How to Write in a Professional Screenplay Format

As a script reader I see all kinds of writing, from wonderful to unreadable. One thing I can see at a glance, though, is whether the writer was committed enough to buy professional screenwriting software, because the formatting is always exactly right, even if the spelling isn't.

Of course, you can set up a document in a regular word processor to those same exact settings, but almost no one knows how. They approximate it, and I can always tell. (For instance, nothing should ever be "centered" in a screenplay. Some elements may look centered, but they aren't.)

Until you can afford to buy some script writing software, here are some very basics to get you started.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Your font should always be Courier, or Courier New, or some very similar variation. Another font with a typewriter look won't necessarily do: the font has to be mono-spaced. That means that all letters take up the same amount space, even the i and the m. There are a lot of reasons for this -- such as the standardization of length -- but the big reason for you is that I read Courier all day long, and if I see a script with something else, it bothers me. Not a lot, but my first thought is "what else does this person not know about screenwriting?"

2. Set your margins to 1.5" on the left, and 1" on the top, bottom and right. This is important. Screenplays are three-hole punched and bound with brads, so they need more space on the left.

3. All elements (except transitions) are left justified. Some of them have indented margins, but they are ALWAYS lined up. You will come across many sites on the internet that tell you to center some elements, but even on those sites, the examples they show have those elements lined up on the left, and ragged on the right. This is VERY important. These elements are indented to precise spots on the page to separate them, and make them easier to spot on a busy set. If you don't have them lined up right, then my eyes have to search all over the page, and I have to stop and figure out what kind of element I'm reading.

4. SLUGLINES: these are the line that sets the location and lighting conditions. They are always set at the main margins (as mentioned in Step 2.) They are always in ALL CAPS, and they indicate first whether it's an interior location or an exterior (INT. or EXT.) Then they name the location, then they say whether it's DAY or NIGHT. Don't put in any other times of day. Remember these are more to indicate the time the scene will be shot, and not the time it is in the story. They tend to look like this:
   
   EXT. BOB'S GROCERY STORE - DAY

5. ACTION: This is where you describe the setting and everything that is going on, including all sound except for dialog. Action paragraphs also use the full margins set up for the document in Step 2. These are written in regular upper and lower case. While you may see sounds and other things in all caps in a shooting script, the only thing in an action paragraph that should be in all caps in a spec script (or reading script) is when a character first appears. But that is ONLY the first time, and not after.
   
   For example: "Two women wash the windows of a run down old store. MARGE, in her 50's, angry but steady, works like her life depends on it. SUZANNE, 20's, slight, is crying. Suzanne stops washing, and throws down her rag. Marge glares at her and keeps scrubbing."

6. CHARACTER NAMES (for dialog headings): These show who is speaking, and they are always in all caps, and they are always set in 2" from the main margin (or 3.5" from the edge of the paper.) They look like they are centered, but they are not. You may not notice if everyone has short names, but it becomes very noticable (and annoying) when a character has a long name. The right margin should remain at the 1" set for the document.

7. DIALOG: Dialog is never centered. Don't even think about it. It is in a narrower column down the middle, like a block quote. Set those margins 1" inside the document margins on both sides. (So it's 2.5" inches from the edge of the paper on the left, and 2" on the right.)

8. PARENTHETICALS: These are little directions as to how something is said. Avoid them when possible, since the actors don't like to be told how to do their work. But sometimes you have to throw in a small indication to make something clear. A parenthetical appears on a line by itself between the Character Name and the block of dialog. It is also indented between them -- 1.5" from the margin, or 3" from the edge of the paper.

9. TRANSITIONS: There are only two transitions you should use. At the beginning, you should have "FADE IN:" as your opening line. It appears at the left margin in a line by itself. At the end, you write "FADE OUT:", and it will be the only thing that is right justified. If you absolutely must use a "CUT TO:" in the middle of your script, that should line up with the right margin as well. Generally, don't use any transitions in the middle of a script. (We all do it sometimes, to help with timing, but it's one of those things that if you aren't sure, then just don't use it.)

10. MINI-SLUGS: Complicated action scenes sometimes require a little more help separating what is happening where within single location, so some writers use a "mini-slugline" to sort things out. These are usully just a word or two, often a character name, that break up what is happening in what part of the scene. They are in all caps an appear at the left margin, like regular sluglines. You should read a lot of scripts before attempting to use these.

11. As a last note: all paragraphs, both dialog and action, should be single-spaced, with a blank line separating them. (Just like you see most of the time on the web.) There should be a blank line separating sluglines and transitions from other elements, but Character Name Headings, Parentheticals and Dialog should be treated like a unit, and not separated by a blank line.

Tips & Warnings

• You can find free downloadable scripts at places like Drew's Script-o-rama on the internet.
• Shooting scripts are formatted differently than Spec scripts. If you download a script, and you see that the scenes are numbered, read it for content, but DON'T read it for formatting. It will throw you off.
• Directors who write their own screenplays also tend to use their own formatting, so don't always trust what you see in, say, a Coen Brothers script. It will be wonderful writing, but not spec-writer formatting.

Resources

• Drew's Script-O-Rama
• Book: How NOT to Write a Screenplay
• Book: Screenwriter's Bible

[toogie2]

on 5/16/2009 Nice to hear from you, Simon, but I don't think that cheating the system by importing an already written screenplay into a limited demo version is not exactly a "no-hassle" way to format screenplays. Writers need to continuously work on their scripts, and certainly turn out more than one.

[simonjmichael]

on 5/16/2009 You may also want to check out an article I wrote on ehow titled: How to Format a Screenplay the No-Hassle Way! Sincerely,simonjmichael dot com

[lastgunslinger]

on 2/6/2009 Great tips! Thanks for the post.