How to Format Your First Screenplay (WIth FREE Template)
If you’re looking to make it as a script writer, there really is no substitute for Final Draft when it comes to easily applying screenwriting formatting. The problem is, if you’re not a student and don’t fit within the strict criteria for a discount, it can be hard to justify the cost. If you’re embarking on your first screenwriting adventure, here are the rules and regulations that will make your script look top notch at bottom prices!
At the end of this article there’s a FREE downloadable screenplay template, but I’d suggest having a read first because there’s no template in the world that can give you the knowledge you need before you can call yourself a scriptwriter.
Technical Formatting
Before you do ANY script writing, there’s a few technical components you’ll need to know. Screenplays aren’t like books, novels, or any other prosaic writing. They follow a very strict technical structure. The reason being that a script isn’t a piece of literary work, it’s a blueprint for an entire production. So, in the same way an architect’s blueprints will need to be usable by labourers of all trades, your script will need to be accessible to all filmmaking departments.
Font, Margins, and Other Formatting
12-point courier font
Line spacing to accommodate approximately 50-60 lines per page
Margins: Left 1.5inches, regular formatting on all other sides
For dialogue, the character’s name should be tabbed in three times from left margin, with dialogue written beneath and tabbed twice from the left margin
Page numbers should appear in the top right corner, starting from page 2
Scene transitions aligned to right and written in all caps.
Script Length
Page a minute on average
60 pages = HETV (High End TV) drama
90-120 pages = Feature Film
35-40 pages = Half hour drama or sitcom
5-30 pages = Short Film
Title Page
Title pages have a little bit of wriggle room, but standard practice is an approximation of:
Script Title centred and in 12-point courier font (though the free template uses 28-point)
“by” in 12-point courier font directly beneath
Writer(s) name in 12-point courier font
“Based on” if applicable
Contact details on left margin at the bottom of the page, but this seems to be a dying practice.
A Scene
Slugline: The where and when of the scene. These go at the top of each scene, and are in all capital letters.
Action: What is happening? What can the audience see and hear? To read, it appears in an approximation of prose.
Dialogue: Who is speaking? What are they saying?
Scene numbers are not necessary early on in your career. They are technical element added later by script editors and supervisors before production. They’re also, if you’re not using a scriptwriting software like Final Draft, a nightmare to include.
Dialogue
Name of Character speaking tabbed three times from left margin and written in all capital letters (or 3.5” from left of page)
Dialogue written beneath name of character, tabbed twice from left margin (or 2.5” from left of page)
Dual Dialogue
Different writers approach dual dialogue in different ways. Some will just write one line, punctuated to show where the next actor should start speaking, while others will write the dialogue side-by-side using the tools provided in their writing software. It’s a difficult trick to achieve without a word processor, but not impossible.
Make a 2x4 table in your word processor. The top row will be the character’s names. The second row will be their dialogue. Then make the border white / invisible and position it within your script.
Transitions
Rarely used in first drafts, but all transitions should be written at the bottom of a scene, aligned to the right margin, written in all caps and ended with a colon.
Content Formatting
There are a few other technical elements to writing a screenplay, but the above covers all the absolute fundamentals of what a reader is looking for in a professionally presented script. Once they start reading, there are even more rules to follow in terms of content presentation.
Sluglines
As mentioned above, sluglines are a reader’s way of knowing that a new scene has begun. They are always fully capitalised, and are constructed in a very certain way:
Is the scene set somewhere inside (INT) or outside (EXT)?
Location: Where EXACTLY is this scene taking place? If it’s in a house, which room?
Actual Time / Relative Time to Previous Scene: Is the scene taking place in the day? The night? At 8:03PM on a Friday? There’s wriggle room here, but when starting out it’s best to stick with day/night and vague allusions to time.
Examples:
INT. SPACESHIP, BRIDGE – DAY
EXT. SCHOOL PLAYGROUND – MORNING
INT/EXT. THE PIT – DAY 12
INT. COFFEE SHOP - CONTINUOUS
Action Lines
These are where you’ll write the description of what can be seen by the audience. This includes the particulars of setting, movements of characters, the weather, and any other specifics of audience vision. They also include auditory information. They don’t include internal thoughts, emotions, and metaphor.
Keep them to 4 lines or under, it’s prosaic but it isn’t prose.
Do and Don’t:
Character A walks out of the shell of their house, their face a mask of ash and debris. They look at the desolation of their neighbourhood, unblinking.
Character A can do nothing but stand like a perfect statue, hoping beyond hope that what they’re experiencing is a dream, silently cursing those that wronged them.
Character Introductions
Capitalise on first appearance AT LEAST. I personally capitalise the character’s name every time they’re mentioned, but that’s a personal habit rather than industry standard. Capitalising their first entrance is standard, as it tells producers and casting directors who is in each scene.
Example:
The room is empty, the lights are off. The only motion comes from a blinking red light on the wall, illuminating rows of desks for brief moments, shimmering through beakers and test tubes. The door opens and CHARACTER slumps into the room, whacking the light on, rubbing their eyes at the sudden, blinding white light.
Line Breaks & Directing Without Directing
I mentioned in my article ‘5 Reasons Why Reading Scripts Will Make You a Better Writer’ that the 11thcommandment is to never EVER write specific directorial notes into your script. Instead, you must allude to the visuals you have in mind by using clever tricks of language and formatting.
The easiest way to direct without directing is through breaking up your action lines. I personally use line breaks when I think there would be a cut between two shots. They break up the action, and focus the reader’s mind on something new, acting as a camera cut without stating it. Equally, they can hold a readers attention on one long shot that builds unimaginable tension.
For example:
She grips his hand. They’re both sweaty. The abyss opens below; it’s taking all her strength not to drop him into it.
She looks at him, desperate.
He looks at her, terrified.
She looks around for something to grab onto, but there’s nothing.
He slips. She grabs him with her other hand, the sudden motion pulling her closer to the edge. She cries out.
He looks down, then back at her. The fear is gone. He raises his free hand – and pulls himself free of her grasp.
And.
He.
Plumets.
There are other ways to play with formatting to imply the visual direction you’re aiming for.
I’m just not going to tell you what those are. At the start of this article, I stated that there’s no template that can make you a better writer. To get that, you’ll have to read scripts yourself. Luckily, I have a whole archive that you can access for free, right here.
Parentheses
Rewiring your brain to write visually can take time, and when I first started out, I thought I was being very clever by hiding abstract language in brackets. I quickly learned that it just made me look like the amateur I was.
Parentheses are actually a tool with two major roles in a screenplay.
The first role is as a special indicator for a character’s speech. Next to their name, parenthesise can highlight if a character is delivering a voice over (V/O), speaking off screen (O/S), or is continuing their speech from before the most recent direction or page (CONT’D).
Example:
CHARACTER (V/O)
Yup, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I got here.
The second role is to highlight a specific direction in relation to dialogue. It could be to highlight an emotion, tone, or action that exclusively relates to the dialogue being delivered.
Example:
CHARACTER
(Picking his nose)
Hygiene is one of the most attractive things I find in men.
Transitions
I would honestly discourage using transitions in your script, but they are a recognisable element and I’d be remiss not to include them here.
The reason I’m so vehemently against using them? It’s probably because a university lecturer told me not to use them. But it’s also because they fall under the 11th commandment of writing camera and direction notes into the script. Whether a scene “cuts to” or “smashes to” the next scene is a choice made at least in conversation with a director or other creative.
There are, as with all things, exceptions. Scenes with phone calls often intercut between the two conversing parties. Montages are also a tool used in the writing process to highlight the compression of time. And, yes, sometimes a writers style and story necessitates the need to write transitions into initial drafts.
So, reluctantly, I earlier bestowed upon you where to put a transition in your scene. And now, more reluctantly, I give you a brief list of common transitions:
CUT TO:
INTERCUT:
FADE IN:
FADE OUT.
DISSOLVE TO
MATCH CUT TO:
MONTAGE STARTS:
MONTAGE END:
FADE TO BLACK.
The punctuation is also important. As a rule, transitions to another scene end with a colon, while transitions that end a script / chapter / moment are capped with a full stop.
Playing With The Rules
It all seems very strict, and at the start of your journey a lot of these rules can feel stifling to your creativity. Honestly? At the start, it is. But this is a language that’s important to learn. Once you’ve learned it, your creativity will return with a passionate vengeance.
Once you do understand the language, you’ll also know how to put your personal stamp on every script, making every outing both a produceable document and a work of art in itself.
One way to play with the script is with tone of voice. A doll is a doll, but the vibe is completely different depending on whether it’s appearing in a horror movie or a children’s cartoon. Someone who goes to the gym could be muscly or they could be absolutely mega enormous! So long as the language you’re using evokes or explicitly states something you can point a camera at, go wild!
Another way to play is with formatting. That’s right, the sacred formatting! Don’t go putting your scene headers at the bottom of your scene, but if you want an explosion to really impact the reader, just write it in ENORMOUS LETTERS on its own line or page. Or if someone is talking in a mocking tone, use the Spongebob meme formatting. “bUt YoU cAn’T dO tHaT!” You read that with a certain tone of voice, so yes I can.
Sometimes, the best way to play is to avoid words altogether!
Sparingly, mind you. Don’t go submitting a graphic novel to the BBC’s Open Call. For the best example of this, I’d urge everyone (and their dog) to read the Heretic script. Writers can give themselves migraines trying to find ways to linguistically explain old board games in the same amount of time as it’ll be seen. Instead, Scott Beck and Brian Woods just stuck a picture of the box next to the relevant action line or dialogue. Job done, and nobody has been pulled from the script.
The point is, once you know the basics as intimately as your hair washing schedule, you can start to muck around. Find the ways that make each script shine, but don’t do it for the sake of it. Start with the basics and build.
Free Template
You stuck around to the end! Thank you! Or maybe you skipped to the end - also, thank you, I guess… I wrote some good stuff there. It was witty. Informative. Chat GPT seemed to like it.
Well, whatever the reason, you’re here now, and I promised you a free template. So, here it is!
To use the template forever and ever, simply open the template in Microsoft Word, click file – save as template – and give it the name you want.
You should see on the home bar that all the title styles have changed to suit each TECHNICAL element of a screenplay. What did I say about no template being a substitute for knowledge? If only there was an expertly worded guide on how to populate the template. There is, HERE! (yes, that’s just a link to this article).
Happy writing!
If you’re looking for comprehensive, concise, and constructive feedback on your script, check out my Fiverr profile to see how I can help, or contact me! It’s cheap as chips and may just get you that Oscar!
