Learn how to do anything: How to Write a Screenplay

Have you ever walked out of a movie theater and said, “I think I could probably write something better than that”? In fact, a great movie idea can be difficult to come up with and a great screenplay can almost be even more difficult to write. Writing for the screen, especially the big screen, means you’re composing something meant for a visual medium. And though it can be difficult to do well, a great screenplay has the power to be transformative for your viewers.

EditSteps

EditPreparing to Write

Become familiar with the format of a screenplay. Unlike a short story or a novel, the form of a screenplay is based around dialogue, rather than prose or description. The big rule in screenwriting is: you are writing visually. Movies are a series of images, so the images in your screenplay should be striking and engaging.^[1]
- Another big rule is: Every paragraph of action lines should be three lines or less. This means that the descriptions about what each character is wearing or how they are acting in a scene should be no more than three lines. Use the least amount of words possible describing action or setting and let the dialogue do the "talking."^[2]
- Character backstory and motivations should come from a character’s actions and dialogue, as opposed to the descriptions. The best screenwriters keep their action description to two lines per paragraph throughout most of the script. But there should still be a lot of description through the power of the dialogue.
- Keep all writing in the present tense. This keeps things moving forward in your screenplay, which is really what your screenplay should be doing: moving action and character forward.
- Like everything, there are exceptions to this rule of three description lines or less per scene of text. For example, the screenplay for the 2011 film “All is Lost”, written by J.C. Candor and starring Robert Redford, only has about 4-5 full pages of dialogue in the entire script. The majority of the main character’s actions are shown through long sections of description of the character’s actions.^[3] These types of screenplays are rare though, and difficult to do well.
Get used to the format of a screenplay. Screenplays are formatted differently than other types of writing. The format of a screenplay is very specific and can involve a lot of tabbing and hitting Enter if you are working in a word processing document. You can use software that does the formatting for you, such as Final Draft, Scrivener, and Movie Magic.^[4] You can also access basic versions of screenplay formatting programs for free online.^[5] Take note of elements of a screenplay format, including:^[6]
- The slugline: This appears in ALL CAPS at the beginning of a scene and briefly describes the location and time of day. For example: INT. DINER - NIGHT. Sometimes sluglines are abbreviated to something as simple as “LATER” or “BEDROOM”.
- INT/EXT: INT stands for an interior of a setting, such as an INT HOUSE, and EXT stands for the exterior or outside of a setting, such as EXT HOUSE.
- Transitions: These help you move from scene to scene in the screenplay. Examples of transitions include FADE IN and FADE OUT, which are a gradually opening and a gradually closing to a new scene, and CUT TO, which is a quick jump to a new scene. You can also use DISSOLVE TO, as one scene fades out, a new scene fades into place.
- CLOSE UP or TIGHT ON: This indicates a close up to a person or object on screen. For example: “CLOSE UP on Mia’s face.”
- FREEZE FRAME: This is when the picture will stop moving and become a still photograph on screen.
- b.g.: Stands for “background” to note when something is occurring in the background of the main action. You can use “b.g.” or “background” to note this in the script. For example: “Two characters are fighting in the b.g.”
- O.S. or O.C.: Stands for off-screen or off-camera. This means the character’s voice will be speaking off camera or from another part of the setting. For example: “Harry yells at Sally O.S.”
- V.O.: stands for voice over, which is when an actor reads script over a scene, narrating the scene. This appears under the character’s name, before their voice over dialogue.
- Montage: A series of images showing a theme, a contradiction, or the passage of time. Usually used to show the passage of time in a short period of time on screen.
- Tracking shot: A tracking shot means a camera follows a person or an object. As long as the camera isn’t locked down in place on a tripod and is following a subject, it is a tracking shot.
Look at examples of screenplays. There are several screenplays that are considered nearly perfect, such as the screenplay for the 1942 classic “Casablanca”^[7]. Other screenplay examples illustrate the different ways you can play around with the form. For example:
- “His Girl Friday”, a screenplay written by Charles Lederer.^[8]
- “Pulp Fiction”, a screenplay written by Quentin Tarantino.^[9]
- “When Harry Met Sally”, a screenplay written by Nora Ephron.^[10]
- “Thelma & Louise”, a screenplay written by Callie Khouri.^[11]
Look at the title cards in the example screenplays. The title cards display the setting of the scene, sometimes with specific or general timestamps.
- In “Thelma & Louise”, the first scene has the slugline: INT. RESTAURANT- MORNING (PRESENT DAY).^[12]
- In “When Harry Met Sally”, the first scene has a slugline that does not refer to a specific place or setting: “DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE”. This indicates the film is going to begin with documentary footage rather than a specific setting.^[13]
Note the descriptions of setting and character. These elements should be done in the least amount of words, but with lots of detail.
- In “Thelma & Louise”, we are given an introductory paragraph about Louise:^[14]
  
  LOUISE is a waitress in a coffee shop. She is in her early-thirties, but too old to be doing this. She is very pretty and meticulously groomed, even at the end of her shift. She is slamming dirty coffee cups from the counter into a bus tray underneath the counter. It is making a lot of RACKET, which she is oblivious to. There is COUNTRY MUZAK in the b.g., which she hums along with.
- The screenwriter provides a clear sense of who Louise is through her profession (“waitress in coffee shop”), her clothing and appearance (“early-thirties, but too old to be doing this,” “pretty, meticulously groomed”) and her actions (“slamming dirty coffee cups,” “oblivious” to the racket). The inclusion of sounds (which also appear in all caps in scripts) like country muzak, also paints a clear setting with very few words.
- In “Pulp Fiction”, we are given an introductory paragraph about the setting:^[15]
  
  A normal Denny's, Spires-like coffee shop in Los Angeles. It's about 9:00 in the morning. While the place isn't jammed, there's a healthy number of people drinking coffee, munching on bacon and eating eggs.
  Two of these people are a YOUNG MAN and a YOUNG WOMAN. The Young Man has a slight working-class English accent and, like his fellow countryman, smokes cigarettes like they're going out of style.
  It is impossible to tell where the Young Woman is from or how old she is; everything she does contradicts something she did. The boy and girl sit in a booth. Their dialogue is to be said in a rapid pace "HIS GIRL FRIDAY" fashion.
- Tarantino gives us basic details about how many people are in the setting (“healthy number of people”, young man and young woman), and he provides specific but short descriptions of both characters. He also references “His Girl Friday”, a 1940s film famous for its rapid fire dialogue. All of these details create a basic sense of description and character which is then fleshed out through the dialogue.
Pay attention to dialogue in the example screenplays. Most screenplays are dialogue-heavy for a reason. Dialogue is the main tool a screenwriter has for telling the story in a film. Note how a certain character uses language in their dialogue.
- For example, Tarantino has Jules in “Pulp Fiction” use slang like “Whaddya mean?” instead of “What do you mean?” and inserts swear words in Jules’ dialogue. This helps to create Jules’ overall character and personality.^[16]
- In “Thelma & Louise”, Louise’s character uses “Jesus Christ” and “for God’s sake” throughout her dialogue. This contrasts Thelma’s dialogue, which is more prim and proper. By doing this, the screenwriter Khouri makes both characters distinct from each other and shows the audience how each character thinks and acts through her dialogue.^[17]
Note the use of description or visual cues in the dialogue. Visual cues are small notes of description that appear before dialogue is spoken. These notes will appear in parentheses before the character’s dialogue.
- For example, in “When Harry Met Sally”, Ephron notes “(makes a buzzer sound)” before a line of dialogue from Harry. This is a small note but it makes it clear that Harry has a certain sense of humor and way of speaking as a character.^[18]
- This can also be done with only one word of description between dialogue. In “Pulp Fiction”, Tarantino notes that a waitress is “(snotty)” as she says something to one of the characters. This gives the waitress’ lines a certain attitude and provides context for her dialogue.^[19]
- Only provide visual cues when necessary. Don’t depend on visual cues to tell the story for you. The dialogue and actions of the characters should be able to tell the story effectively, without visual cues.
Pay attention to how the screenplays transition from scene to scene. Most screenplays will move from scene to scene with a note “CUT TO:” which indicates there will be a cut from one scene to the next scene. Cutting to a scene should only be done when you are moving to a new scene or image, such as in “Pulp Fiction”, where Tarantino has two characters talking in a car and then the same two characters opening the trunk of a car.^[20]
- You may also see the note: “FADE IN” or “FADE OUT”. Fade ins are usually done at the beginning of a film, such as in “When Harry Met Sally” and ending of a film, which is known as a “fade out”. Fade ins provide a gentle opening to a scene that gives the viewer time to get settled into the scene.
Look at any notes on different types of shots, like a close up or a tracking shot. Notice how the screenwriter uses a specific shot note to create a certain image or moment of character. Most screenwriters only use shot notes when they feel it is absolutely necessary and the shot will best serve the story.
- For example, in “Pulp Fiction” Tarantino opens a scene with a tracking note:^[21]
  
  EXT. APARTMENT BUILDING COURTYARD – MORNING
  Vincent and Jules, their long matching overcoats practically dragging on the ground, walk through the courtyard of what looks like a hacienda-style Hollywood apartment building.
  We TRACK alongside.
- This indicates the camera will be moving along with the hit men as they walk, creating a sense of movement on screen.

EditWriting the Screenplay

Brainstorm story ideas. One of the best ways to do this is to think about films or movie characters that you love and enjoyed watching on screen. Do you love a particular genre, such as romantic comedies, action films, horror? Consider writing a movie script in a genre you enjoy. It’s likely you know the most about a genre you are interested in and your passion will come through in your writing.^[22]
- You can also think about a childhood memory that has always haunted you as an adult or an adult experience you can’t stop thinking about.
- You may be interested in a specific time period, such as 50s downtown New York, or 70s California, and begin to generate story ideas that have characters interacting in a specific time period or setting.
- Write about feelings and types of people you know and are passionate about. This will help you convey your story to others.^[23]
Identify a hero or heroine. Create a character's storyline that you feel you can write about for a total of about 300 pages and who will hold your and your audience's attention. Think about people you know, people you read about in newspapers, or people who catch your eye on the street or in the supermarket. Your hero or heroine may be tied to a theme, such as war, loneliness, or love. Or your hero or heroine may be a reaction against the stereotypes of a genre or theme, such as a lonely, lovesick witch or a caring, gentle gangster.^[24]
- Create a character profile for your main character. Character profiles are questionnaire style writing prompts that help writers get to know their characters better.^[25]
- The details you write in a character profile won’t all appear in your film script. But knowing as much as possible about your character will help you think of them as a real person. You can ask yourself: “What would my main character do in this scene? What would my main character say or respond to this?” And feel confident you have the answers that will move your script forward.
Create a log line. A log line is a one-sentence summary of your story. They are usually used as a marketing tool, such as when a studio executive asks you to give her your best pitch. Your best pitch should be your log line. A log line can also help you focus your writing on the most important aspects of your story and keep your story on track. A log line generally contains three elements:^[26]
- A protagonist: This is your hero or heroine, the person your audience will root and cheer for, or at least feel for. You can have more than one hero or heroine, but each protagonist must be distinct and each have their own redeeming qualities. For example, in “Thelma & Louise”, the protagonists are Thelma and Louise, but both characters are given different goals, motivations, and perspectives in the script.
- An antagonist: This is your anti-hero or heroine, the person acting against your protagonist. In “Thelma & Louise”, the antagonist is a man who tries to rape Thelma at a bar. However, the antagonist in the script becomes “the law”, as Thelma and Louise are on the run from shooting the man who tried to rape Thelma.
- A goal: This is what will motivate and propel your protagonist forward in the story. What does your protagonist want? Thelma and Louise both want different things at the beginning of the script, but once the antagonist appears, both characters now want to stay out of jail. Both characters have a unified goal that propels them forward in the script.
- A complete log line for “Thelma & Louise” might look like: “An Arkansas waitress and a housewife shoot a rapist and take off in a '66 Thunderbird.” Note that the log line does not use names of characters, but instead focuses on their personas or character type.
Write a treatment. In the screenwriting business, the treatment will give your studio executive an idea of whether the idea is worth their money. For a first draft of a script, a treatment can also be a helpful tool to frame your story and figure out a first sketch. Treatments are two to five page summaries that break the story into three acts:^[27]
- Title of the Film: The title of your film may change over time, but it’s a good idea to come up with a working title that summarizes your screenplay. The best titles are usually the most simple and to the point, such as: “When Harry Met Sally” or “Pulp Fiction”. The title should tell your reader or viewer about the script as a whole, but also leave them interested enough to keep reading or watching. Avoid long or cumbersome titles, such as those that have to use colons. While these may be common amongst big films (especially sequels), they can convey that your ideas aren't focused.
- Log line: Take the log line you crafted in the previous step and place it at the beginning of your treatment.
- Synopsis: Expand on your log line to include the names of characters, short details about their characters, and a basic idea of how they get from A to B in the story. For example, a synopsis for “Thelma & Louise” might be: “Meek housewife Thelma joins her friend Louise, a strong headed waitress, on a weekend fishing trip. But their trip becomes a run from the law when Louise shoots and kills a man who tries to rape Thelma at a bar. Louise decides to flee to Mexico, and Thelma joins her. On the way, Thelma falls for a sexy young thief named J.D. and a sympathetic detective tries to convince the two women to surrender before their fates are sealed.”
- Treatments may also include snippets of dialogue and description. But the main focus of a treatment is to summarize the overall story.
Create a script outline. This is where you focus on the structure of the script. The script outline is a guideline for you to tell the story effectively. A feature length screenplay is made up of 50-70 scenes. Each scene should have a setting and something that happens to or happens as a result of the characters' actions. These 50-70 scenes should be essential to the story. Most full-length screenplays are 100-120 pages long, and are broken into three acts:^[28]
- Act 1 is about 30 pages long and introduces the setting, the characters and the inciting incident. The inciting incident, or the event that gets your protagonist moving, normally takes place about 10 to 15 pages into the script.
- Act 2 is about 60 pages and is the main bulk or meat of the story. This is where your protagonist identifies her goal or purpose and encounters obstacles that work against her goal or purpose. Her problem or issue gets worse, or her goal becomes more difficult to achieve. There should be urgency and tension in Act 2 that continue to builds up.
- Act 3 is often shorter than Act 1, and should be about 20-30 pages long. This is where you have the story’s climax, the last-ditch attempt by the protagonist to achieve her goal. This climax will also determine the end of the script. The dust settles and your heroine could ride off into the sunset, or get knocked down by her horse.
- Keep in mind you don’t have to nail down exactly how many scenes your screenplay is going to have until after you have completed a first draft or flash draft of the script. But keep these numbers in the back of your mind as you write. You will likely have to trim and edit down your draft to create a more structured script based on three acts.
Compose a flash draft. A flash draft is your first attempt at the script, where you write quickly, don’t think too much about what you are writing, and avoid editing. Some screenwriters try to write flash drafts in one week, or several days. If you begin with a strong logline, a strong treatment, and a strong story outline, you should be able to pull off a strong flash draft.^[29]
- Focus on getting your ideas out when composing your flash draft. Stopping to agonize over word choice or proofread can hamper the composing process. Just brainstorm and write freely.
Write visually. Remember that you are writing for a visual medium. Focus on the things that can be seen or heard on screen and don't require things to be explained to the viewer.^[30]
- For example, in “Pulp Fiction”, Tarantino describes drug use in a series of quick close ups that show what is being seen and heard on screen.^[31]
  
  CLOSEUP – THE NEEDLE
  Going into Vincent's vein.
  CLOSEUP – BLOOD
  Spurting back into the syringe, mixing with the heroin.
  CLOSEUP – VINCENT'S THUMB
  Pushing down on the plunger.
- Tarantino doesn’t use a lot of vivid adjectives or descriptors, but the spacing on the page and descriptions that are used paint a vivid picture. When you use descriptions, make them specific and arresting, such as “spurting” rather than “moving” and a “vein” instead of an “arm”.
- Don’t be afraid of white space on the page. Tarantino uses white space to show that each scene will hit the viewer quickly and with maximum impact. The audience will get to experience the sensation of drug use without having to go into long shots or take up too much screen time.
Keep your dialogue to three lines or less. About 95% of your dialogue should be short and to the point. The use of monologues in screenwriting is also important, and can be done well (such as Jules’ last monologue in “Pulp Fiction” or Harry’s monologue at the end of “When Harry Met Sally”). But the majority of your dialogue should be quick back and forth exchanges. Avoid prose-y speeches. Back and forth banter will keep things moving in your script.
- For example, in the diner scene in “When Harry Met Sally”, Ephron uses dialogue to keep the scene moving and to reveal character:^[32]
  
  HARRY
  So, how come you broke up with Sheldon?
  SALLY
  How do you know we broke up?
  HARRY
  Because if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be with me, you’d be with Sheldon the Wonder Schlong.
  SALLY
  First of all, I’m not with you. Second of all, its none of your business why we broke up.
  HARRY
  You’re right, you’re right. I don’t want to know.
  SALLY
  If you must know, it was because he was very jealous and I had these Days of the Week underpants.
  HARRY
  (makes a buzzer sound)
  Judge’s ruling on this. Days of the Week underpants?
  SALLY
  Yes. They had the days of the week on them, I thought they were sort of funny--and one day he said to me, you never wear Sunday. He got all suspicious. Where was Sunday? Where had I left Sunday? And I told him, but he didn’t believe me.
  HARRY
  What?
  SALLY
  They don’t make Sunday.
Make your characters’ dialogue distinct. Your characters are all living, breathing individuals, so make their dialogue correspond to their upbringing, their background, and their perspective on life. A young man who grew up in the Bronx, for example, likely will not have the speech patterns and slang as an older woman who grew up in 1960s England. Dialogue should feel like things that real people would say in their location of the world during their living time period.^[33]
- Its especially important to make your characters’ dialogue different if you have more than one character speaking in a scene (which most good screenplays will have). In “Thelma & Louise”, Khouri gives each character distinct speech patterns and slang to illustrate their different views and thoughts when they are both in the same scene.
- Leave the obvious dialogue out. Dialogue should always be about doing more than one thing at a time. Dialogue that only tells the reader some backstory about a character or only functions to answer a character’s question is not doing enough on the page. The diner dialogue in “When Harry Met Sally” is not simply a way for the characters to make conversation. Instead, the story Sally tells Harry illustrates her perspective on relationships and on her own ideas about intimacy and honesty.
- If you are going to use monologues in your script, only use one or two in the entire script and make them count. They should be brilliant and necessary for the development of your story and/or the development of your characters.
- It can be tempting to make your characters sound "fancy" by using archaic language, especially when you're writing a period film or historical piece. So, remember that your characters still need to sound like real people to modern viewers. Don't get so wrapped up in stuffy language that your characters aren't engaging.
Enter a scene late and end a scene early. Avoid the temptation to ramble on in descriptions of your characters or of a setting or scene. Screenwriting is less about the beautiful details and more about ending a scene early to give the viewer a reason to keep watching. A good trick is to cut out the first sentence and the last sentence of a scene. If the scene still stands without both sentences, leave them out.^[34]
- For example, in “Pulp Fiction”, Tarantino ends many scenes right at a pivotal moment, such as two hit men killing a target or a fighter knocking someone out. He then cuts from the pivotal moment directly to a new scene. This keeps the action of the story moving and the viewer engaged.
Give your characters big stakes and big goals. One of the big draws of film writing is that you can show big events and images in a large format, also known as “set pieces”. Set pieces are usually high impact sequences that are captivating and in the case of most action films, grandiose. But even in a film about two people talking to each other in different settings (“When Harry Met Sally”) or about two women on the run (“Thelma & Louise”), there should always be big stakes and big goals for the characters.^[35]
- Harry and Sally are both looking for love and companionship, and after a decade of friendship, realize they have found it in each other. So the stakes are high because their friendship may end if their romantic relationship doesn’t work out and the goals are high because they are both after a universal goal: love.
- Thelma and Louise also both have high stakes and goals. A series of events in the film push both characters into a situation where they could both end up in jail, which is high stakes. So their big goal is to elude the law and somehow, get out of their situation with their freedom intact.
Make sure your screenplay has a beginning, middle, and end. It all comes back to the three-act structure. Your screenplay, no matter how unique or interesting the subject matter is, should be able to fit into three acts. There should be an Act 1 with an inciting incident, an Act 2 with the protagonist’s goal and rising action or obstacles that get in the way of their goal, and an Act 3 with a climax and an ending.

EditRevising the Screenplay

Check your formatting. Your screenplay has now gone through at least one draft, or several drafts. But before you can read it to others or send it out to interested studio executives, you need to check that the script is formatted properly.^[36]
- Check that your script begins with a “Fade in”, a title card, and a description of setting.
- Confirm your script contains with lines of description of each character, especially if this is the first time that character appears in the script.
- Note that all character names appear in caps and all sounds appear in caps.
- Confirm all visual cues are in parenthesis.
- Check for transitions, such as “Cut to”, “Fade to”, or “Dissolve to” between scenes.
- Confirm there are notes at the bottom of the page that say (MORE) or (CONTINUED) if the page breaks in the middle of dialogue or a scene.
- Check for page numbers, top right, on each page.
Read the screenplay out loud. In the movie business, once you’ve sold the script, this read-through may occur in a round table with the actors and actresses who have signed on to play your characters.^[37]
- Even if you haven’t sold your script to your dream studio yet, it’s still important to have a read-through of the screenplay. Ask a few friends to play different characters in a scene. Note how the dialogue is working to propel the story forward and how the scene transitions are working. Listen to how your characters speak and ask yourself if the screenplay would work well on the big screen.