Screenplay Formatting: The Complete Guide
Screenplay formatting is the one part of screenwriting that is neither art nor opinion. A reader decides within a page whether to keep going, and the fastest way to lose them is a script that does not look like a script. Everything in this guide is the convention working writers and script readers actually follow: Courier 12, the standard margins, and one way to write each element.
Start with the element you are stuck on. Every page shows the rule, puts it on the page in a formatted example, and names the mistakes that mark a draft as amateur. If you want the whole thing at once, read the screenplay formatting examples page first, then come back for the details. Or skip the rules entirely: Zen Writer applies all of them while you type.
What Is a Scene Heading? Format, Rules and Examples
A scene heading is the single line of capital letters that starts every scene in a screenplay. It states three things in a fixed order: INT. or EXT., the location, and the time of …
Guide 2 of 20What Is a Slugline? Master and Secondary Sluglines Explained
A slugline is the line of capital letters that opens a scene in a screenplay, for example INT. KITCHEN - DAY. It is the same element as a scene heading. A master slugline carries …
Guide 3 of 20INT. vs EXT. in a Screenplay: Meaning, I/E and the Grey Areas
INT. stands for interior and EXT. for exterior; they are the first word of every scene heading and tell the reader whether the scene happens inside an enclosed space or outdoors. INT./EXT. (or I/E.) …
Guide 4 of 20O.S. Meaning in a Screenplay: Off Screen, Off Camera and V.O.
O.S. means off screen. It is written in parentheses after the character cue, as in MARA (O.S.), and tells the reader that the character is physically present in the scene but not visible when …
Guide 5 of 20V.O. Meaning in a Screenplay: Voice Over Format and Examples
V.O. means voice over. Written as (V.O.) after the character cue, it marks dialogue the audience hears from a source outside the scene: a narrator, a phone caller, a character's thoughts, a recording or …
Guide 6 of 20How to Format Dialogue in a Screenplay: Cues, Blocks and Rules
To format dialogue in a screenplay, put the character's name in capitals on its own line about 3.7 inches from the left edge of the page, then the spoken words beneath it in a …
Guide 7 of 20How to Write Parentheticals in a Screenplay (Wrylies)
Parentheticals, also called wrylies, are short lower-case notes in parentheses on their own line between a character cue and the dialogue, such as (quietly) or (into phone). They tell the reader how a line …
Guide 8 of 20What Does CONT'D Mean in a Screenplay? (CONT'D) Explained
CONT'D in a screenplay means continued. Placed after a character cue as (CONT'D), it tells the reader the same character is still speaking after an action line or a page break interrupted their dialogue. …
Guide 9 of 20How to Format a Phone Call in a Screenplay (4 Methods)
To format a phone call in a screenplay, pick one of four methods: stay with one character and write only their side, write the caller's lines with a (V.O.) extension, slugline both locations and …
Guide 10 of 20How 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 …
Guide 11 of 20How to Format a Montage in a Screenplay
To format a montage in a screenplay, write MONTAGE (or SERIES OF SHOTS) on its own line as a header, list each beat as a short dash-led line beneath it, and close with END …
Guide 12 of 20How to Format a Flashback in a Screenplay
To format a flashback in a screenplay, add FLASHBACK to the scene heading, either as a suffix such as INT. KITCHEN - DAY (FLASHBACK) or as a FLASHBACK TO: transition before the slugline, and …
Guide 13 of 20Dream Sequence Screenplay Format: How to Write Dreams, Visions and Hallucinations
Dream sequence screenplay format works like a flashback with a different label: add (DREAM) or (DREAM SEQUENCE) to the scene heading, or open with DREAM SEQUENCE on its own line, and close with END …
Guide 14 of 20Screenplay Transitions: CUT TO, FADE IN, DISSOLVE TO, SMASH CUT and When to Use Them
Screenplay transitions are the right-aligned, capitalised instructions such as CUT TO:, DISSOLVE TO: and SMASH CUT TO: that tell the reader how one scene becomes the next. A spec script needs only FADE IN: …
Guide 15 of 20How to Format Foreign Language Dialogue in a Screenplay
To format foreign language in a screenplay, write the dialogue in English and mark the language with a parenthetical such as (in Spanish; subtitled), or add one note at the top of the scene …
Guide 16 of 20How to Format a Screenplay Title Page
A screenplay title page carries four things: the title in caps, centered about a third of the way down; the credit line Written by; your name beneath it; and your contact details in the …
Guide 17 of 20Screenplay Margins and Font: The Full Spec
Standard screenplay margins are 1.5 inches on the left and 1 inch on the right, top and bottom, on US Letter paper, with dialogue starting 2.5 inches from the left edge, parentheticals at 3.1 …
Guide 18 of 20How Many Pages Should a Screenplay Be?
A feature screenplay should be 90 to 120 pages, and most working writers aim at 100 to 110. Comedies run shorter, dramas and thrillers a little longer, half-hour TV scripts 25 to 35 pages, …
Guide 19 of 20Screenplay Formatting Examples: Every Element on One Page
These screenplay formatting examples put every standard element on a single sample page: FADE IN, scene heading, action, character cue, parenthetical, dialogue, V.O. and O.S. extensions, dual dialogue, a transition, INTERCUT, a montage, and …
Guide 20 of 20Spec Script vs Shooting Script: What Is the Difference?
A spec script is a screenplay written on speculation to be read and sold; a shooting script is the production version of a screenplay, with scene numbers, locked pages, coloured revision pages and sometimes …