely, and only if absolutely necessary. Why? Two reasons. First, if you need to use a parenthetical to convey what's going on with your dialogue, then it probably just needs a good re-write. Second, it's the director's job to instruct an actor on how to deliver a line, and everyone knows not to encroach on the director's turf!

Extension Placed after the character's name, in parentheses

An abbreviated technical note placed after the character's name to indicate how the voice will be heard onscreen, for example, if the character is speaking as a voice-over, it would appear as LIAM (V.O.).

Transition Indent: Left: 4.0" Right: 0.0" Width: 2.0"

Transitions are film editing instructions, and generally only appear in a shooting script. Transition verbiage includes:

  • DISSOLVE TO:

As a spec script writer, you should avoid using a transition unless there is no other way to indicate a story element. For example, you might need to use DISSOLVE TO: to indicate that a large amount of time has passed.

Shot Indent: Left: 0.0" Right: 0.0" Width: 6.0"

A shot tells the reader the focal point within a scene has changed. Like a transition, there's rarely a time when a spec screenwriter should insert shot directions. Once again, that's the director's job. Examples of Shots:

  • ANGLE ON --
  • EXTREME CLOSE UP --
  • LIAM'S POV --

Spec Script vs. Shooting Script

A "spec script" literally means that you are writing a screenplay on speculation. That is, no one is paying you to write the script. You are penning it in hopes of selling the script to a buyer. Spec scripts should stick stringently to established screenwriting rules.

Once a script is purchased, it becomes a shooting script, also called a production script. This is a version of the screenplay created for film production. It will include technical instructions, like film editing notes, shots, cuts and the like. All the scenes are numbered, and revisions are marked with a color-coded system. This is done so that the production assistants and director can then arrange the order in which the scenes will be shot for the most efficient use of stage, cast, and location resources.

A spec script should NEVER contain the elements of shooting script. The biggest mistake any new screenwriter can make is to submit a script full of production language, including camera angles and editing transitions. It can be very difficult to resist putting this type of language in your script. After all, it's your story and you see it in a very specific way. However, facts are facts. If you want to direct your script, then try to go the independent filmmaker route. But if you want to sell your script, then stick to the accepted spec screenplay format.

Screenplay Formatting Software

Screenwriting software makes producing an Industry-standard script simple and straightforward. Programs like Final Draft and Movie Magic Screenwriter put your words into proper screenplay format as you type, letting you focus on a well-told story rather than the chore of margins and spacing.

There’s also a wide spectrum of outlining and development software at the ready to help you get your thoughts together before you begin writing. Popular story development software includes Dramatica Pro, a step-by-step guide to the storytelling process, Contour, a character-based structuring system, and Save the Cat!, a program centered on successful screenwriter Blake Snyder’s own proven methods.

And if you want a program that combines story development and formatting? Check out Movie Outline, an all-in-one development package that uses step outlining to build your story, scene-by-scene, and Montage, which includes both outline and submission tracking functions.

Script Presentation and Binding

Just like the format of a script, there are very specific rules for binding and presenting your script. The first page is the title page, which should also be written in Courier 12pt font. No graphics, no fancy pictures, only the title of your script, with “written by” and your name in the center of the page. In the lower left-hand or right-hand corner, enter your contact information. In the lower left-hand or right-hand corner you can put Registered, WGA or a copyright notification, though this is generally not a requirement.

Below is a list of items you need to prepare your script to be sent out:

  • Script Covers, either linen or standard card stock
  • Three-Hole Punched Paper
  • Screenplay Brass Fasteners (also called Brads), Acco number 5 size 1 1/4-inch for scripts up to 120 pages; Acco number 6 size 2-inch for larger scripts
  • Script Binding Mallet (optional)
  • Screenplay Brass Washers
  • Script Mailers

Follow these directions to properly bind your script:

  • Print your title page and script on bright white three-hole punched paper.
  • Insert the title page and the script into the script cover. The front and back covers remain blank. They are just there to protect your script. And remember: pictures and text on script covers scream amateur.
  • Insert two brass fasteners in the first and third holes. Do NOT put a fastener in the middle hole.
  • Flip the script over, and slide the brass washers over the arms of the fasteners. Spread the arms of the fasteners flat against the script. Use a Script Binding Mallet to ensure a tight, flat fit.
  • Use the flat, self-seal script mailers to send your scripts out to buyers.

Materials for Further Exploration

Now that you understand screenplay basics, you’re no doubt ready to continue your exploration of the craft and go beyond learning how to write a movie script. The books listed below are some of The Writers Store’s favorite guides to screenwriting.

The Screenwriter's Bible: A Complete Guide to Writing, Formatting, and Selling Your Script Wondering how to write a script? This first-rate screenwriting primer provides a concise presentation of screenwriting basics, along with query letters, useful worksheets, checklists, sample scenes and more to help you break into screenplay writing.

From Script to Screen What goes into the making of Hollywood's greatest motion pictures? Join Linda Seger and Edward Whetmore as they examine recent screenplays on their journey from script to screen.

Hollywood Standard: The Complete and Authoritative Guide to Script Format and Style The Hollywood Standard describes in clear, vivid prose and hundreds of examples how to format every element of a screenplay or television script. 

Save the Cat! This ultimate insider's guide reveals the secrets that none dare admit, told by a show biz veteran who's proven that you can sell your script if you can Save the Cat.

Interested in taking a screenwriting class? Visit our courses section for webinars, live seminars, online courses, one-on-one instruction and on-demand courses. You can download a free webinar on "How to Write a Screenplay" from magazine site, ScriptMag.com .

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Industrial Scripts®

Scriptwriting 101: The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Script

So, scriptwriting it is…

Delving in for the first time can be a little bruising, from the prescriptive formatting to the all important question: how do I tell this story?

scriptwriting misery

From idea to planning to page to full-length script, there are mountains to climb at every stage…

The Scriptwriting Idea:

At first glance, this may seem like the easiest part of scriptwriting. The beautiful seed motivating you to start writing in the first place. However, before pen hits paper or finger hits key, there are important considerations to make.

scriptwriting 101 - pen to paper

First, can you pitch it?

Not necessarily in a room, at a person, but more generally: how concisely can you get your idea across?

This is important for two key reasons:

  • The clearer the idea, the better it will translate to the page.

If explaining your idea on paper or to a friend takes you down multiple conceptual cul-de-sacs and has you constantly backtracking to clarify key details, the likelihood is the idea isn’t ‘ready’ yet.

  • Down the line, that pitch, that logline (a pithy sentence capturing the story) or treatment (a few pages outlining story, character and tone), might be the difference between getting your script read and getting nothing.

This is why so much stock is placed in ‘high-concept’ ideas (i.e. stories in which the draw is the premise, rather than character, execution, theme , tone and so on.) It’s the difference between STAR WARS and PATERSON).

Essentially, it’s far easier to break down a high-concept idea than it is a character piece .

This isn’t to say that your rumination on the complexities of life as an out-of-work furniture salesman needs shelving, just that it becomes all the more important to nail down the specifics of the idea ahead of time.

Know Your Story:

There’s that ubiquitous quote that’s often attributed to Mark Twain:

Write what you know.

But it’s often taken a little  too  literally, confining writers to their own experiences and potentially hampering imagination. It’s perhaps better to look at it the other way around: know your story .

You can be as sure as anything about that core premise. About the top-level bureaucrat who discovers an underhand government scheme to launder money through state-run daycares.

However, if you’re hazy on:

  • The way she speaks
  • Where she’s come from
  • Her backstory before the film starts
  • Why she does what she does
  • Whether people like her
  • Whether she’s lonely
  • What her innermost turmoil is
  • How the world works
  • What type of government it is
  • Why they chose daycares
  • What the side effects of this madcap scheme might be…

…even if these things are never directly stated… that blank sheet of paper might as well be a brick wall.

Know your story . Know your world inside and out, even the extraneous details you think no-one will care about, and writing it becomes ten times easier.

Tailoring the Scriptwriting Idea:

So you know your world; you know your characters; you know your story. This is where we hit the broader considerations:

  • Who’s this story for?
  • What’s it trying to say?
  • What’s the best way of telling it?

Who’s it for?

It’s easy to dismiss the first of these as sliding on that cold, intellectually-inhibiting ‘marketing hat’, but there’s more to it than that.

It’s about tone and execution.

Take a simple premise: A law enforcement recruit faces internal prejudice as she takes on the first make-or-break case of her career.

That sentence applies just as well to ZOOTOPIA as it does SICARIO.

scriptwriting sicario

It’s an exaggerated example, but the point is that the same base story can be told a million different ways for a million different people , and if you don’t decide which you’re going for, your script is doomed to meander aimlessly.

Plus, actually putting that marketing hat on for a moment, it’s essential to know your audience.

Is your film about once-successful businessmen struggling to come to terms with middle-age and the rise of younger, more determined competition likely to appeal to teenagers? Perhaps not, so that extended gross-out comedy scene in the romantic subplot that could alienate an older viewer is probably worth leaving out.

Again, an exaggeration, but it illustrates the point: deciding who we’re aiming at affects the course of the story itself.

As Robert McKee puts it:

“You must shape your story in a way that both expresses your vision and satisfies the audience’s desires.”

…which you can’t do if you don’t know that audience in the first place.

And, speaking of vision…

What’s It Trying To Say?

Perhaps your story about a single mother struggling to look after her ill daughter seeks to examine the cold, unflinching reality of that situation.

Perhaps it aims to introduce some complex themes in a more colourful, accessible, humorous way.

Maybe it takes on a political slant, casting her struggle within the structure of a particular place or period to highlight some societal injustice.

Maybe it’s more broadly funny, playing on an emotionally bleak situation to foster some pitch-black comedy.

In Conversation With... Brad Bird | TIFF 2018

Choosing Your Angle:

We can’t really do all the above in one script, and trying to do so gives us a nebulous mess.

This illustrates the importance of choosing an ‘angle’ from which to tell the story. The same scene can play wildly different depending on which you choose.

Continuing with the single mother example above, the angle from which we tell the story determines whether a scene in which she, say, attends a job interview:

  • focuses on her struggling through it, exhausted by her parental duties.
  • casts the interviewer as a comedically pompous idiot, who thinks they’re one-upping her with difficult questions that actually make next to no sense.
  • has her turned down despite her clear skill because of her family situation and the time it takes up.
  • has her come up with some underhand plan to con her way into the job.

The core ‘event’ of the scene itself may be identical – she goes up for a job, she doesn’t get it – but the way in which we approach it is hugely formed by the overall intention of the story.

What’s the Best Way of Telling It?

This is a little more concrete. This is where we get to the importance of structure in scriptwriting.

18-Minute Analysis By Christopher Nolan On Story & Construction Of Memento

On a broad scale, this involves adhering to the oft-touted three act structure, in which, simply put, we have:

  • A first act setting the scene, establishing the protagonist and main character and concluding with an ‘inciting incident’, a major event that kicks the story into gear.
  • A second act in which our protagonist faces challenges in pursuit of their central goal. They may come close, only to fail and hit their ‘lowest point’.
  • A third act in which the story reaches its climax as the protagonist faces their final challenge and brings about a resolution to the events of the narrative.

But it has narrower implications too. Slapping a three or five-act structure onto your story isn’t enough – the moment to moment structure  has  to serve the overall narrative and its characters.

So, MEMENTO is structured backwards to induct the audience into Leonard’s unique perspective, a perspective in which he can never remember what just happened to him.

But structuring, say, STAR WARS backwards would be an ill-advised gimmick, because it doesn’t serve the story or the characters in it.

Opening STAR WARS with the image of a star destroyer bearing down on a rebel ship before we get into Luke’s story, however, is a good structural move, serving the overall story by ensuring we have our overarching conflict (and some solid world-building) in place before we chuck the protagonist into it.

The structure has to serve the story, not the other way around.

Writing your Scriptwriting Idea:

These decisions made, it’s time to put ink on paper. It’s important to remember to:

As Alfred Hitchcock puts it:

“A lot of writers think they’re filling the page with words, but they’re filling the screen with images.”

It may seem obvious, but it’s the key thing to remember in scriptwriting: you’re writing prospectively. The stack of pages you have when you’re done is not the finished product.

Gone Girl — Don't Underestimate the Screenwriter

This has some pretty big implications for the act of scriptwriting itself, perhaps the most obvious being that whatever is on the page actually needs to translate audio-visually.

There’s always a temptation to let scriptwriting slide into a more novelistic style, whereby characters’ thoughts and backstories are mentioned offhand in description.

And, to be fair, there isn’t a blanket ban on that.

Screenwriters like Shane Black and Paul Schrader like to use little omniscient details to enhance the readers experience of the script. A script is, after all, always read before it’s seen.

But there’s a fine line to walk here. Telling us in description that your protagonist has a dark past and doesn’t suffer fools gladly isn’t enough.

In fact it’s dead text if that past doesn’t come back to haunt them and there aren’t actual fools to not suffer.

The next trap is to respond by placing that information in dialogue, and this is where we come to the most ubiquitous of screenwriting mantras:

Show, don’t tell.

In scriptwriting, we can’t rely on characters’ stated thoughts and feelings. Telling us someone is angry is pretty much useless. Having them passive-aggressively lash out at a loved one or trash an RV, on the other hand – that gets the message across.

Be Concise:

The screenplays that work best tend to be those that are able to convey a lot with a little, those able to separate the essential from the extraneous.

But when we have such great, long scenes like the openings of THE SOCIAL NETWORK or INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS , it’s easy to fall into the trap of assuming that drawing things out can heighten their effect.

The Social Network - Designing Dialogue | The Cinema Cartography

That’s confusing concision with brevity.

Those scenes may be long, but every detail has purpose. Each line moves the scene forward.

A good rule of thumb when it comes to writing a scene is to come in late and get out early.

There’s a reason THE SOCIAL NETWORK opens mid-conversation rather than with Mark and Erica sitting down for their drink.

There’s a reason we conclude the opening of INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS with Landa bidding farewell to Shoshanna, rather than seeing the aftermath of the gunfire in the farmhouse and hearing his next orders to his men.

These details would do nothing for the story. As William Goldman puts it:

“I never enter scenes until the last possible moment… and as soon as it’s done I get the hell out of there.”

Be Vigilant:

If there’s anything more daunting than looking at a blank page, it’s looking at a hundred, so it can help to set up a routine to keep you’re scriptwriting going.

For some it’s easiest to set aside a certain amount of time each day, an hour in which to focus purely on scriptwriting.

For those with a little more time to spare, it can prove more effective to set yourself a more specific target, be it completing a scene each day or even churning out a certain number of pages every week.

The specific approach doesn’t matter. What’s important is ensuring it becomes a consistent habit.

Get Feedback and Rewrite… A Lot

As Terry Pratchett said:

“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”

And likelihood is, it won’t be great, but that’s OK. That’s where everyone else comes in.

Show the script to friends, family, other writers, or even get a professional opinion.

A script consultant can help polish your draft and highlight strengths and weaknesses with suggestions on how to correct them. Or tell you if an idea is worth pursuing or giving up.

  • What did you think of this article? Share it , Like it , give it a rating, and let us know you though in the comments box further down…
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Home » Blog » How to Write a Screenplay: Script Writing in 15 Steps

How to Write a Screenplay: Script Writing in 15 Steps

script writing rules

TABLE OF CONTENTS

To understand how to write a script and perfect a screenwriting format, you will need a little screenplay writing know-how. This know-how will guide your steps as you set out on your script adventure to Mordor, taking the red pill or setting sail for Pandora.

Naturally, you will want to write your script well. In this guide, I will be explaining both how to write a screenplay and the correct way to format your screenplay, step by step: covering each aspect of screenwriting and how to do it well.

So if this feels a little overwhelming, don’t worry, you’re in good hands. You can try out each part at your own pace until you feel you’ve got it.

The following 15 steps will help you with all facets of your screenplay:

  • Know the difference between spec and shooting scripts
  • Use a standard format
  • Do your plotting
  • Edit and ensure fluidity
  • Be original
  • Choose software to help you
  • The front page
  • The first page
  • Scene headings
  • The dialogue
  • Parentheticals
  • Transitions
  • Title cards
  • The montage

Whether you are writing a screenplay for the first time or the tenth time, it never hurts to use a good template. You can find many screenplay format templates in Squibler for all genres.

script writing rules

A template helps you stay on track and ensures you don’t miss anything. It makes these 11 steps even easier to work with:

Once you understand the kind of ‘language’ of screenwriting – the dynamics of writing a good screenplay, then you will be well on your way to putting the images you have in your head, onscreen. So let’s get started!

If you are looking up how to write a screenplay on the web, then the likelihood is you’ve just started the writing process. Either that or you have only just gotten serious about selling your script.

A few rules of thumb to follow when writing a screenplay:

  • Use the industry standard script format
  • Write in courier 12 pt font
  • Know your logline and refer to it when you are lost
  • Plan your script
  • Write a lot (especially if you are averse to planning)
  • Character development
  • Show not tell
  • Have a writing routine
  • Make every word count

In the following, I will go into a lot more detail about most of the points I just made. The above are the very basics and will give you a jump start if you’re itching to get down your first scene. For a more comprehensive and sustainable way of writing, read on.

1. Spec and Shooting Scripts to Write a Screenplay

Before you even think about the format make sure you know what your script is for.

Spec scripts are written on speculation. You are not being paid to write it, but are doing so in the hopes that someone will buy it. It’s therefore extremely important to follow already established screenplay writing rules.

A shooting script has already been purchased and is therefore a production script, ready to be used on set. It has extra technical notes on shots, cuts, edits, etc, that you should never find in a spec script.

2. Why Using a Standard Format Matters

Want to know how to write a script? Start by formatting it properly.

If you are only writing for fun, the script format isn’t a big deal, right? Wrong. Using the standard format matters, because it will make filming easier. It will also look more impressive and you will have all of the tools and knowledge you need to write every part of a script.

But it’s not necessary. You can quite happily get along without it, especially if you’re making a short and small production between friends. You can write well without it (especially if you are going to make a short film in your backyard with your phone). So, why bother?

Well, several reasons:

  • The first is convenience. If you have a standard-length script (90-120 pages) then it is simply a lot clearer for the actors to read if the dialogue is in the center of the page. Every element of the screen (and what you do on set) has its particular placement on the page, and that makes shooting the film an easier ride. Trawling through your notes late at night when you’re trying to get that last take is not fun for anyone. Especially not for the actors who are not getting paid for it.
  • It tells you how long your script will take to shoot. No, it does not become a magical timekeeper. However, each page of a script using a standard screenplay format averages out at about one minute of screen time. So you know how long you have until your next tea break while shooting. And if you even have enough writing for a feature-length film.
  • You might be considering pitching your script so you can sell it. If this is the case, using the right format is not an option, it’s a necessity. Much like a novel or stage play, scripts for the film have their structure and musicality that a professional who has seen thousands of them can spot in a heartbeat. They can also see one that has not properly been formatted just as easily.
  • You want the best chance to succeed. Many screenplays get tossed in the trash. But at least they likely took a look at the first couple of lines or even read the first page of their script. If it isn’t properly formatted, I guarantee they won’t even begin reading.

It could be the most wonderful work of art ever created, and it would already be in the trash. This is because a lack of formatting implies negligence on the part of the writer. ‘If you can’t even format it right,’ they will think, ‘then what is the writing going to be like?’

And I hate to say it, but they have a point. If you’re serious about screenwriting, knowing how to format will help you to look professional. It’s that simple.

It doesn’t mean your movie script will be sold. But it at least gives you a chance.

Naturally, reading this article will help. But reading more about how to write a screenplay successfully will always put you at an advantage. So do that.

To start with, I would recommend Save the Cat by Blake Snyder. This witty book has been read by pretty much anyone who wants to write for the big screen (the tagline being ‘the last book on screenwriting you’ll ever need’).

Don’t believe the tagline. You’ll want to read more if you’re serious about this. And consume as many films as you possibly can. (Not the worst homework in the world.)

Another book I would recommend is The Hero’s Journey or The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. Both are great for helping to understand story and character archetypes, which will play a role in your writing, whether you like it or not.

There are other theories on story, Campbell’s is just the classic text that influenced big hits such as Star Wars, The Matrix, The Lion King, etc.

The Screenwriter’s Bible by David Trottier is another book that everyone and his mum have read in preparation for writing a script.

If you’re writing a romantic comedy or any other genre, you’ll naturally want to hone in on that and become more knowledgeable about that, as well as film generally. Take an afternoon off to watch Love, go on, I dare you.

Read for your appropriate field or subject of interest.

Go on a course led by a professional screenwriter and take what you can from their pool of knowledge.

There comes a point where the only thing that will make a difference to your writing, is to write.

The Process of Script Writing

Writing should be fun. But it is not always. It can be frustrating and exasperating. But the thirst to do it is what draws you back to it. Hopefully. If not, consider doing something else with your time!

The main principle to bear in mind is to be able to have a consistent practice. Write in your way. Write when works for you. Maybe you’re a planner, or maybe you like the plot to unfold. Whichever it is, you will need a lot of drafts written, a lot of scenes cut, and a lot of edits and rewrites.

If your writing sucks, then great! As long as you’re writing, that’s all that matters. The more you write , naturally, the more the quality of your work will improve.

Stay humble and don’t aim for anything too wonderful. If you get stuck, go for a walk or write that scene that you always wanted to write. If you’ve already written it, rewrite it. It couldn’t hurt.

Creating an appealing hero/ heroine is an important part of the writing process and will inevitably make or break your screenplay.

No one is going to watch a science fiction film if they don’t care for the main character, no matter how compelling your idea.

A logline is just as important. If you don’t know what your entire script is about, how are you ever going to be able to sell it? The essence of a script should be able to be diluted down to 20-25 words. And it should make anyone who hears it say something along the lines of ‘huh, that’s interesting.’ If the ‘what’s it all about’ doesn’t grip you with anticipation and fill you with ideas, then perhaps you need to rethink what you want to write about.

Use Squibler to find ready-to-work and industry-standard formatted screenwriting templates to save more time and become 50% more efficient.

3. Plotting

Planning your script can be challenging. It will make writing your scenes and dialogue immeasurably easier to write once it is done. You do not have to plan. It’s just good to note that you’re making things harder for yourself if you don’t.

During the experimentation phase, when you might not have the plot set out, you can start by writing scenes on cards and moving them around to see how the beast (aka your film) interacts with itself and how moving one scene from the middle to the beginning (as happened in Bridget Jones’ Diary) can completely change the whole feel of the thing.

Many writers use Squiber which helps with the structural elements of creating a story (see point no.6: ‘choosing the right software’ for more info). 

4. Editing and Fluid Movement

script writing rules

Bear in mind that a script is one of the most fluid pieces of writing out there. Possibly THE most. It is living breathing and alive. This is because it never stops evolving throughout the whole process.

You will go through copious amounts of edits. First, to get it good. Second, so that your editor believes it’s good. Next, if it’s sold, there might be things the industry players want to change.

Once it’s on set, it is changed for that purpose. And then there’s that line that the actor just can’t say. And then that scene that is cut during the video editing process.

It’s exciting. It can also be heartbreaking. But at least it’s your damn script. And that’s something to scream about.

In Squibler, you can write, edit, organize, and format all the sections of your screenplay in one place so you don’t have to jump between tools. 

5. Don’t Try to Be Original, Be Original

Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. One mistake that new writers will be tempted to make is, that once they know the typical structure of the genre of their choice, they want to break all of the rules.

You can do this, but it might not serve in your favor. Unless you have a good reason for it.

Certain structures and uses of dialogue or action (by the writer) are repeated for a reason – they work. Thankfully, someone who has come before you already made the mistake you are about to make. Maybe you need to do this as a part of your process, but ideally, you won’t give in to temptation.

The originality of your writing should come out/be evident in what you write within those already well-defined structures. That is what will make you shine. And will maintain a sheen of professionalism needed to be considered amongst the best scripts.

6. Choose a Script Writing Software

There is quite a range of screenwriting software out there to choose from. You can choose anything, from typing it out old-school on a typewriter (a very cool choice, but a hell of a faff these days) to using the most up-to-date and easily accessible software available for download online.

Novelists develop, organize keep, and maintain their work through Squibler . It is an AI writing tool that allows you to write with AI, format, organize your notes, and plot your novel with 50% more efficiency. 

Using Software can help you write any kind of art and assist in how to write script and take some of the stress out of planning it all yourself, without any structure.

Screenwriting software is similarly made to help you plot your script. The main consideration will be what you’re writing your script for. If it’s for an indie production and you don’t want to spend much (or any) money, then there are plenty of budget resources out there. These are ideal for the newbie screenwriter not quite ready to submit their script (Amazon’s Storywriter, WriterDuet, Celtx, Fade In).

The great thing about using these programs is they all have a basic screenplay format template, already formatted and ready for you to use. So you don’t have to worry about spacing. You only have to remember which section of the script you are writing at any one moment (dialogue, action, parentheticals, etc.).

You can also use a Word or Office document and work out all of the correct spacing. But I honestly have no idea why you would, unless you get a kick out of (measurements and) the anatomy of a standard script format.

If you are ready to start selling your script (or seriously intend to in the future), then I would advise investing in one of the more upmarket and slightly more expensive versions of this software (Final Draft, Magic Movie Screenwriter). They are also great if you have the money and think you could benefit from their useful features, such as index cards, storyboards, storymaps, breakdown reports, call sheets, and/or professionally authored templates.

Final Draft is the industry standard, but there are others (Magic Movie Screenwriter, Celtx) that work just as well. If you want to be on the safe side, it’s Final Draft all the way. (Note: this is not an endorsement, Final Draft file and PDF formats are the standards to send to industry professionals.)

All of these are good, but what is better than using an AI Book Writing tool that allows you to do all the work just with it? Squibler is an advanced AI book-writing, novel, and screenplay-writing tool that allows you to write content in just one single click with the help of AI. You just need to explain your idea to it, and it will generate the exact scene for you. It comes with features like expand, rewrite, describe, visualize, and much more that you can use to become more efficient in comparison to using all these generic tools. 

If you haven’t already, go and install one of these software and come back so I can explain what to do with them.

7. Front Page/Fly Page

To start, this one is an easy page to write. It should be simple, elegant, and minimalist. All writing should be in courier, size 12. The first page is never numbered. You want your title in the center of the page in all caps, the word ‘by’ a few lines down, and then your name.

Flush right (or left) at the bottom of the page, you want to put your contact details This is so that you can easily be contacted should someone want to buy your script.

The title should express the essence or meaning of your work in just a few words. Often writers will wait until they have finished before choosing a title. That is because you are more likely to know its main message and all underlying themes by the time you have worked on it extensively.

For now, just pick one. You can always change it later. Squibler comes with built-in properly formatted and aligned front pages, so you can put more focus on actual story development than other things. 

8. First Page

Every first page of a script starts with the words FADE IN: in the top right-hand corner. The last two words of any script will similarly be FADE OUT:. Guess what? Squibler comes equipped again with all front-page and end-page credentials so you put more time into writing rather than fulfilling the formalities. 

9. Slug Line/Scene Heading

The point of a slug line is to let the director, crew, and actors know where and when the scenes will be set and shot. It is mostly there for practical reasons. This is (therefore) not the place to get poetic with your writing.

script writing rules

A typical script format will require many sluglines. Each should include three pieces of information:

Whether it is to be shot inside or outside (INT./EXT.),

where it is to be shot (e.g. JAIMIE’S BEDROOM),

and the time (DAY/NIGHT/SUNSET) (You don’t need to be too specific about the time of day, this simply helps the lighting crew know what they are doing.)

You might want to add on MOVING as a fourth piece of information, if your character is in a car, or on top of a train, for example. Another piece of information to include could be LATER (if you are in the same place but time has passed) or RESUMING (if you are continuing a scene you had already started previously).

Action is the section where you can let your writing shine. This is your chance to capture the reader’s imagination.

The key here is to succinctly describe what is happening: choose your words carefully so you can get to the point as quickly as possible. Here you want to set the scene, give a little taste of what your characters are like, and show what they are doing.

Action must be written in the present tense. It always comes before dialogue and make sure to mention the characters in the scene. The first time you mention their names, you will want to capitalize them. From then on, they can remain in lowercase during the action sections.

You can also capitalize sound effects, important props, or details (e.g. he held golden KEYS or the SMOKE snuck under the door)

script writing rules

Any information you don’t need, cut it. Any information that doesn’t involve what is happening directly onscreen, cut it. (Show not tell – don’t include any backstory or anything the character is thinking. Make a note of these things separately and if they need to be shown, do it through action and dialogue.)

If you lack adding action scenes or depth to sensitive plots, use Squibler to do it for you. You just need to explain the task to the Smart Writer – an AI assistant, that is right next to your editor, and then see how it gets the work done in less than 10 seconds.

11. Dialogue

Dialogue is also pretty straightforward. Once you have succinctly written your action section, the dialogue will inevitably follow.

To write dialogue in a classic screenplay format, you will need; your character’s name, centered in block capitals; beneath it, slightly to the top left margin , you will want to write the actual dialogue. It is better to use a sheet to store the character’s information .

script writing rules

When you want to add offscreen dialogue, write (O.S.) next to the character’s name (write (OS) for when they go off-screen and return on-screen). For a voiceover, write (V.O.). When your character is talking into a phone, predictably, write (INTO PHONE).

script writing rules

NB The difference between offscreen dialogue and a voiceover is that the character speaking is involved in the action, but can’t be seen. A voiceover is a narration. O.S. dialogue, however, is used when they are about to appear onscreen.

A quick tip for character names is to make them each start with different letters. This is because often screenwriting software will handily suggest names for you, once you have started writing dialogue. If they have different letters to start each (e.g. Jaimie and Diane), then you won’t have to go through a long list of names and can save time .

script writing rules

Some writers find writing natural-sounding dialogue easier to them than others. The key here is to write a lot, to the point where you can feel the rhythm of the text flowing more easily. If your dialogue surprises you or fills you with a certain emotion, that is a good sign, too. What you don’t ever want to feel when writing dialogue, is bored. If you do, then the reader is sure to also feel bored. So keep writing until you break through to what interests you.

A deep knowledge of your characters helps when writing realistic or moving speech. Make sure that the scene is always moving forward, that you have an endpoint or destination in mind for each scene, that there is enough conflict, and if a line does not create some form of conflict, then it should reveal something to us about your characters, and why we should care about them.

What Dialogue and Action Should Be

Ideally, your action and dialogue will flow freely, working together to give us an understanding of what is happening, without you having to spell it out. You won’t have to say your character is sad, because they will be crying. Or better yet, they will be smiling.

One of my favorite examples of this subtle use of action is in the film, Les Choristes. (Spoiler alert.) The protagonist has just been dumped. He is sitting in a café, and his love is walking away from him to her new life, with a new guy. A stranger walks up to him and asks if the chair where she had been sitting, is taken. And then the stranger walks off with it.

This is such a subtle and simple way of showing that the protagonist does not have anyone in his life to share the table with. These little interactions can say a lot, without the character ever needing to say a word.

Dialogue and action tell us who your character is, so you need to know what your character is saying (or not saying) with each line. Make sure that every word that is written is either pushing the plot or story forward , creating conflict, or showing their growth or uniqueness as a character.

Never have a conversation for conversation’s sake. It is boring and will result in your reader losing interest. Everything MUST have a reason for being there. In real life, people have boring conversations. On-screen, they do not.

With Squibler, the task becomes much easier with the smart writer. You can start an engaging dialogue, and then later expand it with the AI tool in just one click. It will generate multiple scenes for you based on the ongoing conflict. You can choose the one that suits you best and later edit and trim the parts you don’t need. 

12. Parentheticals

script writing rules

To specify how a character speaks, add a parenthetical. They are placed underneath the name, right before the dialogue starts. These might include (angry) or (calm). Only add them where necessary as their mood should be obvious from the dialogue.

So unless their mood directly opposes what they are saying, don’t use them.

13. Cut To:

script writing rules

Transitions signify the way a new scene just began. These are placed to the far right of the page at the beginning of a scene. These transitions are notes for the editor of the feature film .

If you are writing a spec script, then you will want to avoid using them – if you have a lot of CUT TO:’s in your final script here , it will look a little amateurish.

While you may find a script template or two online filled with transitions, the likelihood is that they were either written by an already successful writer who can do anything, or you’re looking at a shooting script. So use them only when necessary.

Other examples of transitions include:

  • DISSOLVE TO:

14. Chyrons / Title Cards

script writing rules

A chyron is a title page that lets your audience know some basic information. It is useful for specifying a time and/or place. It is a standard part of your screenplay format.

Write OVER BLACK (or whatever color you want, although black keeps it simple and is typically what is used) and then CHYRON: ‘2:45 PM’ or TITLE CARD: ‘2:45 PM’

Close the sequence with TITLE DISAPPEARS.

15. Montage

Write BEGIN MONTAGE:

It can be useful to use a montage during particular parts of your screenplay. We will often see them used at the beginning of a script to set up the scene locations and the protagonist’s normal lives. For example, in Little Miss Sunshine, we see shots of each member of the family, of this multi-protagonist story – the brother doing weights, the suicidal brother, the father giving a speech on motivation, and the little girl watching beauty pageants.

Another time montage can be useful is during the midpoint of the film, or when they are in the most difficulty – when the character is considering who they are, feeling pretty crummy about what has happened. We see this in The Devil Wears Prada as Andy is walking the streets melancholically, considering her situation.

A montage sequence works well in these moments because it gets across a lot of information pretty quickly.

Final Remarks

So, that’s it for your guide on how to write a script successfully. Now all that is left is to sign up to Squibler and get started to be 50% more efficient than typical screenwriters in the market! Hopefully, a few of the tips in this guide will have brought you closer to starting your FADE IN: and beginning to create the images and ideas in your head.

Here are the common questions that authors ask about scriptwriting:

What is the Difference Between a Script and a Screenplay?

Every screenplay is a script, but every script is not a screenplay. A screenplay is a type of the broader term, film script .

In filmmaking, the screenplay is regarded as a pre-production draft (a writer’s original draft) which acts as a guide for directors. It includes minor details about the set, such as camera angles, close-ups, and lighting – basically, it’s a director’s tool . 

A script is a concise version of a screenplay used during production/post-production. It removes the unnecessary details about the stage direction (such as time and place, other formatting, etc.), and helps actors focus on their dialogue/action delivery, making it an actor’s tool .

How Do You Start Writing a Screenplay?

To begin with, screenplays are a distinct form of script writing. Their structuring matters, hence knowing the proper format is important, and organizing your writing from the start will save you and everyone else involved a lot of time.

  • Read at least one book or watch a 101 lesson on writing screenplays. Check out the plethora of online guides and note down all the screenwriting tips while you’re at it.
  • Subsequently, read at least one award-winning screenplay related to your genre of interest. Try to make notes as you read through them – what makes them great, how they’re different from an average screenplay, what you can learn from them, etc.
  • Make sure that you at least have a logline for your screenplay if not a plot.
  • Start working on your first draft. The trick is to not worry about killer action lines, white spaces, page counts, and other technical headaches. This is not the time to edit and perfect, anything that remotely looks like a screenplay suffices.

You can worry about formatting later (there are software and templates that can help with that).

Can Anyone Write a Screenplay?

Yes! Anyone can write a screenplay after reading a few good books on screenwriting, memorizing the best screenplays, and bingeing on a few cinematic hits. 

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Script Formatting 101: A Guide for Impatient Newbies

Setting artistic limits within the traditional screenplay format is a big part of what separates the pros from the newbies. Here we will introduce you to the four most important elements, that you need to get started writing, without confusing you with details such as page margins – Arc Studio handles that for you.

In order to help you format your first draft like a pro, we’re going to discuss the format and purpose of:

  • Scene Headings

script writing rules

Stay tuned for all our tips and tricks to format your first screenplay or spec script.

SCENE HEADINGS: Info without the Art

Every scene starts with a scene heading (or slugline ). Scene headings are simple instructions: They tell the director and actors where the scene is set and the time of day . That’s it.

INT. (Interior) or EXT. (exterior) +  name of location + time of day (vague) The scene shown above is the opening of Pulp Fiction. Notice the simplicity of the opening scene heading.

INT. COFFEE SHOP - MORNING

Tarantino is known for his chatty characters and love of detail but he keeps the scene heading as basic as possible. He wants the reader to absorb the setting at a glance because he knows that action and dialogue are where his story really comes to life. Imagine how distracting it would be if he had added even a couple of adjectives.

INT. A GRIMY OLD SCHOOL COFFEE SHOP - LATE MORNING

Kill your adjectives and move on to the good stuff.

If you want to learn more about formatting, check out our ultimate screenplay formatting guide here.

ACTION: A Concise Breakdown of What’s Happening On Screen

What’s happening on screen ; that is the most important element to keep in mind. Introduce your characters, set the tone and avoid lengthy character profiles. Let’s return to the example above. Here is how Tarantino introduces the characters:

Two of these people are a YOUNG MAN and a YOUNG WOMAN. The Young Man has a slight working-class English accent and, like his fellow countryman, smokes cigarettes like they are going out of style.

A few points to note:

  • Action is always written in the PRESENT TENSE. You can check out this article to understand how other tenses can be used.
  • Characters are initially introduced in ALL CAPS.  
  • Details are limited.

Tarantino helps the reader visualize the scene by mentioning the character’s accent and penchant for cigarettes. His age is simply “young” and we aren’t given any details about his physical features. Often a tic or personality detail is more impactful than superficial details.

Points one and two are immovable. That’s standard screenplay formatting. Point three is a matter of style. Every writer introduces their own sense of originality but be careful not to let your prose get in the way of pacing. Action sections are typically in 3-4 line blocks. Keep the story moving forward. Keep the reader wrapped up in what’s unfolding.  

More info in this article: Action lines – what can they accomplish?

CHARACTER: Who Is Speaking?

The character speaking is listed in all caps with dialogue immediately following. You’ll be using a professional screenwriting program so no need to worry about margins and spacing, that will all be automated. You can add (O.S.) if the character is off-screen at the moment of introduction or (V.O.) if the dialogue will be introduced as a voice-over.

A screenshot showing the character box on Arc Studio screenwriting software

DIALOGUE: Remember the Screen Time!

Dialogue formatting is a non-factor thanks to user-friendly screenwriting programs.

  • Don’t use quotation marks.
  • Avoid extraneous punctuation!!!

Everything else comes down to the art of dialogue writing . Good dialogue can be the difference between an average screenplay and a great one. There are hundreds of books on the subject but here’s a quick bit of advice: write it all and edit mercilessly. As always, less is more.

PARENTHETICALS, SHOTS and TRANSITIONS: The Danger Zone of Screenplay Formatting

When you’re just starting out, you can safely ignore parentheticals, shots, and transitions for a while.

Parentheticals are instructions related to character and dialogue. They can be used to introduce a subtitled section or specific instructions about line delivery. Avoid using them unless they are vital to the story. Let the actors act.

                 FAMOUS ACTOR               (under his breath)          Newbie writers and their damned          parentheticals.

I am this character!

Shots tell the director how to film a certain piece of information, e.g. close ups. Directors generally don’t like to be told such things, so stay clear of them initially.

Transitions are similar. They’re right-aligned cues that provide special instructions for moving between scenes. Common examples include; FADE IN: and CUT TO:. Transitions are occasionally necessary but they can also infringe on the director’s concept. Let the directors direct.

This covers the basics, continue here to learn writing efficiently using Arc Studio Pro’s superior editing tools .

READ SCREENPLAYS: It’s the Best Way to Learn

Reading screenplays is the best way to learn script formatting. Many writers idolize the likes of Charlie Kaufman orwriter-directors like Christopher Nolan . Read big action scripts, broad comedies and even romances.

Watch the movies they became. Pay close attention to the sparseness of what’s on the page versus the full sensory experience of what’s on the screen. New screenwriters often overwrite. A big part of successful screenplay formatting (and writing) is learning to be clear and persuasive within the pre-set industry format of a script.

Use a leading scriptwriting program . Trust in the collaborative nature of film making. Read other writers.

Do you have more questions? If you want to go further and learn more about formatting or the production process (or what screenwriting jobs in Hollywood look like), how to create a shooting script , how to write a title page or any additional information, check out our blog for all these resources and more. Remember that screenwriting is a process, so don't get discouraged!

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Script Formatting 101: A Guide for Impatient Newbies

Former Director of Development of Mandeville Films & Television in Los Angeles, Michael Bartolomei is a published author and story teller.

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Script Format | A Beginner’s Guide to Screenplay Writing

So you want to learn how to properly format a script, hey?

You just felt the lightning bolt of inspiration every aspiring or novice screenwriter has dreamed of, that spark of creative energy that you just know is going to translate into a game-changing short film, television, or feature film idea ripe to earn every award, accolade, streaming deal, and box office bonus on the planet.

Which begs the question . . . now what? How do you take the mountain of ideas piling up in your brain and convert them into, well, an actual story for whatever your visual medium of preference is, be it network TV, web content, feature films, streaming fare, and more?

Put simply, a screenplay is a 90-120 page document, typed in Courier 12pt font on 8.5″ x 11″ white paper with three holes. One page in Courier font roughly equals one minute of screen time. This helps writers gauge the duration and pacing of their story for a better writing and viewing experience.

But no matter what your ultimate outlet or means of formatting your script is (we will talk about two in a moment), the first step is turning your red-hot idea into an industry-standard screenplay.

If you haven’t yet, you should try using a script formatting software like Celtx. This will automatically format your script in Hollywood style format, which is often considered as “industry standard “.

script writing rules

Use a Script Editor –  Try out Celtx Screenplay Formatter Here

Scripts are bound by some of the strictest formatting guidelines of any written medium.

Think of them like legal documents – discrepancies can render them inadmissible. Coverage readers (the people who review spec scripts that are submitted  to production companies) are likely to toss a script in the garbage if there’s spelling or grammar mistakes on the first page. You can imagine what they’d think of an improperly formatted scene heading.

Screenplay formatting is not arbitrary. Scripts as we read them today a product of decades of development and fine tuning. The objective of screenplay formatting is to ensure that the information that is critical to conceptualizing how the film will be shot is displayed prominently and clearly on the page, as well as making the content of your story easy to parse and isolate for editing.

So if you want to write a properly formatted script, you have two options:

Option 1 – Purchase a sturdy typewriter, multiple ink ribbons, and a large quantity of 20lb bond 8 1/2″ x 11″ white paper, 3 hole punched. Practice manually adjusting your margins so that shot headings are 1.7″ from the left margin, dialogue is 2.7″ from the left margin, and that character names are ALWAYS 4.1″ from the left margin.

Don’t forget to manually add page numbers at the top right corner of each page (7.2″ from the left margin and 0.5″ below the top of the page).  Also, you’ll have to load in a new page every 60 lines. With a lot of practice, you will be able to do all this quickly and with only moderate damage to your carpal tunnels.

Option 2 – Celtx’s is fully featured, free, and integrated with a suite of planning tools that make writing, editing, and expanding your script into a production a fast and fluid process.

Celtx’s script editor handles the formatting automatically, and will intuitively guide you to the next logical element position on the page.

Try Celtx Today for FREE

However, just because something is done automatically doesn’t mean that it’s not worth understanding. It’s crucial to know what each formatting element means, and understand how they can be manipulated to write more complex scenes. The following will break down the basics and show you a few different alternative approaches that you can use to make your script read properly.

So whether you’ve ever formatted a script or not, chances are you’ve seen one before — its unmistakable font, weirdly large margins, seemingly random bits of ALL CAPS text, parenthesis, and more stylistic flourishes that comprise a document that looks like no other.

Here’s the crucial bit: these aren’t just cool design details to make a screenplay looks screenplay’y; these are strict formatting rules that have been standardized and adhered to for as long as visual mediums like film have been around.

The harsh reality is that no Hollywood executive worth their salt will take one passing glance at your screenplay if it doesn’t comply with all of the standards of script formatting that every other screenwriter respects. It could be the most inventive idea in the world, a sure-fire box office darling guaranteed to make all involved rich beyond their dreams . . . but it won’t even make it to the desk of the lowliest executive or producer if it isn’t formatted properly.

Screenwriting revolves exclusively around the visual, making it unlike any other form of writing or storytelling, including poems, novels, essays, and more. It’s a language of its own and a massive exercise in storytelling efficiency that works to externalize internal ideas and motives that translate onto a screen.

And script formatting is the easiest way to learn this language, write within the most relevant creative boundaries, and ensure that you’re taken serious by the check-writers and decision-makers who can make your storytelling dreams a producible reality.

In this complete guide to education you on how to format a script, we’ll cover all of the script elements, formatting rules, and nitty-gritty details you need to know, understand, and apply in order to turn that billion-dollar idea in your brain into a billion-dollar screenplay.

Ready to embark on the learning adventure of your creative lifetime? Let’s go!

Why the Font is So Important in Screenplay Formatting

Script formatting is a huge umbrella topic that addresses a bevy of screenplay mechanics, from typograph y and font size all the way down to specific screenplay elements, their placement on the page, and their relationships with one another.

To start the process of learning how to format a script, let’s begin with the highest level formatting rules before zooming into the more creative functions of script elements themselves and how they should be written and organized on the page. 

If you’ve seen a script before, you’ve probably wondered, “What’s up with that weirdly specific font and the crazy amount of random spacing?”

script writing rules

Specific, yes. Random, not so much! One of the most critical and probably widely recognized elements of script formatting that makes these documents so distinct is their unique font. Screenplays must use 12-point Courier font at all times! This is a very strict rule that every professional adheres to, because like most principles of script formatting, it serves a unique purpose beyond the cosmetic.

Using a 12-point Courier font creates the closest 1:1 relationship possible between script length and screen time. This industry-wide typography plays a huge rule in maintaining the rule that one page of a traditional screenplay translates to roughly one minute of screen time in the final product.

The keyword there is roughly , because the recurring caveat for just about any screenwriting rule is that it is largely dependent on genre. That said, on average you can rely on a 90-page script translating into a 90-minute feature film.

Why the careful need for a 1:1 relationship between page count and run time? Not only does it ultimately provide your production team a general idea of a film’s scope or budget, but even before that, it gives prospective financiers, producers, and other readers a high-level metric to make the same determinations.

Without that measurement, executives and other prospects won’t have a way to garner a first impression of your film’s projected size.

Margins, Spacing, and Other Screenplay Format Rules

While the 12-point Courier front may be sacred, it’s far from the only rule document-level rule that screenwriters need to respect in in learning how to format a script. Spacing and margins throughout your screenplay help support the exact same effort, fostering a careful balance of storytelling information and empty space to substantiate that precious 1:1 ratio.

First up, margins. On each and every page you need to adhere to the below spacing requirements:

  • 1.5 inch margin on the left of the page
  • 1 inch margin on the right of the page
  • 1 inch on the of the top and bottom of the page

These margins serve a bit of a dual purpose, not only promoting the 1:1 ratio but also providing an ample amount of space for script notes. Whether they’re your own notes, creative notes from the studio, scheduling notes from the 1st AD, or financial notes from your Producer, these margins are used as a collaborative brainstorming space throughout every phase of your screenplay’s life.

As written, each page of your screenplay will have roughly 55 lines on it, including all of the screenplay elements that we’ll get into in just a minute.

Page numbers are always positioned in the top right corner of every page, the only exception being the first page of your script, which is not numbered. Page numbers should have a 0.5 inch margin from the top and are always followed by a period. Why? Because that’s the way it’s always been done, and this is an industry that relies on tradition and historical success!

Without getting too into the weeds here, there’s another spacing rule that needs to be defined and respected throughout your writing which relates to dialogue. 

A large majority of your screenplay elements will stick to the aforementioned margins. Where this deviates is with character names and dialogue, both of which are kept significantly more centered on the page with wide margins on either side, almost as if they were columns.

Character names, which are always capitalized for readability, are positioned exactly 3.7 inches from the left side of your page. Dialogue for that character is entered immediately below, and this block of text starts 2.5 inches from the left side of the page. 

Why, you ask? Altogether now . . . “ the 1:1 rule! ” The character names and dialogue spacing are probably what provides that distinct “screenplay” look that makes this document so distinguishable, even for those completely unfamiliar with the craft and industry. But each of these rules services a careful purpose, and must be preserved in order to be taken seriously.

If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, that’s understandable. These are strict adjustments to manually make within your own Word, Pages, or other document and where screenwriting software really shines. The best softwares, like Celtx, automate all of these formatting elements for you, so that you can stay strictly focused on storytelling while it does all the boring work in the background.

How Script Formatting Informs Screenplay Elements

Your screenplay is so much more than a storytelling document with funny spacing and a very specific font; it’s a complete creative roadmap that translates thoughts, feelings, and motives into on-screen actions. All of the mechanics of a script function to serve this purpose, of externalizing the internal and visualizing the otherwise unseen.

Screenplay elements are the building blocks of this effort, the tools in your creative toolbox that allow you to extrapolate all the feelings of your characters and minutia of your story into lights and sounds that readers of your script can appreciate and, more importantly, the audience of your final product can understand and participate in.

There are around a dozen major screenplay elements that we’re going to cover, but some of these are more supplemental and additive. Let’s zoom in first and foremost on the most essential screenplay elements and their formatting. These are elements that will appear in every screenplay on the planet, whether it’s a script for a short film , video game, web series, TV pilot, blockbuster film, or anything in between.

Each elements has their own unique formatting system and stylistic etiquette. Outlined below are the five fundamental screenplay elements you must understand, what their storytelling function is, and how to professionally format them within your screenplay, either manually or by using screenwriting software .

script writing rules

Before you proceed, make sure you have firm understanding of these elements and that you can learn, practice, and master them before going deeper to the more auxiliary elements.

Scene Heading

A Scene heading denotes the time and place where a scene takes place.

The first part of a scene heading specifies whether it is inside our outside, written as ‘ INT’.  or  ‘EXT.’ ( Interior or Exterior).

If a scene is taking place both inside and outside, you can write ‘ INT. / EXT.’.  

The second part of your scene heading will refer to the setting – a house, a plane, a farm, whatever. Just make sure its capitalized.

The third part will specify time of day, usually in relation to the prevailing lighting conditions that you envision. ‘ DAY’  and ‘ NIGHT’  are the most common, but you can use more specific words, i.e. ‘ AFTERNOON’  or ‘ DUSK’ .

A properly formatted scene heading should look like this:

script writing rules

If you wish to add more elements to your scene heading, such as shot types or subjects, separate them with a dash. A good rule of thumb is to go from general to specific in terms of these elements, for example:

script writing rules

99 out of 100 times, this will be the very first line on page one of any script, and for good reason as this piece of information literally “sets the scene.” These handful of words contain a bevy of information, all of which tell your reader exactly when and where the ensuring action is taking place.

These are the 3 core elements of any scene heading. The only other additive and potential fourth piece of information you might include is CONTINUOUS — to signal a scene that takes place immediately after another and follows a continuous motion, for example a character walking from inside one location to outside another — and MOMENTS LATER — which would take place shortly after the proceeding scene but includes some sort of cut or edit.

In later screenplay edits, you can get more comfortable with employing the very few exceptions to these scene heading rules, such as writing INT./EXT. to describe the ongoing action in and around a car, or to us MORNING or DUSK at the end of your heading to be more specific about the time of day. 

For the purposes of both writing and formatting simplicity, stick to the basics for now and let future editors or contributors be more explicit about these semantics only when necessary.

Recommended Celtx Article: 9 Script Editing Tips for DIY Script Editors

Action Lines and Descriptions

The meat of your script, action describes everything that is happening within a scene outside of dialog. Action is written in standard paragraphical format, albeit with a few quirks. The most important quirks are the rules surrounding capitalization. There are three things that, as a rule, should always be capitalized in a piece of action: the initial appearance of a character with dialogue, sound effects (and, if present, the objects producing the sound), and camera directions.

script writing rules

As you can see from the screenshot above, immediately following your scene heading is an action description that — you guessed it! — describes the action. Make every effort to keep your action descriptions to only a few lines unless absolutely necessary.

Ever heard the old adage, “If I had more time, I would be more brief?” This is often where novice screenwriters commit one of the greatest sins — writing overly long action descriptions. You need to work hard to be succinct and clear. Avoid floral language or unnecessary detail. You’re not writing poetry, you’re writing a descriptive message about what needs to be visualized on screen.

Your action description doesn’t need to include any literal action so much as describe what’s been seen on screen. No need for any dialogue either, as that’s an element all its own. Just remember: brevity is your friend!

Action description are not all caps, but should include some all caps elements to help with your script breakdown later on. When introducing a character for the first time (and only for the first time), capitalize their NAME in the action description. You’ll also want to capitalize important PROPS, STUNTS, SOUND DESIGN, and other ELEMENTS that will require special preparation before filming takes place.

As discussed, character names are centered in the middle of your screenplay, 3.7 inches from the left side of the page. Any time a character speaks, you need to name whoever is speaking by writing their name in ALL CAPS, with their dialogue immediately below. 

When introducing a character for the first time in an action description, capitalize their NAME and include a very short sentence (or just handful of descriptive words) that detail their age, personality traits, or other unique characteristics that provide your reader a better understanding of who they are.

To simplify formatting and your script breakdown later on, make sure to use the same name for your character throughout your screenplay, even if their name is changed or shortened throughout the course of your story.

The character element proceeds any dialog spoken by that character. The character’s name should always be capitalized. If the dialog spoken by a character is appearing  Off-Screen  (for example, a person yelling from outside a house), you must specify it as follows: If a character is not on screen but the source of their dialog is, such as a telephone or radio, or if the dialog is narration, then you specify it as  Voice Over , like so:

script writing rules

Dialogue is widely considered one of the most challenging and time consuming elements of the entire screenwriting process. It’s truly an art form all its own, and an area where even some of the best writers in the world struggle to convey a consistent level of authenticity.

It also means it can be the most rewarding. To format your script dialogue, ensure it’s centered on the page with a 2.5 inch margin on the left side and placed immediately below the character who is speaking. No need for paragraph breaks or any script formatting changes until they stop speaking or another character begins speaking.  

When writing dialogue, make an effort not to project your own voice or thoughts on your character. Focus on who they are as individuals and try to understand who they fundamentally are in real life. The closer you get to understanding them, the more organically you can establish their unique, and believable, voice.

Parentheticals

While not as fundamentally important as the other four elements, parentheticals are another piece of the creative puzzle that provide a unique layer of texture that the other screenplay elements cannot. 

Parenthetical direction is inserted into dialog to describe what a character is doing while they speak, or how they are speaking. They should not include punctuation nor should they be capitalized. Try to keep them short, telegraphically written, and if you are describing multiple actions you should link them together with semicolons. Never end a piece of dialog with a parenthetical. For example:

script writing rules

In other words, parentheticals provide technical direction to your actors, but equally important for the reader is how they convey the way a specific line should be performed. These are tiny descriptors that add a surprisingly amount of depth. They can create either an emotional dynamic — (tearfully) (joyfully) (terrified) — as well as micro-actions and body language — (shrugging) (standing) (scoffing).

To properly format these, as you can see from the image above, place them directly in between your character’s name and their dialogue in parentheses. They can also be placed within dialogue to signify a short break (aka. “Beat”) or to convey a shift in mood or action.

Although these are fun to write and extremely helpful in conveying on-screen subtleties, they should be used very sparingly and only when absolutely necessary. Novice writers love to go overboard with these, and while they provide nice texture, it’s equally important to leave both actors and readers space for their own interpretations.

Other Major Screenplay Elements and How To Format Them

Now, it is time to get slightly nittier and grittier with more in-depth screenplay elements and how to format them. These elements are not difficult concepts to grasp, but what they may lack in difficulty, they make up for in specificity! 

These terms and abbreviations are standard and used for screenplay elements throughout the filmmaking industry. Once you become familiar with them, they will become second nature, and will only help to further texturize your script.

If you have read a professional screenplay before, then you will likely have seen some of the screenplay jargon peppered in throughout the script. Let’s dig in:

  • Transitions . This is an element which you do need to be familiar with despite using it infrequently. Transitions are signals to the reader, and editors, that the action in a scene is being cut and the next scene starts. However, don’t forget that most scenes end without being announced by a transition; scenes without explicit transitions are assumed so be standard cuts. When you write a specific transition into another scene, there are several ways of communicating how a scene is ending. Below are some of the most common examples:

script writing rules

  • CUT TO: typically used to signal a “hard cut” which dramatically moves the action away from a scene after a crescendo, almost acting like its own punctuation mark
  • SMASH TO : this is a very abrupt edit that usually goes from mid-action in one scene to mid-action in another. This is a popular technique in comedies.
  • DISSOLVE TO : this is a subtler transition where the action slowly fades away as the following scene comes into sharper focus.
  • MATCH CUT TO: a complex editing technique where the composition or action of one scene leads directly into the same composition or action of the next scene. This trick is often used to convey time passing
  • I NTERCUT: indicates a cross-cutting between two scenes happening at the same time on screen. This is most commonly used to portray phone calls by cutting back and forth between two characters speaking
  • Extensions . This element is key for making onscreen conversations feel authentic. Like real life, conversations are often interrupted by noises or other people. Extensions are the screenwriting details that add this level of detail. Extensions are placed in all caps, right next to a character’s name and on the same line. Here are a few of the most common and useful extensions to know:
  • CONT’D. This is simply an abbreviated way to say “continued”, and is to stress the continuation of a piece of dialogue after it was interrupted by a noise or character (or a page break within your script)
  • V.O. You will see this when a voice over is being used, therefore indicating that the narrator speaking cannot be heard by those on-screen and their words are being delivered to audiences, carrying on over the action on screen.
  • O.S. or O.C . These acronyms are frequently used to denote what is happening Off-Screen or Off-Camera. This element allows for sounds to be heard by audiences and characters without showing them or their sources on screen. This is a common device used in horror films.
  • INTO DEVICE. This element is used when a character is speaking into a device (like a phone) rather than directly to another character. 
  • PRE LAP. When dialogue or sound from a subsequent scene starts while the preceding scene is still ending, this overlap is called a pre-lap and written in the far-right of the page in all caps
  • SUBHEADERS. Subheaders indicate another time or place within the same scene, a sort of shortcut tp show there has been a small change of location on screen with creating a new, numbered scene. The use of how to best use subheads is disputed, as some argue that new scenes demand more than subheadings given it will require a film production to create a new set up. For example, KITCHEN TO HALLWAY as a character walks or LATER to indicate a short time jump
  • SHOTS. The shot element allows you to specify a subject within your scene, guiding the reader’s perspective. Shots are always capitalized, and separated from the action by a line break.

script writing rules

  • A common method of being more specific with your shot lines is to use phrases like ‘ ANGLE ON ‘ or ‘ CLOSE ON’  to preface the subject of the shot. Avoid using too many articles in your shot descriptions – try to make them as short as possible. Shots can also be used to specify on-screen text, such as superimpositions. For example:

script writing rules

  • CHYRONS. These are often known as “Titles”, which highlight what text appears on screen. Place the word CHYRON or TITLE, followed by the text you wish to appear on screen. This is a useful one to use if you’re changing location or time and want to make it easier for your audiences to keep track. 

These elements will become second-nature and allow you to tell your story with greater clarity and visual vibrance. 

Writing Time and a Scripts Length

All creative projects and creative people take varying amounts of time to start and complete their work. Scripts are no different. Writing your first script can take more time because you will be learning the ropes, but a few months is an appropriate amount of time to create a really impactful first draft. 

It could take you 2 weeks or the better part of a year, it just depends on your story and your style of writing. That being said, it is useful to set a deadline to keep yourself on track and accountable to ensure you do, in fact, finish your project. 

It is true that having a thoughtful and polished logline, treatment, and beat sheet can be used like handrails and will go a long way in helping you write your script at a healthy pace. Having those documents to hand should allow you to write on-average 5-7 pages of script in a full 8-hour work day. 

Remember that one script page tends to equal one minute of screen time, so try to aim for a 90 page script for your 90 minute movie. It is best to consider 110 pages as the ceiling; having a lean script shows you’ve been diligent and decisive about what needs to be in your script. 

Now that you have the step-by-step guide on how to format a screenplay and everything with it . . . what’s stopping you? Remember this advice and insight here will help translate your ideas and creativity into a polished screenplay. 

But remember, there’s much more to screenplay formatting than is described here, but these basics provide  a solid foundation. The best way to study the full complexity of formatting is to read some scripts yourselves.  The Black List’s official blog currently hosts some great resources in this department, including the most recent round of nominated screenplays from the 2020 Oscars.

As Brene Brown once said, unused creativity isn’t benign – it metastasizes. So, use your creativity! Throw yourself head first into the amazing world of scriptwriting and enjoy the process!

Andrew Stamm

Andrew Stamm is based in London with his wife and dog. He spends his working time as Partner and Creative Director at Estes Media, a budding digital marketing agency, and performs freelance scriptwriting services on the side. Off the clock he loves to bake, hike, and watch as many niche films as possible.

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21 Principles of Script Writing: A Comprehensive Guide to the Art of Script Writing

Scriptwriting is an art that holds the power to bring stories to life on the big screen or the small screen. From captivating movies to engaging television shows, every compelling visual narrative starts with a well-crafted script.

Understanding the principles of scriptwriting is essential for aspiring writers and filmmakers who aim to create impactful and memorable stories. In this article, we will explore the key principles of scriptwriting, offering valuable insights into the art of crafting a successful screenplay.

Table of Contents

Introduction

In the fascinating world of script writing,  creativity intertwines with storytelling, and words have the power to transport audiences into vivid, captivating worlds. Script writing is an art that requires a delicate balance of imagination , structure , and skill .

Whether you dream of crafting thrilling blockbusters, heartwarming TV shows, or thought-provoking plays, understanding the principles of script writing is the first step toward bringing your stories to life.

Understanding the Art of Script Writing

Script writing is more than just putting words on paper. It is the art of storytelling through the lens of the written word.

Just like a master painter meticulously selects colors and brush strokes, a skilled scriptwriter weaves together characters, plotlines, and dialogue to create a tapestry of emotions and experiences.

Understanding the core principles of script writing is essential to crafting scripts that captivate and resonate with audiences across different mediums.

The Importance of Storytelling

At the heart of every great script lies a compelling story. Storytelling is an ancient tradition that has transcended time and culture, connecting humanity through shared experiences.

In the world of script writing, storytelling is the lifeblood that pumps vitality into each scene, dialogue, and character. It has the power to stir emotions , provoke thoughts , and l eave a lasting impact on viewers long after the credits roll.

A well-crafted story takes the audience on a journey, introducing them to relatable characters, unveiling conflicts and challenges, and ultimately resolving the narrative in a satisfying manner.

The principles of script writing emphasize the importance of crafting a coherent and engaging story that holds the audience’s attention from the opening scene to the closing credits.

Elements of a Good Script

A good script is like a finely orchestrated symphony, where various elements harmoniously blend to create a powerful and unforgettable experience for the audience. Mastering the key elements of script writing is crucial to achieving this harmony and resonance.

Character Development

Memorable characters are the heart and soul of any script. They breathe life into the narrative, allowing audiences to connect emotionally and invest in their journeys.

Effective character development goes beyond surface traits and delves deep into their desires, flaws, and motivations. Just like real people, fictional characters should undergo growth and transformation as the story progresses, making them relatable and engaging.

To create well-rounded characters, scriptwriters must understand their backgrounds, values, and how they respond to different situations. By doing so, characters come alive on the page and evoke genuine emotions from the audience.

Plot Structure

A well-structured plot is the backbone of a successful script. It guides the audience through the story’s twists and turns, building tension and anticipation along the way.

The three-act structure , commonly used in script writing, divides the narrative into three distinct parts: the setup, the confrontation, and the resolution.

The setup introduces the characters, their world, and the central conflict. The confrontation presents challenges and obstacles that the characters must overcome, intensifying the stakes and emotional investment. Finally, the resolution offers a satisfying conclusion that resolves the conflict and provides closure for the audience.

A strong plot structure keeps the audience engaged, ensuring that every scene and sequence serves a purpose in advancing the story.

Dialogue is the lifeblood of character interaction and expression in a script. Well-crafted dialogue reveals the personalities, relationships, and motivations of the characters. It should be authentic, purposeful, and reflective of each character’s unique voice.

Effective dialogue should also serve multiple functions, including advancing the plot, conveying emotions, and revealing subtext. Subtext refers to the underlying meanings and intentions behind the words spoken, allowing for deeper layers of storytelling.

Setting and Atmosphere

The setting and atmosphere of a script create the world in which the story unfolds.

The right setting enhances the overall experience, transporting the audience to a specific time and place. Whether it’s a futuristic cityscape, quaint countryside, or a mystical realm, the setting should be immersive and contribute to the story’s tone and mood.

Additionally, the atmosphere plays a crucial role in setting the emotional ambiance of the script. It influences how the audience feels while experiencing the story, whether it’s through suspense, humor, melancholy, or excitement.

Theme and Message

A compelling script often carries a central theme or message that resonates with the audience on a deeper level. Themes can encompass a wide range of topics, such as love, redemption, courage, or the pursuit of truth. It is the emotional core that binds the story together and leaves a lasting impact on the viewer.

Crafting a meaningful theme requires thoughtful exploration of the human condition and universal experiences. When the audience connects with the underlying message, it elevates the script from entertainment to an emotionally enriching experience.

Principles of Script Writing

To excel in the art of script writing, one must grasp the core principles that underpin every successful screenplay. Here are the fundamental principles you need to know:

Knowing Your Audience

Understanding your audience is crucial in script writing, as it allows you to tailor your story to meet their expectations and preferences. Every script is essentially a conversation between the writer and the viewer, and knowing your audience ensures that this conversation is engaging, relatable, and impactful.

Identifying Target Viewers

Before embarking on a scriptwriting journey, it’s essential to identify the target viewers. Who is the intended audience for your script? Understanding the demographics , interests , and preferences of your target viewers helps you shape your story and characters in a way that resonates with them.

For example, if you are writing a family-oriented comedy, your language and humor may differ from that of a dark psychological thriller aimed at adult audiences. Tailoring your script to suit your target viewers’ sensibilities increases the likelihood of the script’s success.

Adapting to Genres

Different genres cater to different audience expectations and preferences. Adapting your script to the chosen genre is essential for resonating with fans of that genre and adhering to its conventions. The principles of script writing emphasize that each genre has its unique traits , such as pacing , tone , and storytelling style .

If you’re writing a sci-fi adventure, you’ll likely include futuristic technology and thrilling action sequences. Conversely, a romantic drama may focus more on emotional depth and relationship dynamics. Understanding and embracing the nuances of your chosen genre ensures that your script appeals to its target audience.

Cultural and Societal Considerations

As a scriptwriter, it’s essential to be sensitive to cultural and societal norms, as they can influence the reception of your script. Respectful representation of diverse cultures and communities is vital to avoid perpetuating harmful stereotypes or misrepresentations.

Diversity in script writing not only enriches the storytelling experience but also reflects the world’s complexity and plurality. If your script involves characters or themes from cultures different from your own, research and consult with experts or individuals from those communities to ensure authenticity and respectfulness.

The Screenwriter’s Process

The journey of script writing is an iterative and creative process that demands dedication and resilience. Understanding the stages of the screenwriter’s process can guide you through this exciting adventure of storytelling.

Idea Generation

The spark of an idea is the starting point of every script. Inspiration can strike from various sources — a thought-provoking news article , a chance encounter , a vivid dream , or even a personal experience . Keeping a notebook or digital document to jot down these ideas ensures that you don’t let them slip away.

Exploring different angles of an idea, asking “what if” questions, and brainstorming with others can help expand and refine your concept.

Research and Preparation

Once you’ve settled on an idea, research becomes your ally. Thorough research lends authenticity to your script and enhances your storytelling. Whether you’re writing historical fiction, science fiction, or a character-driven drama, understanding the subject matter in-depth allows you to create a believable and immersive world for your audience.

For historical scripts, delve into historical records, primary sources, and expert accounts to accurately depict the time period and its societal norms. In contrast, science fiction scripts may require you to understand cutting-edge scientific theories and speculate about the future.

Outlining and Storyboarding

Assembling your research and ideas into a cohesive narrative requires careful planning. Outlining your script helps you map out the story’s structure , character arcs , and major plot points . An outline acts as a roadmap, guiding you through the storytelling journey and preventing the dreaded writer’s block.

Storyboarding is especially useful for visualizing scenes and sequences in film and television scripts. Creating rough sketches or diagrams of key moments helps you visualize how the story will unfold visually, aiding in effective storytelling.

Drafting the Script

The drafting stage is where your imagination takes flight, and the words start flowing onto the page. Embrace your creative instincts as you breathe life into your characters and bring your story to life.

In this stage, allow yourself to write freely, without fear of perfection. You can always refine and polish your script in subsequent drafts. The key is to capture the essence of your story and characters at this initial stage.

Rewriting and Polishing

Once you’ve completed the first draft, the real work begins. Writing is rewriting, and the revision process is where your script truly starts to shine. Read through your script with a critical eye, identifying areas that can be strengthened, plot holes that need filling, and dialogue that can be made more impactful.

Seek feedback from trusted peers, mentors, or scriptwriting groups. Constructive criticism can provide invaluable insights and reveal blind spots you may have overlooked.

Style and Formatting

Proper style and formatting are crucial in script writing, as they ensure that your script is industry-standard and easily readable for producers, directors, and actors.

Industry professionals are accustomed to specific formatting rules that streamline the production process , so adhering to these standards demonstrates your professionalism as a scriptwriter.

Industry Standards

Scriptwriting follows standardized formats, including font size , margin widths , and page numbering . Most scripts are written in Courier or Courier New font to maintain consistency and readability.

Each new location or scene change is indicated by a scene heading, typically written in all caps, followed by the location and time of day.

For example:

EXT. PARK – DAY

Writing Visuals and Actions

Incorporating vivid visuals and concise action lines is essential in script writing, especially for film and television scripts. These visual cues help directors, cinematographers , and actors bring your vision to life on the screen.

Use descriptive action lines to convey the characters’ movements, emotions, and interactions with the environment. However, avoid over-describing every detail, as brevity is valued in scriptwriting.

JANE picks up the dusty old book and flips through its pages, her eyes widening with curiosity.

Handling Dialogue

Crafting realistic and impactful dialogue is an art in itself. Dialogue is not merely a tool for characters to communicate; it is an opportunity to reveal their personalities, motivations, and conflicts.

To write effective dialogue, immerse yourself in the voices and speech patterns of your characters. Each character should have a distinct voice that reflects their background, personality, and goals.

Using Parentheticals

Parentheticals are brief notes included within dialogue to provide context or emotional cues for the actors. Use them sparingly and effectively to enhance the performance without over-directing the actors.

JOHN [whispering]

I can ‘t believe she said that.

Character and Scene Headings

Clear and descriptive character and scene headings guide the reader through your script, ensuring smooth comprehension. Each new character introduced in the script receives a character heading, followed by the character’s name in all caps.

INT. LIVING ROOM – DAY

John enters the room, looking distraught.

Techniques for Captivating Scripts

To create scripts that leave a lasting impact on the audience, scriptwriters employ various techniques to evoke emotions, build tension, and keep viewers engaged.

Building Tension and Conflict

Tension and conflict are essential elements that drive a script forward. Introduce obstacles and challenges that keep your characters on their toes, creating anticipation for what lies ahead.

One effective technique to build tension is the use of a ticking clock . This involves setting a specific time limit or deadline for the characters to achieve their goals, creating a sense of urgency and raising the stakes . As the deadline approaches, the tension escalates, captivating the audience and keeping them invested in the story’s outcome.

Incorporating Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing adds depth and intrigue to your script by hinting at future events. Cleverly placed clues can create a sense of anticipation and surprise for the audience.

Consider incorporating subtle hints and symbolism early in the script that foreshadow significant plot twists or character developments. These seemingly innocuous details can come to fruition later in the story, creating a sense of satisfaction for attentive viewers who pick up on the foreshadowing.

Crafting Memorable Dialogue

Unforgettable dialogue is a hallmark of a great script. Focus on crafting lines that reveal character traits, motivations, and emotions.

One technique to achieve impactful dialogue is to use subtext. Subtext is the unspoken or underlying meaning behind the words characters say.

By adding layers of meaning to dialogue, you create a rich and nuanced experience for the audience, inviting them to interpret the characters’ true thoughts and feelings.

Show, Don’t Tell

Visual storytelling is a powerful tool in script writing. Instead of explicitly stating character emotions or thoughts, allow actions, expressions, and visuals to convey the story.

For instance, instead of having a character explicitly say, “I’m scared,” show their fear through trembling hands, wide eyes, and a racing heartbeat.

This approach allows the audience to engage with the characters on a deeper level, making the experience more immersive and emotionally resonant.

Balancing Action and Emotion

A successful script balances action-packed sequences with emotionally charged moments. A well-crafted emotional arc gives the audience a deeper connection to the characters and their journeys.

To strike this balance, consider the pacing of your script. Intense action scenes should be followed by moments of reflection or emotional vulnerability. This ebb and flow of emotions keep the audience engaged and invested in the characters’ experiences.

Collaboration and Receiving Feedback

Collaboration is often an integral part of script writing, especially in the world of film and television. Effective collaboration and feedback are essential in refining your script and elevating its quality.

Working with Producers and Directors

As a scriptwriter, you’ll often work closely with producers and directors who have their own creative visions for the project. Understanding their perspectives and requirements is crucial to making your script production-ready.

Be open to feedback and willing to make revisions based on the director’s vision while also advocating for your creative choices when necessary. A collaborative spirit fosters a positive working relationship and leads to a more cohesive and polished final product.

Joining Writing Teams

Writing teams offer diverse perspectives and brainstorming opportunities. Joining or forming a writing team can enhance your creative process and lead to unique storytelling approaches.

Working within a team allows you to bounce ideas off one another, challenge each other’s assumptions, and collectively refine the script. The collaborative energy often sparks new ideas and leads to stronger, more dynamic scripts.

The Importance of Feedback

Feedback is invaluable in script writing. Embrace critiques and suggestions, as they can help you identify blind spots and improve your work. Constructive feedback can elevate your script to new heights.

Seek feedback from fellow writers, industry professionals, or scriptwriting workshops. Listen to different perspectives and use the feedback to enhance your script’s strengths and address its weaknesses.

Adapting Scripts for Different Mediums

Each storytelling medium comes with its unique strengths and constraints. Adapting your script to suit different mediums is essential in maximizing its impact and reach.

Film Scripts

Film scripts focus on cinematic storytelling, utilizing visual and auditory elements to create a captivating experience. Emphasize vivid descriptions and impactful visuals to immerse the audience in the story.

Consider the use of visual storytelling techniques, such as montage sequences or creative camera angles, to enhance the emotional impact of key scenes. Keep in mind that in film, visuals often speak louder than words.

Television Scripts

Television scripts often involve recurring characters and episodic storytelling. Develop intriguing story arcs and engaging cliffhangers to keep viewers coming back for more.

Keep each episode self-contained while advancing the overarching story arc. Introduce compelling characters with room for growth and development over the course of the series.

Playwriting

Playwriting relies heavily on dialogue and the power of live performance. Embrace the immediacy and intimacy of the stage to create compelling experiences for theatergoers.

In playwriting, dialogue takes center stage. Focus on crafting engaging and emotionally resonant conversations that captivate the audience and bring the characters to life. Consider how the live audience’s reactions and interactions can enhance the experience.

Scriptwriting Software and Tools

In the digital age, scriptwriting software and tools have revolutionized the way scripts are created and managed. These specialized tools offer a plethora of features that streamline the writing process, enhance collaboration, and ensure adherence to industry standards.

Advantages of Specialized Software

Dedicated scriptwriting software provides numerous advantages over using generic word processors. One of the most significant benefits is automatic formatting , ensuring that your script complies with industry standards for fonts, margins, and spacing.

Additionally, scriptwriting software often includes character and scene databases , allowing you to keep track of each character’s dialogue and the locations in your script. This feature proves invaluable when revisiting specific scenes or cross-referencing character interactions.

Revision Tracking and Collaboration

Scriptwriting software simplifies the revision process by enabling version control and tracking changes made by different collaborators. This functionality promotes seamless collaboration among writers, directors, and producers, as they can easily review and comment on the script in real-time.

Collaboration becomes more efficient, as everyone involved can contribute to the script remotely . This flexibility is especially beneficial when team members are located in different geographic regions.

Popular Scriptwriting Tools

Several scriptwriting tools have gained popularity among scriptwriters and the entertainment industry as a whole. Let’s explore some of these widely used tools and their unique features:

Final Draft

Final Draft is considered the industry standard in scriptwriting software. Its user-friendly interface and robust features make it a top choice for screenwriters, playwrights, and television writers alike.

Key features of Final Draft include script formatting, automatic pagination, character highlighting, and revision tracking. The software also offers templates for various script types, such as screenplay, stage play, and television script.

Celtx is a versatile and cost-effective scriptwriting tool that caters to both individual writers and collaborative teams. In addition to scriptwriting, Celtx provides tools for storyboarding, pre-production planning, and budgeting.

Collaboration is seamless with Celtx, allowing team members to work together in real-time. This makes it a preferred choice for multi-disciplinary projects, such as film and video production.

Scrivener is a popular choice among writers of all genres, including scriptwriters. While it is not a dedicated scriptwriting software, its flexible organizational features make it an attractive option for outlining and drafting scripts.

Scrivener allows you to break down your script into manageable scenes and arrange them in a way that suits your creative process. It also offers tools for character and location research, making it a comprehensive writing tool for writers who prefer a more holistic approach.

Copyright and Legal Considerations

Protecting your intellectual property is a vital aspect of scriptwriting. Understanding copyright laws and implementing proper legal considerations ensure that your creative work remains secure and under your control.

Protecting Your Work

As soon as you create your script, it automatically gains copyright protection under intellectual property laws. However, registering your script with the appropriate copyright office adds an extra layer of protection and establishes a legal record of ownership.

In the United States, the United States Copyright Office is responsible for copyright registration. By registering your script, you can seek legal action against anyone who infringes upon your rights as the creator.

Understanding Intellectual Property

Understanding the nuances of intellectual property rights empowers you as a scriptwriter to make informed decisions about your work.

Copyright grants you, as the creator, exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, perform, and display your script. These rights provide you with control over how your work is used and monetized.

Collaboration Agreements

When collaborating with others on a script, a written agreement is essential to define each party’s contributions, ownership, and compensation. Collaboration agreements, also known as collaboration contracts or joint authorship agreements, ensure clarity and prevent potential disputes in the future.

A well-drafted collaboration agreement outlines the roles and responsibilities of each collaborator, the division of intellectual property rights, how any potential profits or royalties will be shared, and the resolution of conflicts or disagreements.

Congratulations on embarking on the exciting journey of mastering the principles of script writing! From understanding the art of storytelling to adapting your script for different mediums, you have explored the key elements that go into crafting captivating and unforgettable stories.

Remember that script writing is both an art and a craft, and like any art form, it evolves and grows with each script you create. Embrace the creative process, take risks, and be open to continuous learning and improvement.

As you refine your scriptwriting skills, seek inspiration from the works of great storytellers, both classic and contemporary. Observe how they weave intricate narratives, develop multidimensional characters, and evoke emotions in their audiences. Learn from their techniques while staying true to your unique voice and vision.

Embrace the power of storytelling and its ability to connect, entertain, and inspire audiences worldwide. Whether your scripts make people laugh, cry, or question the world around them, know that your words have the potential to leave a lasting impact on hearts and minds.

So, keep writing, keep honing your craft, and most importantly, keep sharing your stories with the world. Happy writing!

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to write a script.

The time it takes to write a script can vary widely depending on factors such as complexity, research required, and personal writing speed. Some writers may complete a script in a few weeks, while others may take several months.

Do I need a formal education to become a successful screenwriter?

While formal education in film or creative writing can be beneficial, it is not a strict requirement. Many successful screenwriters have honed their skills through practice, networking, and learning from other professionals.

Should I stick to one genre or explore different ones?

It’s essential to explore different genres and styles to expand your versatility as a writer. However, if you find a particular genre that resonates with you, don’t hesitate to specialize in it.

How can I protect my script from being stolen?

To protect your script, consider registering it with a copyright office or using a reputable copyright service. Additionally, avoid sharing your work with untrusted individuals or platforms.

Can I write a script based on real events or people?

Writing a script based on real events or people may require additional research and consideration of legal implications. Be sure to respect the privacy and rights of real individuals and seek legal advice if needed.

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Screenplay Example for Formatting Genres PDF Downloads Featured

  • Scriptwriting

Screenplay Example for Formatting, Genres & PDF Downloads

W hat does a screenplay look like? Screenwriting and traditional prose writing share many characteristics and commonalities, but it is best to think of them as entirely different disciplines of storytelling. We will examine what the average screenplay looks like, how different genres prioritize different elements, and we’ll take a look at specific screenplay examples worth reading and studying.

Watch: Anatomy of a Screenplay — Ultimate Guide

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Screenplay Example

What does a basic screenplay look like.

With very few exceptions, all screenplays follow the same standard formatting rules. Proper script formatting is extremely important when writing a screenplay for a number of reasons, one of the most important being the timing of the final film. One page of a properly formatting screenplay is equivalent to approximately one minute of screentime. Knowing roughly how long a film will be before it is shot is incredibly important.

Screenplay Example Formatting

A screenplay example page

All screenplays are built out of the same core formatting elements. For a deeper dive into these specific elements and to see how each of them are used, be sure to read our guide to screenplay formatting . If you are at all interested in giving screenwriting a shot yourself, StudioBinder’s screenwriting software can get you started for free.

Script Writing Examples

Why different genres may look different.

If all screenplays are built out of the same elements, how can some scripts look so drastically different from others? The genre of a film can have an influence on what the screenplay looks like. The two main pieces of a script that fill up pages are action lines and dialogue. Some genres, like comedies, tend to place a greater emphasis on dialogue while other genres, like action, often focus more on action lines.

Dialogue takes up more space on the page than action lines do, meaning a script that is heavy on dialogue may have a slightly inflated page count, while a script that is heavy on action and light on dialogue may wind up turning to a film that is slightly longer than the one-page-per-minute rule dictates.

Our guide to screenplay lengths can clear up any other questions you may have about timing a script based on page counts.

11 film structures explained  •  screenplay outline examples

Different films make use of all kinds of different story structures, but the core look and functionality of screenplay formatting remains the same across all story structures and genres. Next, we’ll dig into a few genre examples to illustrate the different stylistic approaches a film may take.

Sample Script Format

Comedy script examples.

Let’s look at three different types of comedy scripts to compare and contrast the similarities and differences between them. Some comedy scripts prioritize dialogue over action but not all.

Below you can read and download the screenplay for  The 40-Year-Old Virgin , an example of a dialogue-heavy screenplay. You will find entire pages consisting of nothing but dialogue in this screenplay which is something you are far less likely to find in other genres.

Click the script below to read and download the entire script.

Screenplay Example for formatting The Year Old Virgin Script Example StudioBinder Screenwriting Software

Read and download the full 40 Year Old Virgin screenplay

If you want to write a script in the vein of The 40 Year Old Virgin , you should take a look at our tips for writing better dialogue first.

Up next is the stellar and hilarious screenplay by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg for  Shaun of the Dead .  In this case, the comedy comes from a rather sophisticated blend between the dialogue and visual comedy.

Screenplay Example for formatting Shaun of the Dead Script Example StudioBinder Screenwriting Software

Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright’s Screenplay for Shaun of the Dead

Edgar Wright’s best movies are great examples of well-balanced comedy screenplays. The mix of dialogue and action is as close to perfect as you can get in a screenplay.

On the other end of the comedic spectrum from the talky script of  The 40-Year-Old Virgin , we have pure visual comedy, such as the sublime slapstick work of French auteur Jacques Tati. Here's a look at the visual comedy of Jacques Tati, courtesy of the Royal Ocean Film Society. 

The visual humor of Jacques Tati  •  Script writing examples

The films of Jacques Tati feature very little dialogue and rely on clever visual gags to wring laughs from the audience rather than the dialogue-dependent gags of other comedies.

Movie Script Example

Action script examples.

Just as there is a spectrum of comedy scripts, there is also a great deal of variance in the stylings of action movie scripts as well. Action screenplays tend to rely more heavily on action lines than dialogue but this is not always the case.  John Wick is one film that places a heavy emphasis on action, and, as you might guess, the screenplay reflects this fact.

There is a mixture of dialogue and action in the pages of this screenplay with a heavy slant toward action in the ratio. Entire pages of the script go by without a single line of dialogue at times.

Screenplay Example for formatting John Wick Script Example StudioBinder Screenwriting Software

John Wick’s screenplay was originally titled ‘Scorn’

Keanu Reeves made the cut for our list of the  top action stars , and John Wick made it onto our list of the  best action films ever made . Find out what else made the cut.

Every great Quentin Tarantino movie  script displays his absolute mastery of the screenplay format. You can  download and read the  Django Unchained  screenplay  to see exactly how he structures and formats his blend of intense action with  his trademark dialogue .

How Tarantino’s dialogue keeps us hooked  •   Subscribe on YouTube

On the dialogue-heavy end of the action film spectrum, we have screenplays like the one for  Collateral . The dialogue-heavy cab scenes are juxtaposed wonderfully against the sharp bursts of action that occur outside the cab.

Screenplay Example for formatting Collateral Script Example StudioBinder Screenwriting Software

Collateral action screenplay

Collateral has more dialogue and less action than the average action-thriller but is a grade-A action film regardless, showing that the action-to-dialogue ratio can be skewed to great effect in the hands of experts.

If you are a fan of Collateral , be sure to check out our review and retrospective on the film.

Read the Best Movie Scripts Online

Screenplays all follow the same formatting guidelines, but each writer leaves their own fingerprints behind on the pages. The author’s voice changes the reading experience of each screenplay through stylistic choices and personal preferences. You can read some of the best movie scripts ever written online to see just how different screenplays can be.

Up Next: Best Movie Scripts →

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Writing a Play Script: Everything You Need to Know

When writing a play script , your script should include the settings, dialogue, and actions that take place throughout your play. This type of script outlines who says or does what when and how as well as describes the setting of the stage, like backdrops, lighting, and props. It is specifically for live visual stories on the stage, including dramas, comedies, and musicals.

How to write a play script

Before you get started, it’s important to understand the proper formatting of a play and what story elements you need to include. Follow these steps to write a play script:

Get inspiration

The first step is to read and watch as many plays as possible. During your research, take note of what other playwrights do well. If you notice dialogue you especially enjoy or useful stage directions, consider emulating them in your own play script. Reading a play first and then seeing a live performance of that play is a great way to see what a script can turn into.

Choose a Theme

Picking a theme for your play can help you write a play that audiences can connect to and understand. Consider the following when deciding on what kind of story you’re telling:

  • Genre: This is the style, tone, and subject matter of your play, whether that be serious and somber or funny and insightful (see examples of movie genres here)
  • Character growth: This is how your characters develop over the course of your play.
  • Key takeaways: These are morals or lessons that the audience learns by the end of the play.

Create a Plot

The plot of your play is the events that take place and lead the entire story. You need to decide if you want your play plot-driven , meaning the story pushes characters from scene to scene, or character-focused, where characters’ actions direct the story. You may choose a combination of the two. Either way, many playwrights create a plot that leads to character growth.

When creating your plot, consider these key components:

  • Characters: Decide who the main character of your play is. Make an effort to develop them into a believable person. You may also want to add supporting characters that support or challenge them. If you want a traditional hero story, you need to create a protagonist and an antagonist. Consider the relationships between all of your characters, especially ones that have a conflict with each other. Having a conflict creates more tension in your play and keeps the audience interested in the fate of your main character.
  • Settings: Where is your play taking place? How does this add to the story? Determine how the setting impacts each scene or character and contextualizes themes. Limiting the number of different settings keeps your play grounded and improves its producibility. Consider how your crew could quickly transform one setting into another. Creating new settings is more complex for the stage than it is for film and television.
  • Time: When is your play taking place? You need to figure out a way to convey this to the audience, whether that be through narration, costume, or dialogue.
  • Story: The story of your play focuses on the characters’ reactions and emotions surrounding events of the plot.
  • Exposition: Early on in your play, you need to establish the who, what, where, when, and why of your plot. If you have a central conflict in your play, this may be the time to present it.
  • Rising action: Toward the middle of your play, more obstacles or challenges unfold. The conflict may deepen until you reach the climax of the play. This is the tensest moment, typically when characters fully address conflicts.
  • Resolution: After the climax happens, the tension of your play lessens. During the resolution, your characters may overcome their conflicts or learn to live with them. Even if your ending is tragic, you may want to include a key takeaway or lesson.

Pick a Structure

Plays are made up of acts. Within each act are multiple scenes. When writing your play , you need to decide which kind of structure you want. As a new playwright, you may want to begin with a simple structure, such as a one-act play. These are the most common play structures:

  • One-act play: The play runs all the way through without an intermission. You still need a narrative arc, but you may have fewer settings and scenes.
  • Two-act play: Most contemporary plays use the two-act structure. A two-act play consists of two parts with an intermission in between. They allow for more complex sets since your crew can set up a new scene during the intermission. Audiences appreciate an intermission so they can stretch, use the restroom, and discuss the first act with one another.
  • Three-act play: This is the most complex play structure to write. If you decide on a three-act play, you may need an intermission between each act. These types of plays tend to be longer due to the extra intermissions and length of the acts. In many three-act plays, act one is typically the exposition, act two is the rising action, and act three is the resolution.

Make an Outline

Before writing the entire play from scratch, create a general outline of your play. Include the following in your outline:

  • When characters appear
  • Narrative arc
  • General stage actions

Write Using the Outline

Once you have a solid outline, you can start writing your play script. Filling in the outline with your actual script is a smart way to stay organized. You want to start giving your script depth and move it along with the following components:

  • Dialogue: This is one of the main components that guide your play. Consider what dialogue each character has and how this develops who they are.
  • Actions: Within the script, you need to note what each character is doing. Make it clear so the actors have a better understanding of what they need to do.
  • Technical elements: This includes things like costume changes, props, lighting , and settings.

Edit and Rewrite

After writing your first draft, it’s time to read through the entire play script and start making adjustments. For instance, if your dialogue feels a bit flat, you need to rewrite it in a way that sounds more natural. Consider how people talk in real life, and try to make your characters feel human and emotional. Things such as interruptions and tangents can make it sound more realistic.

Have someone else read through your play to see if it makes sense to them. Ask them to note anything that is a bit confusing or needs more development. Since the story is in your head, you may not realize that it’s not as straightforward on paper.

Play Script Example

Follow these formatting rules when writing a play script:

  • Center act and scene headings.
  • Center and capitalize your characters’ names before each line of dialogue.
  • Capitalize your characters’ names in action lines.
  • Indent and italicize stage directions.

Here is a brief example of a play script:

Midwestern high school. Teacher’s office. Right after school lets out.

SAM, an eccentric history teacher, sits at her desk. She sorts through a stack of papers and struggles to find what she is looking for.

Talking to herself.

Why is my life such a mess?

GEORGE, a put-together looking man, enters.

Because you’re Sam.

GEORGE chuckles as SAM rolls her eyes.

Writing a play script takes a lot of effort and practice, but it is worth it when you see your vision come to life on stage. Check out Nashville Film Institute’s other blogs to learn about writing a script for film or television .

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G.V. Prakash – Everything You Need To Know

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How To Format A Screenplay

Learn Screenwriting

  • How to Format a Screenplay
  • How To Outline A Screenplay
  • Creating Characters In Your Screenplay
  • How to Write Better Descriptions
  • Screenplay, Stageplay, Teleplay: What’s The Difference?
  • The Secret To The First Ten Pages In Your Screenplay

So you’ve got a great idea for a movie – awesome! But before you can produce, direct or sell your movie, you have to write the screenplay in the correct entertainment industry format. Final Draft can help you figure out how to format a screenplay so you can focus on what’s important – crafting a great story.

There are a few fundamental rules about formatting a screenplay that you should know before you get started. Once you understand these formatting rules, Final Draft can take over and do the rest!

People sitting in chairs collaborating on ideas and using different devices

No matter who you are, you have a story to tell – and there has never been a better time to tell it. Hollywood alone produces 700 movies per year, and this number is increasing due to the advent of streaming technology. There are thousands of professional screenwriting opportunities every single year for storytellers just like you, and Final Draft will be the most important tool in your writing arsenal. But what does a screenplay actually look like? Let’s break it down for you!

  • THE IMPORTANCE OF WRITING WITH FINAL DRAFT
  • GETTING STARTED
  • ACTION AND DIALOGUE
  • LEARNING THE CRAFT

The Importance of Writing with Final Draft

Screenplays written with a regular word-processing program or a free web-based screenplay template can’t be used in professional film productions. They often must be retyped or have to go through a complicated conversion process to get them ready for production. Screenplays written in Final Draft and saved in the FDX format are ready for professional use, and it’s not just screenplays you can write with Final Draft: you can also write stage plays, musicals, sitcoms, TV dramas, novels, and even graphic novels.

Final Draft isn’t just for Hollywood either. Final Draft screenwriting software is used professionally all over the world, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, and over 60 other countries. There are dictionaries in English (U.S., Canada, and British), Catalan, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Swiss-German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese (Brazilian and European), Spanish, and Swedish. So whatever country you’re in, if you’re using Final Draft, you know you’re using the industry standard.

Getting Started

In this guide, we’ll be showing you examples from scripts for feature films. TV scripts build on this same basic formatting, but also include additional information that varies by genre, studio, or production company. Although there are few rigid rules about formatting a screenplay, there are generally accepted guidelines that you need to know.

Writing a script outline is an important step to bring your ideas to life

The first page of your screenplay is called the Title Page. This page shows the title of the screenplay and who the screenplay is written by in the center of the page. The writer’s contact details appear at the bottom of the page in the lower left hand corner. If you’ve registered your screenplay with the Writers Guild, that information can be listed as well.

Final Draft lets you get creative with the Title Page. You can use different fonts to make your title really stand out, and you can even add a picture to set the mood.

Page Margins

Here are some guidelines regarding page margins for your screenplay. Remember – Final Draft automatically formats your margins for you, so you don’t have to worry about doing it yourself. But if you’re interested in what the guidelines are, this information will be helpful. The top margin needs to be one inch. The bottom margin, and your right- or outside – margin can vary from that by up to a quarter-inch. The left, or inside, margin needs to allow space for the three-hole punch binding for when your screenplay is printed, so that should be about one-and-a-half inches.

Font and Page Numbers

The font is another one of those rigid rules. It must be the Courier font and 12 points. This font is an entertainment industry standard. It makes it easier to estimate screen time from the number of pages. Try to get fancy, with any other font, and your script looks amateurish.

The top of the page—or header—is also lean and clean. All you should have there is the page number, flush right, about a half-inch from the top of the page, and followed by a period. The exception is the first page which shouldn’t have a page number on it at all.

Scene Headings

A screenplay is comprised of a number of different scenes, and every scene starts with a scene heading, also known as a slug line.

A scene heading contains three elements:

Whether the scene takes place inside (INT., short for INTERIOR) or outside (EXT., short for EXTERIOR); The location where the scene takes place (a house, the beach, a cafe etc.); What time of day it is (DAY, NIGHT, MORNING, AFTERNOON, EVENING, ETC.)

Here is an example of a scene heading:

EXT. KEVIN’S HOUSE – DAY

This scene heading tells us that the scene is taking place outside, that we are at the character Kevin’s House, and the scene takes place during the day.

It is good to be very specific with your scene heading, so the reader knows exactly where they are. When writing a scene set inside, you can be very exact about what room the scene is taking place in by adding the room to the scene heading followed by a comma. Example:

INT. BATHROOM, KEVIN’S HOUSE – MORNING

This scene heading tells us that we are in the bathroom in Kevin’s house, and it is morning.

Action and Dialogue

A scene in a screenplay is composed of action and dialogue. Action tells you what is happening in the scene, and dialogue indicates what each character is saying. After you write your scene heading, you should always start with a few lines of action to get the reader situated in your story. For example:

Writing a script outline is an important step to bring your ideas to life

A car pulls into the driveway. KEVIN (30s) steps out, heads to the trunk and opens it. He pulls out a BAG OF GROCERIES.

Note that Kevin’s BAG OF GROCERIES is written in ALL CAPS. This is a technique you can use to highlight important props, sounds and character movements in your scenes. This technique should be used sparingly as too much capitalization means aspects of the script you want to highlight for importance may be lost.

Next we move on to dialogue. Dialogue is indented and is close to the center of the page. Final Draft sets the proper indents for you – the left indent is between an inch and one-and-a-half inches from the left margin, and a right indent of about an inch and a half.

Above the block of dialogue is the name of the character speaking. This is called a CHARACTER CUE and is indented approximately an inch more than the dialogue. Example:

KEVIN Wow. These groceries are heavy.

Sometimes your dialogue might continue over a page break. Final Draft automatically handles this issue for you, but it’s helpful to know what the program is doing and why.

On the bottom of a page where a block of dialogue begins you will see the word MORE in upper case letters, parentheses, and centered. This tells the reader there’s more dialogue to come on the following page from the same character. Dialogue will be broken for a page break only at the end of a sentence, so don’t worry about it cutting your sentences in half. At the top of the following page, the character cue ends with a CONT’D to let the reader know that the dialogue begins on the previous page. Once again, Final Draft will do all of this for you automatically, so all you need to do is keep typing!

There is also a third dialogue element that you should use sparingly. It’s called PARENTHETICAL direction, because it’s inside of parentheses marks underneath the character cue. It tells the actor how the dialogue should be delivered. A parenthetical should be used when the dialogue doesn’t exactly convey how the actor might deliver the dialogue, or for emphasis. It can also illustrate who the character is talking to if this is unclear. Example:

KEVIN (to self) Wow. These groceries are heavy.

A parenthetical can also be used BESIDE the character cue in very specific circumstances: if your character is speaking OFF SCREEN (O.S.) or as a VOICE OVER (V.O.). Example:

KEVIN (V.O.) Wow. These groceries are heavy.

Transitions

You don’t need to include a transition between scenes, as it’s understood that one scene naturally flows into the next. However, sometimes you might want to use a specific transition as a stylistic choice, such as a SMASH CUT or FADE TO BLACK. Final Draft has many different transition options, and will format the transition flush right according to industry standards.

So now we’ve gone through the elements that make up a script: a scene heading, action, and dialogue. Keep writing those elements for 90 to 120 pages, and you will have succeeded in writing your screenplay. Don’t forget, Final Draft automatically formats scene headings, action and dialogue for the writer. All you need to do is input your story and creativity!

Learning the Craft

There is no better way to learn how to write screenplays than to read actual scripts. Thanks to the Internet, it’s very easy to find scripts online for all your favorite movies. It only takes reading a few pages of a screenplay for the formatting rules to become clear, and by seeking out great screenplays you can learn tips and tricks from Hollywood’s most successful writers. Once you become more comfortable with writing screenplays you may even find yourself wanting to be more experimental with your writing, and subverting some of the rules to make your screenplay a more unique experience for the reader. But remember what a wise person once said: you need to know the rules before you break them.

In addition to the formatting guidelines outlined in this article, Final Draft also comes loaded with TEMPLATES for all your needs. Whether you’re writing a feature film, TV show, play or graphic novel, Final Draft comes with files already formatted for these very purposes.

Once you purchase Final Draft and become a registered user, you also gain access to world-class technical support. Got a formatting question? Final Draft staff is on hand via phone, email or chat to assist you with all your writing needs. Final Draft’s blog and social media also contains all the tips, tricks and techniques you need to get started in your career, as well as industry news, reviews and interviews with famous filmmakers. It’s never been easier to write your screenplay,

So there you have it! Everything you need to get inspired, start writing, and send your screenplay out into the world. Final Draft is your one-stop shop for all your screenwriting needs, and we are here to assist you every step of the way on your writing journey. Bring your creativity, and we’ll do the rest. Happy writing!

To explore Final Draft, click  here .

Screenwriting Basics: Everything You Need to Know About CAPS

script writing rules

What are the screenwriting basics when it comes to how screenwriters should — or shouldn't — use CAPS within their screenplays?

Some screenwriters don't know how to use CAPS, some don't take advantage of them, and others just use them too much. Here we offer simple explanations and examples of how you should and shouldn't be using that CAPS button in your scripts.

Scene Headings

Scene headings  are the general location headings that detail where we are in the script — outside or inside (EXT. or INT.) and at which LOCATION — and whether or not the reader is to envision daylight or darkness (DAY or NIGHT). Within screenwriting format, these elements are always in CAPS.

EXT. FOREST - DAY

Screenwriting software will do this work for you.

Read ScreenCraft's Screenwriting Basics: The Keys to Writing Correct Scene Headings!

Character Names

When you first introduce a character that has lines of dialogue assigned to them — or is a featured character with no lines but plays a prominent role within the screenplay — you need to put their assigned character name in CAPS the very first time we are introduced to them.

MARTIN BRODY (40s) stands rigid, lifting himself from the bed. ( Jaws )

script writing rules

A six-year-old girl sits watching the show intently. This is OLIVE. She is big for her age and slightly plump. ( Little Miss Sunshine )

script writing rules

A narrow trail across the green face of the canyon. A group of men makes their way along it. At the head of the party is an American, INDIANA JONES. He wears a short leather jacket, a flapped holster, and a brimmed felt hat. ( Raiders of the Lost Ark )

script writing rules

She is tense, sweaty, wide-eyed with concentration. This is CLARICE STARLING, mid-20's, trim, very pretty. ( Silence of the Lambs )

script writing rules

The technical purpose of capitalizing names of characters that have lines or, at the very least, are characters featured within the screenplay, is for pre-production and production purposes.

Casting directors need to know who the featured characters are that they need to cast.

Directors and script supervisors need to know when each character first shows up.

Anyone first reading the script needs to know which characters are main or supporting roles within the script, differentiating them from characters that aren't specifically partial to the story.

But these character names should only be capitalized once. As soon as they have been introduced, their name should be in lower case with the proper first letter of their name capitalized under normal grammar standards and practices with names within the scene description . Script format calls for all character names attributed to dialogue to be in FULL CAPS.

Note: It is okay only to use a first or last name of the character name moving forward after they've been introduced — Indiana, Clarice, Brody.  

Contrary to popular belief, slug lines are not the same as scene headings. These two terms have been intertwined over the years, so it's common to hear people refer to scene headings or location headings as sluglines.

Sluglines  are instances within the scene description where you use CAPS to identify information that you want to call attention to.

THERE IS MOVEMENT FROM THE DENSE TREELINE.

Within scene description, you can also use sluglines in the form of CAPS to feature a particular location within the featured place that the scene heading sets up.

A light rainfall falls from above. 

Somewhat hidden within the surrounding grass, bushes, and trees.

KEN, 43, unzips the tent from within, stands, stretches, and lifts his face to the falling rain.  

script writing rules

Sluglines should always have their own dedicated line within the scene description.

It's very common for novice screenwriters to put every action within scene descriptions in CAPS.

Ken MOVES towards the dense treeline, HOLDING a survival knife. He HEARS something within the woods. He quickly KNEELS DOWN and LISTENS. 

This practice can actually have a negative effect on the read of your screenplay. When CAPS is used to feature an action or important object (see below), you're telling the reader that this is a vital part of the story that needs to be highlighted. Reader's eyes are trained to recognize essential elements within the scene description.

But when every action or object is featured in CAPS, it creates a distraction that makes it difficult for the reader to process the overall scene description.

You should only feature the most critical actions using CAPS. In the above example, Ken moving towards the dense treeline, holding the survival knife, kneeling down and listening aren't the most important elements within that line of scene description. HEARS is arguably the key action that you'd want to feature because that means something unexpected is out there.

Ken MOVES towards the dense treeline, HOLDING a survival knife. He HEARS something within the woods. He quickly KNEELS DOWN and LISTENS.  

Ken moves towards the dense treeline, holding a survival knife. He HEARS something within the woods. He quickly kneels down and listens.

By not putting every little action in CAPS, you can also extenuate the action that you do feature a little more.

Ken moves towards the dense treeline, holding a survival knife. He SUDDENLY HEARS SOMETHING WITHIN THE WOODS. He quickly kneels down and listens.

Regardless, using CAPS to feature actions should be only used when those actions are significant enough that they change or add to the story, scene, or moment. When they are overused, they lead to nothing more than distractions as the reader's brain skips otherwise important scene description and focuses on the words in CAPS that stand out the most.

script writing rules

The same goes for any featured objects of interest that are partial to your story.

If the survival knife that Ken is carrying is partial to the story, you can undoubtedly feature it in CAPS.

Ken moves towards the dense treeline, holding a SURVIVAL KNIFE.

If it is an object that doesn't later play into the story, it's not worth featuring. If that were the case and you still put that object in CAPS, you're telling the reader that the survival knife is important and may be playing a key role in the scenes to come. If he only uses the knife for basic purposes, you're misleading the reader and wasting their time by featuring it in CAPS — another distraction.

You can also feature objects on their own slugline to call attention to them, which is basically telling the reader to envision a close-up.

If Ken had a revolver instead of a survival knife, you can utilize a capitalized slugline as such:

Ken moves towards the dense treeline, holding a REVOLVER. He SUDDENLY HEARS SOMETHING WITHIN THE WOODS. He quickly kneels down and listens.

ON THE REVOLVER

Ken slowly pulls the hammer back with his thumb. 

script writing rules

This shows us that Ken is ready to take action. He feels threatened enough that he's ready and willing to shoot whatever threat approaches from within the woods.

Yes, screenwriters can overuse this practice, but it's also very useful in creating a cinematic experience without outright directing the script using camera angles and closeups — something you should never do.

This featured object slugline is being used to build tension and inform the reader of an important element to the scene.

Special Effects/Sound Effects

Screenwriters have read many production drafts of screenplays. Production drafts have many screenplay elements that should not be featured in a spec script — camera angles, transition, scene numbers, etc.

One particular — and often capitalized — element is SPECIAL EFFECTS, VISUAL F/X, or variations thereof. This communicates a visual that will be created with the need for either practical special effects (non-digital) or rendered computer graphics (CG). That's not your job to dictate that as a screenwriter. Just tell us what we're supposed to be seeing.

AN ALIEN CREATURE suddenly darts out of the woods, breaking branches in the process, and LEAPS TOWARDS KEN. 

Screenwriters don't need to dictate what type of filmmaking will go into the design and rendering of that alien creature.

On the other hand, particular sound effects can be featured in scene description using CAPS.

Ken slowly pulls the hammer back with his thumb. CLICK. 

Despite his efforts, the sound echoes through the forest. 

The reason this sound could be featured is that it continues to build the tension. Ken has just heard a noise from the woods that has alarmed him. He's now kneeling down and trying to be quiet as he listens for more signs of an approaching threat. But he has to get his weapon ready.

When he does, the sound of the revolver's hammer engaging creates a loud enough noise to echo through the woods, which means that whatever or whoever is out there likely heard it as well.

But much like the mistake of putting almost every action in CAPS, you want to avoid making the same mistake of putting every sound effect in CAPS as well.

Use the practice only as a tool to support the story and feature only the most important elements of any scene.

Transitions

Screenplay transitions are part of a long, ongoing debate between pundits, screenwriters, and industry insiders. Pundits and gurus often declare that screenwriters should avoid transitions — or any camera directions — in their screenplays, with no exceptions.

However, the truth is that there is a middle ground. Screenwriters writing on spec should be writing cinematic screenplays that offer readers a cinematic experience.

Read ScreenCraft’s  Why Screenwriters Should Think Like Film Editors!

At the same time, screenwriters shouldn’t bog down their screenplays with too much technical jargon and over-saturated format.

So the middle ground directive is to use transitions sparingly.

While WIPE TOs, IRIS INs, IRIS OUTs, and FADE TOs are dated transitions rarely used in today’s screenplays, there are justifiable transitions like SMASH CUTs, DISSOLVE TOs, and MATCH CUTs that screenwriters can use now and then — as long as the moments within the script that they are attached to are integral to the story.

Pundits and gurus will argue that the eventual director won’t appreciate them and would likely utilize their own technical and artistic choices anyway. They’re missing the point.

Writing cinematically is very important for the spec scriptwriter. Most readers are just looking for a great read — plain and simple.

Using a few transitions that have an artistic, cinematic, and narrative purpose can often enhance the read of your screenplay by offering a visual that heightens the implied moment.

So in short, you  can  use them, but be sure to use them wisely —  and sparingly.

Read ScreenCraft's Everything Screenwriters Need to Know About Transitions !

Note: Transitions like FADE IN and FADE TO BLACK are only used at the beginning and end of a screenplay .

When you put all of these lessons on the usage of CAPS together, you can craft a cinematic screenplay that effectively tells a cinematic story using CAPS for various script elements to heighten the experience and put focus on what needs to be highlighted, seen, or heard.

KEN, 43, unzips the tent from within, stands, stretches, and lifts his face to the falling rain. He moves towards the dense treeline, holding a REVOLVER.

He SUDDENLY HEARS SOMETHING WITHIN THE WOODS. He quickly kneels down and listens.

Despite his efforts, the sound echoes through the forest.

Ken RAISES THE REVOLVER in a panic and fires! BANG!

SMASH CUT TO:

Darkness. Nothing but the sound of breathing.

DISSOLVE TO:

Ken and the alien creature lay on the ground, motionless until Ken finally moves. He stands up and looks down on the alien creature taking its last breath. 

Ken lets out a breath of his own and raises his face to the falling rain. But it's sunlight that reaches his face instead. The clouds open revealing... 

A SKY WITH TWO SUNS AND A DISTANT MOON.

This isn't Earth. It's someplace else. 

While this example offers what many could consider an extensive use of CAPS, it's a perfect example of how you can do it right if you want to utilize this screenwriting tool.

Ken Miyamoto has worked in the film industry for nearly two decades, most notably as a studio liaison for Sony Studios and then as a script reader and story analyst for Sony Pictures.

He has many studio meetings under his belt as a produced screenwriter, meeting with the likes of Sony, Dreamworks, Universal, Disney, Warner Brothers, as well as many production and management companies. He has had a previous development deal with Lionsgate, as well as multiple writing assignments, including the produced miniseries  Blackout , starring Anne Heche, Sean Patrick Flanery, Billy Zane, James Brolin, Haylie Duff, Brian Bloom, Eric La Salle, and Bruce Boxleitner. Follow Ken on Twitter  @KenMovies

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script writing rules

How To Format A Screenplay In Microsoft Word

Formatting a screenplay on Microsoft Word can be a tedious affair. So, here's a detailed guide on how you can write your script on Microsoft Word and how JotterPad gives you a hassle-free experience.

Emily Ker

Read more posts by this author.

After familiarizing yourself with the formatting rules of a screenplay , as well as learning how to format a screenplay on Google Docs , it's time to move on to yet another common writing app: Microsoft Word.

If Microsoft Word is your writing medium of choice, you're in luck. Here's a guide to formatting your screenplays on Microsoft Word, as well as a bonus look into how you can format your screenplay with little fuss at the bottom of the article.

Manual screenplay formatting on Microsoft Word

1) page margins.

The general formatting rules for page margins are as follows:

  • 1.5 inch margin on the left of the page
  • 1 inch margin on the right, top and bottom of the page

In a blank Microsoft Word document, simply go to Layout > Margins and scroll down until you find the Custom Margins option. In the window that pops up, change the left margin to 1.5 inches and leave everything else at 1 inch.

Screenshot of page margin setup for screenplay formatting in Microsoft Word

2) Font size and line spacing

In screenplays, text should be written in Courier font size 12. Your lines should be single-spaced, barring some exceptions. To change the font and line spacing, go to the Home tab, and you'll find options to change your font and line spacing under F o nt and Paragraph respectively

Line spacing options for screenplay formatting in Microsoft Word

3) Creating a title page

Your title should be:

  • Courier Font Size 12
  • Double spaced
  • Be capitalized
  • Centered on the page, a third down the page

To center your title (or any other word in your screenplay), search for the alignment options under the Home tab, in the paragraph section. There will be options to align right, left, center, or justify.

Alignment options for screenplay formatting in Microsoft Word

To capitalize words, highlight the word and go to Change Case in the Font section of the Home tab.

Capitalization options for screenplay formatting in Microsoft Word

As for the rest of the information on your title page, they should follow these rules:

  • Use Courier Font Size 12
  • Include your name, only first letter capitalized.
  • Include your contact information at bottom right corner

4) Indentation

Some elements in your screenplay have custom indentations. For example, dialogues have to aligned to the center and then indented one inch from the left margin.

To customize indentations, simply go to the Layout tab and adjust the indents under the Paragraph section.

Indentation options for screenplay formatting in Microsoft Word

5) Page Numbers

In a screenplay, the page numbers are located on the top right hand corner of the page; against the right margin and 0.5 inches below the top margin. The page number should be followed by a period, and the title page should not have a page number.

To add and customize page numbers for your screenplay in Microsoft Word, go to Insert > Page Number > Top of Page > Plain Number 3

Page numbering options for screenplay formatting in Microsoft Word

Then, double click the page number to open the Header and Footer Tools tab. Under that tab, tick the Different First Page box to remove the page number from the title page.

Page numbering design for screenplay formatting in Microsoft Word

Download a screenplay template

Manually formatting every line of your screenplay can be a hassle, and can interrupt your writing flow! Instead, save yourself the trouble and download a template instead.

Conveniently enough, Microsoft already has a screenplay template for Microsoft Word that can downloaded for free. Once you open the document, all you'll need to do is add your details to the template and make any changes accordingly.

Use JotterPad for a hassle-free screenwriting experience

That said, it can still be quite frustrating. After all, you'll have to write your screenplay unformatted on a separate document, and then transfer everything onto the template in Microsoft Word. To some screenwriters, that might be a little too troublesome for their tastes.

So, in order to further streamline your writing experience, why not use JotterPad instead? JotterPad utilizes Fountain , a screenwriting syntax, to give you a wide range of easy-to-use formatting features for all your screenwriting needs

Quick and easy formatting features

By simply creating a Fountain document, everything that you write will be exported in the appropriate font and font size, as well as with the right page margins and page numbers.

A screenplay written on Jotterpad with proper formatting, from font size to page margins

JotterPad also offers a wealth of easy-to-use formatting features that will streamline your writing process. For example, creating a title page has never been easier; all you need to do is go to Properties and input the relevant information in the window that pops up.

Cursor hovering over the Properties tab on the JotterPad web app

Your title page will then be fully formatted upon exporting!

How the screenplay title page looks like when exported on JotterPad

Need to add a transition? We've got you covered. JotterPad makes things easy on you by giving you a list of transitions that you can input into your screenplay with proper formatting – all with a single click!

A list of screenplay transitions that JotterPad offers, such as cut to, freeze frame, fade in and so on

These are just some of the many formatting features that JotterPad has to offer!

Cloud sync feature

Furthermore, JotterPad's cloud sync feature allows you to auto-save and keep all your documents in one place, across multiple devices, so you'll never have to worry about losing progress again!

Jotterpad's cloud sync feature across multiple platforms, including web, iPad, iOS and Android

So, if you're both a screenwriter as well as a budding novelist, JotterPad also functions as a novel-writing software as well. Download JotterPad now to get started on your next screenplay!

script writing rules

IMAGES

  1. How to Write a Script: A Beginner's Guide

    script writing rules

  2. How to write a script

    script writing rules

  3. How to Write a Script (Step-by-Step Guide)

    script writing rules

  4. A Beginner's Guide to Writing Scripts and Screenplays

    script writing rules

  5. Script Writing Help: Video Script Formatting Guidelines

    script writing rules

  6. How to Write a Screenplay: Script Writing in 15 Steps

    script writing rules

COMMENTS

  1. 15 Simple Screenplay Rules You Need to Know

    3. Slug Lines — a.k.a. Location Headings — Should Only Have Three Pieces of Information INT/EXT LOCATION - DAY/NIGHT Those are the general choices. Specific examples include: INT. CAR - DAY EXT. HOUSE - NIGHT

  2. How to Write a Script (with Pictures)

    1 Think of a theme or conflict that you want to tell in your story. Use a "What if?" question to form the idea of your script. Start taking inspiration from the world around you and ask yourself how it would be affected by a specific event or character.

  3. How to Write a Script (Step-by-Step Guide)

    1. Know what a script is If this is your first time creating movie magic, you might be wondering what a script actually is. Well, it can be an original story, straight from your brain. Or it can be based on a true story, or something that someone else wrote - like a novel, theatre production, or newspaper article.

  4. How to Write a Movie Script Like Professional Screenwriters

    1 inch on the of the top and bottom of the page Each page should have approximately 55 lines The dialogue block starts 2.5 inches from the left side of the page Character names must have uppercase letters and be positioned starting 3.7 inches from the left side of the page

  5. Tips for Screenwriters: How to Write a Script in 6 Basic Steps

    1. Write your logline. A logline is a one-sentence summary or description of a movie. Loglines distill the essential elements of your screenplay—the main character, setup, central conflict, plot points, antagonist—into a concise teaser. The goal is to write an enticing synopsis to hook the reader into reading the entire script. 2.

  6. Script Writing: Everything You Need to Know

    1. Read other scripts Download a few scripts or screenplays to find examples of well-written dialogue, characters, and storylines and to learn what producers are looking for in terms of genre conventions and themes. It might help to take a few writing workshops to develop your skills or better understand how to craft a strong script.

  7. Learn How to Format a Screenplay: Step-by-Step Guide

    What Does the Screenwriting Rule "Show, Don't Tell" Mean? Unlike a novel, which can illuminate a character's interior thoughts or spend time describing a setting or place, a screenplay should only contain information that you can "show" on screen. This means that if a character is feeling sad, you must find a way to show that they are sad.

  8. What is Script Writing

    Script writing is the process of writing stories for a variety of mediums including film, TV, video games, and commercials. The process of writing a novel, a poem, or essay, is entirely different than script writing. In order to express yourself effectively for the screen, particular formatting methods are required.

  9. Screenwriting Guide: How to Write Your First Screenplay

    Screenwriting Guide: How to Write Your First Screenplay. Written by MasterClass. Last updated: Jun 7, 2021 • 6 min read. A screenplay is a script with minimal notes about camera angles, lighting, and direction. Learn how to write a screenplay with proper formatting and structure. A screenplay is a script with minimal notes about camera angles ...

  10. A Guide to Script Writing

    Posted on: April 5, 2022 Have you ever wondered what it takes to get your stories from idea to stage or screen? It all starts with putting your pen to paper — or fingers to the keyboard — to write a script. Script writing is at the heart of all audiences' favorite stories.

  11. 20 Common Sense Script Rules, in No Particular Order

    20 Common Sense Script Rules, in No Particular Order Note: These rules will not make you a better writer. They will simply keep you from annoying your average reader or crew member. You must learn these simple rules or consider another line of work. 1) FADE IN AT THE BEGINNING OF YOUR FILM. FADE OUT AT THE END. Let there be light.

  12. How to Write a Screenplay: Script Writing Example & Screenwriting Tips

    As a screenwriter, you must show what's happening in a story, rather than tell. A 2-page inner monologue may work well for a novel, but is the kiss of death in a script. The very nature of screenwriting is based on how to show a story on a screen, and pivotal moments can be conveyed through something as simple as a look on an actor's face.

  13. A Beginner's Guide to Writing Scripts and Screenplays

    SL = Stage Left. SC = StageCenter. Enter = Character enters the scene. Exit = Character exits the scene. Beat = A pause in dialogue e.g., "after a beat, Frank continued his lecture". Lights fade/rise = Change of scene or focus in a scene. Fade to black = End of the play or end of a scene. Int. = Interior, scene taking place indoors.

  14. Scriptwriting 101: The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Script

    As Alfred Hitchcock puts it: "A lot of writers think they're filling the page with words, but they're filling the screen with images.". It may seem obvious, but it's the key thing to remember in scriptwriting: you're writing prospectively. The stack of pages you have when you're done is not the finished product.

  15. How to Write a Screenplay: Script Writing in 15 Steps

    It is better to use a sheet to store the character's information. When you want to add offscreen dialogue, write (O.S.) next to the character's name (write (OS) for when they go off-screen and return on-screen). For a voiceover, write (V.O.). When your character is talking into a phone, predictably, write (INTO PHONE).

  16. Script Formatting 101: A Guide for Impatient Newbies

    Script Formatting 101: A Guide for Impatient Newbies. Setting artistic limits within the traditional screenplay format is a big part of what separates the pros from the newbies. Here we will introduce you to the four most important elements, that you need to get started writing, without confusing you with details such as page margins - Arc ...

  17. Script Format

    Put simply, a screenplay is a 90-120 page document, typed in Courier 12pt font on 8.5″ x 11″ white paper with three holes. One page in Courier font roughly equals one minute of screen time. This helps writers gauge the duration and pacing of their story for a better writing and viewing experience.

  18. 21 Principles of Script Writing: A Comprehensive Guide to the Art of

    The three-act structure, commonly used in script writing, divides the narrative into three distinct parts: the setup, the confrontation, and the resolution. Screenplay Structure In 6 Minutes - Michael Hauge. Watch on. The setup introduces the characters, their world, and the central conflict.

  19. Formatting a Screenplay: How to Put Your Story Into Screenplay Format

    Write Your Script for Free Alright — you've got it. The screenplay idea that will change the world, break box office records, and win you every single Oscar. Only… you don't quite understand how to format a screenplay. Do you even really need screenplay format? Our answer? A resounding "Yes!"

  20. Screenplay Example for Formatting, Genres & PDF Downloads

    Screenplay Example What does a basic screenplay look like? With very few exceptions, all screenplays follow the same standard formatting rules. Proper script formatting is extremely important when writing a screenplay for a number of reasons, one of the most important being the timing of the final film. One page of a properly formatting screenplay is equivalent to approximately one minute of ...

  21. Writing a Play Script: Everything You Need to Know

    Get inspiration The first step is to read and watch as many plays as possible. During your research, take note of what other playwrights do well. If you notice dialogue you especially enjoy or useful stage directions, consider emulating them in your own play script.

  22. How to Format a Screenplay

    Final Draft has many different transition options, and will format the transition flush right according to industry standards. So now we've gone through the elements that make up a script: a scene heading, action, and dialogue. Keep writing those elements for 90 to 120 pages, and you will have succeeded in writing your screenplay.

  23. Screenwriting Basics: Everything You Need to Know About CAPS

    Scene headings are the general location headings that detail where we are in the script — outside or inside (EXT. or INT.) and at which LOCATION — and whether or not the reader is to envision daylight or darkness (DAY or NIGHT). Within screenwriting format, these elements are always in CAPS. EXT. FOREST - DAY.

  24. How To Format A Screenplay In Microsoft Word

    To add and customize page numbers for your screenplay in Microsoft Word, go to Insert > Page Number > Top of Page > Plain Number 3. Page numbering options for screenplay formatting in Microsoft Word. Then, double click the page number to open the Header and Footer Tools tab. Under that tab, tick the Different First Page box to remove the page ...