You’ve maybe introduced a side character as well, remembering, of course, to introduce him/her in all caps within your action line.

Now your protagonist is traipsing around the bar, talking. It looks centered on the page, but don’t let that fool you, it’s still left-justified. It is always left justified at 2.5 inches, and shouldn’t go longer than 3 inches. This is the dialogue, the section where the character’s words are written. Soft return to a new margin of 2.5 inches. Every character cue starts at 3.7 inches from the left of the page and is in all caps. That’s the part the actor will highlight when he’s trying to memorize his lines. To write dialogue, start with an element called a character cue. As much as the silent thing is really working for him, it’s probably a good idea to have him speak. Give them a little description as well, but don’t make the newbie mistake of trying to cast your main character. When introducing a major character (and by “major” it’s generally meant “one with a speaking part”), put his or her name in all caps, but only the first time. Into the bar strides PROTAGONIST, mid-30s, a man so built like a semi he probably farts diesel exhaust. For the sake of simplicity, let’s say you’re introducing your Protagonist. Okay, it’s about time to introduce your first character. You don’t want to intimidate Head Hancho over at Hollywood Movie Production Conglomerate with a big page of text, do you? Keep breaking them up, in logical areas where the camera would naturally cut, to keep the page nice and digestible. Each paragraph should be no longer than five lines. Set up the scene, but don’t blabber on too long. Remember to always write in present tense-the flashbacks will be in present tense, the flashforwards will be in present tense… even the weird, parallel universe created when your protagonist fell into a temporal rift will be in present tense. We’re on an action/description line now, so you can go ahead and turn off caps lock. Usually it’s as simple as DAY or NIGHT, but more specific times can be written if they are relevant to your story. The last piece of the slugline is the time. The second part where the scene takes place be sure to keep this location consistent if your characters ever go back. Rarely can you write both ( INT./EXT.), but it has been done.

The first is either interior ( INT) or exterior ( EXT), indicating if the scene takes place inside or outside. Screenplay line spacingĭouble space, staying left justified at 1.5 inches, and we’ll hit our first required element: the Master Scene Heading (don’t let off caps lock just yet.)Īlso known as the slugline or master slugline, this element consists of three parts. Left justified, in all caps, write the glorious opening phrase: This is an (arguably) optional first step. On to the font: Courier or Courier New, size 12.

The bottom margin should be at 1 inch as well, though it varies as there are rules if dialogue breaks between pages. Screenplay marginsįirst, let’s set up your margins: top margin at 1 inch, left margin at 1.5 inches, and right margin at 1 inch. Like all aspects of art and creativity, you have to learn the rules first before you start to manipulate them. Where to start? In screenwriting, there’s a very simple mantra: format, format, format. There are different rules, different shortcuts, and, of course, different routes to stardom. So, you want to start writing movies? Beware: Writing a movie is a completely different experience than writing a novel.

Script formatter