How to Write A Script

What is a Script?

A script can be defined as,
“A screenplay or film or movie script is a written work that provides basis for the shooting of a film, drama or television program. A screenplay typically includes dialogue, shooting sequences, descriptions of characters and sets. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing; novels, plays or notes.”

What Makes Someone a Good Script Writer?

It is true that screen writing is only for the blessed and not everyone should try breaking in but by building a little familiarity with the etiquettes of crafting the script and learning the art of imagining, you can surely become a marvelous script writer.
If someone wants to be a musician, he will listen to various types of music and notice every specific detail that created it. Similarly, if you want to become a script writer, you need to watch a lot of movies and focus on emotions and behaviors which are conveying you the idea behind the story.
You also need to read a lot of scripts so that you can learn about formatting and content. Compare scripts with actions so as to build a clear understanding on how details on paper are translated into action.

Elements of a Basic Movie Script

Shot Heading or Slug Line

A slug line is a scene heading which tells the location of a scene; inside or outside, day time; day, noon or night. The margin of a slug line is 1.7" of the left and 1.1" on the right. Shot heading are always written in caps and two blank lines come after every heading.
After every change in time, location or transition, a new scene is written.

Example of a Slug Line

INT.  ANNIE’S DORM ROOM – DAY

INT. = Interior

EXT. = Exterior

Action

Action describes happenings of a scene. It can or cannot have the characters involved. The action is always written in present tense and simple single-line sentences. In case something happened in the past then that is illustrated by the Shot heading.

Example of Action

INT.  ANNIE’S DORM ROOM – NIGHT

Annie paces her room frantically. All of her belongings; books, clothes, shoes and notes lie in heaps. Action is required to be put in after every scene, even if it is one single sentence.

EXT. RESTAURANT – DAY

The group burst into the lobby.

Character Name

Character name comes before Dialogue and tells us which character is speaking. Character names always come in all caps. The speaker has a left margin of 4.1".
Minor or side characters which you do not want to name can be written as SECRETARY, LIFE BOY etc. For several characters of the same type you can use MAN #1, MAN #2.

Example of Character Name

ANNIE

Dialogue

Dialogue is the speech of a character and comes under every character name. It is single paced and follows standard rules of capitalization.
Dialog has a left margin of 2.7" and a right margin of 2.4".

Example of Dialogue

ANNIE

I can’t go on like this.

Shot

as hot tells the director where the camera is pointed and focusing whom. Shots are used for detailed cinematical elaboration and can be avoided so the flow of the story does not break.

Technical Specifications for a Script

Fonts and Margins

Screenplays are written on a standard 8.5 x 11 inches letter-sized paper. The preferred font is Courier, 12 point, 10 pitch with no bold and italics.

Page Margins in a Screenplay

Left: 1.5 inches
Right: 1 inch
Top: 1 inch
Bottom: 1 inch

Element Margins for a Film Script

Slugline: Left margin, 1.5 inches
Action: Left margin, 1.5 inches
Character name: Left margin, 3.7 inches
Dialog: Left margin 2.5 inches, right margin 2.5 inches (or 6 inches from left edge of page).
Parentheticals: Left margin 3.1 inches, right margin 2.9 inches.

Guidelines for Developing Better Film, Play and Movie Scripts

Listed below are steps that you will find useful in the process of writing  scripts.

Translate Daily Observations into Scenes

You can’t just stick to one or two ideas or wait for inspiration to strike you. You need to look for ideas which is possible by utilizing your observation skills. Go to a park, a shopping mall, a restaurant, a party—sit down and observe how different people are talking and reacting to situations and events around. In this process keep a diary with you for noting down whatever you observe so that you don’t forget later.

Tag People Around You as Characters ; Use Them in Your Scenes

You need to be very inventive when creating characters for your script. The personality and responsibility of every character should be different from the other. Make sure that all characters are powerful, unique and close to real. Remember, if your characters are flat they will drag your whole script down. It is advisable that you invest a good chunk of time in character development process.

Collect and Organize Your Random Thoughts

While formulating a script, there may be a number of random scenes which will be germinating in your creative head—it is better that you write all what you imagine on note cards so that you don’t forget what you came up with. The scenes on these note cards can then be reviewed again and again and arranged according to flow of the story.

Give  Detail to Things Around You on Paper

You cannot be a script writer unless you put your fingers to work on the keyboard or the conventional pen and paper. Write down your script in a systematic manner. Make sure you include all the details and twists of your story. Craft the climax in a dramatic way as it is the most critical scene of any movie—an overdoing will lead to subjugation of meaning.

Pay Attention to Editing and Formatting

If you really want to sell your script, format it correctly. You can take assistance of any professional script consultant or writing software such as Celtx and Move Magic Screenplay.
Once you are done writing the film script, invest some time in editing. The act of editing should be repeated several times. Delete all useless details and add lengthy descriptions where necessary. Look at your script from the perspectives of producers, directors, viewers, readers and actors—this will help you fine tune your masterpiece.

Schedule Yourself

Make sure you set up a schedule for writing script and follow it strictly. Spend a lot of time in observing and imagining. Be prepared for getting trapped into the writer’s block because this is natural to all writers.

Share, Discuss and Get Feedback

Take regular feedback from your family and friends or you can even join writing groups on the Internet—this will really help you rectify errors in your concept. Do not get upset if you are unable to produce a good film script—it takes years to become a competitive screen writer. The key to success lies in hard work and practice.



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