How to Format Text Messages in a Screenplay (Plus Emails & On-Screen Text)

To format text messages in a screenplay, use one of three accepted methods: write each message as dialogue under a character cue with the (TEXT) extension, put the message in an action line introduced by a label such as ON SCREEN or TEXT FROM BEN, or use INSERT - PHONE SCREEN for a close view of the device. Pick one and use it for the whole script.

Updated 2026-09-22 · About 7 sections · 5 answered questions

How to format text messages in a screenplay: three accepted methods

There is no single industry rule for texting on the page. Screenplay format was settled long before phones, so writers have improvised, and three approaches have hardened into conventions that readers recognise instantly. All three are correct. What is not correct is using two of them in the same script.

Method	Looks like	Best for
Character cue with (TEXT)	Dialogue block with an extension	Back-and-forth conversations; scripts with a lot of texting.
On-screen text in action	An action line with a label and the message	A single message, or text the audience reads while something else happens.
INSERT - PHONE SCREEN	A mini-scene showing the device	When the phone itself fills the frame and the words are the whole beat.

Whichever you choose, the reader should be able to tell at a glance what is spoken, what is typed, and what is read. That is the only test that matters.

Method 1: the (TEXT) character cue

Treat the message like a line of dialogue and mark the cue with (TEXT) the same way you would mark a voice-over with (V.O.). The reader parses it at the speed of conversation, which is exactly how a texting scene plays on screen.

INT. MARA'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Mara stares at the phone on the counter. It buzzes.

                      BEN (TEXT)
            you up

She lets it sit. It buzzes again.

                      BEN (TEXT)
            i know you saw it

Mara picks it up. Types. Deletes. Types.

                      MARA (TEXT)
            Where is she.

Note the register. Ben's texts are lower case with no punctuation; Mara's have a capital and a full stop. That is characterisation you get for free, and it only works because the messages are written exactly as they would appear on a screen. Write the text as the character would type it, not as you would write prose.

The (TEXT) extension goes on the cue line, in the same slot as (V.O.) or (O.S.), and Zen Writer, like Final Draft, treats it as a normal dialogue block, so the automatic (CONT'D) behaves as usual when Ben texts twice around an action line. Some writers prefer (TEXTING) or (SMS). Any of them is fine; consistency is the rule.

Method 2: on-screen text as an action line

When a message is a single beat rather than a conversation, a labelled action line is faster and keeps the eye on the scene. Introduce the message with a short caps label, then give the text in quotation marks.

Mara's phone lights up on the counter.

ON SCREEN: "Ben: they found the car"

She does not move.

Common labels include ON SCREEN:, ON THE PHONE:, TEXT FROM BEN: and MARA'S PHONE:. Choose one form and keep it. Some writers centre the message on its own line, or set it in italics, to separate it from surrounding action. Both are acceptable in a spec, but do not do both, and do not build elaborate speech-bubble layouts. A reader is looking for the words, not a picture of a phone.

This method also handles anything the audience reads that is not a text: a road sign, a newspaper headline, a note left on a fridge. A related label, SUPER: or TITLE:, is for text the film itself lays over the image, like SUPER: "THREE YEARS LATER". Keep the two distinct: ON SCREEN is inside the world of the story; SUPER is the film talking to the audience.

Method 3: INSERT - PHONE SCREEN

INSERT is an older convention for cutting to a close view of an object, a letter, a photograph, a screen. It is a mini scene heading, so it gets its own line, and it ends with BACK TO SCENE so the reader knows the frame has widened again.

Mara unlocks the phone.

INSERT - PHONE SCREEN

A thread with BEN. The last message, sent 2:14 AM:

            "don't come to the reservoir"

BACK TO SCENE

Mara grabs her keys.

Use this when the screen itself is the shot and the reader needs to see its contents laid out, a long thread, a photo with a caption, a notification stack. For a two-line exchange it is heavy. It is also the closest of the three to a camera instruction, so check the spec versus shooting script conventions before leaning on it; a few readers dislike INSERT in a spec, and a labelled action line often does the same job with less machinery.

Emails, chat windows and social media

The same three methods stretch to anything written on a screen. The choice depends on length.

A short email or DM works as an action line: ON MARA'S LAPTOP: an email from the harbour master. Subject line: "Re: your sister". Give the reader the subject and the one sentence that matters, not the whole message.
A long email is usually read aloud in the film, so write it as voice-over: BEN (V.O.) with the email text as dialogue, while action lines show Mara reading. That keeps a page of email inside standard dialogue width and readable at speed.
A group chat is a (TEXT) conversation with more names. Use the cue method and let the names do the work; do not try to reproduce avatars or timestamps.
Social media follows the same split: one post is an action line with a label (ON SCREEN: a post from @harbourwatch. "Anyone else see the lights?"); a scrolling feed is an INSERT or a short montage of labelled lines.

Whatever the platform, name it once in action and then stop. Mara opens the messaging app is enough. The reader does not need the brand, the interface or the sound of the notification described more than once, and naming a specific app can date the script before it is read.

Keeping text scenes readable

Text on screen is a reading experience inside a reading experience, and it goes flat fast. A few working rules keep it alive.

Put the reaction on the page. The message is only half the beat; the face reading it is the other half. Alternate short action lines with the texts, the way the phone call formats alternate speech with action. A run of six texts with no action between them is a wall.

Cut what the audience will not read. On screen a text is legible for about two seconds. If your message is three lines long, the film will either linger or cut it. Trim to what fits a glance.

Write typing, not just sending. Deleting a draft, the three dots appearing and vanishing, the pause before a reply: these are the equivalent of a parenthetical beat in spoken dialogue, and they are where the subtext lives.

Keep it inside the formatting system. Custom fonts, coloured bubbles and right-aligned messages break the one-page-one-minute calibration and will not survive export to FDX or PDF. If you draft in a notes app and paste it in, the free screenplay formatter turns the plain text into properly positioned cues and action; Zen Writer's free online screenplay editor does the same as you type, with no login.

Common text message formatting mistakes

Mixing methods. A (TEXT) cue on page ten and ON SCREEN on page forty for the same kind of beat. Choose once.
Drawing the interface. Speech bubbles built from punctuation, tables, or text boxes. It looks clever, exports badly and reads slowly.
Emoji. Courier has no emoji, PDF exports mangle them, and a reader cannot hear them. Describe the effect in action if it matters: A thumbs up. Nothing else.
Explaining the phone. Unlocking, swiping, opening the app. Cut to the words.
No reaction shots. Texts with no action between them are a transcript, not a scene.
Quoting a real app by name every time. Once, if ever. Brands date a draft and can complicate clearance later.

For a page that shows text cues alongside every other element in its correct position, see the screenplay formatting examples. The rest of the formatting hub covers the elements that sit around a text scene: headings, action, dialogue and transitions.

Frequently asked questions

How do you show a text message in a screenplay?

Either write it as dialogue under a character cue with the (TEXT) extension, or put it in an action line with a label such as ON SCREEN: followed by the message in quotation marks. Both are standard; use one method consistently throughout the script.

Do text messages count as dialogue in a screenplay?

When formatted with a (TEXT) character cue they occupy dialogue blocks and are counted as lines by most software, though they are not spoken. When written as labelled action lines they count as action. Either way they take screen time, so keep them short.

How do you format an email in a screenplay?

A short email goes in an action line with a label and the key sentence in quotes. A long email is usually heard in the film, so write it as the sender's dialogue with a (V.O.) extension while action lines show the recipient reading.

What does INSERT mean in a screenplay?

INSERT is a mini scene heading that cuts to a close view of an object, such as a phone screen, a letter or a photograph. It ends with BACK TO SCENE. Use it when the object fills the frame and its contents are the whole beat.

Should on-screen text be centered or italic in a screenplay?

Either is acceptable in a spec script as long as you do it the same way every time. Many writers simply use a caps label in a normal action line. Avoid elaborate layouts, custom fonts and emoji, which break standard formatting and export poorly.

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Screenplay Formatting

How to Format Text Messages in a Screenplay (Plus Emails & On-Screen Text)

How to format text messages in a screenplay: three accepted methods

Method 1: the (TEXT) character cue

Method 2: on-screen text as an action line

Method 3: INSERT - PHONE SCREEN

Emails, chat windows and social media

Keeping text scenes readable

Common text message formatting mistakes

Frequently asked questions

Ready to turn this idea into a screenplay?

Continue reading

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