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Scenes, characters, dialogue

Script

A script is a blueprint for what an audience can see and hear. It leaves room for actors, directors, and the reader to complete the world.

Try Script

The shape

  • Start with a scene heading: INT. or EXT., place, and time.
  • Use action for what the audience can observe.
  • Put character names on their own lines above dialogue.
  • Use parentheticals sparingly; the words and situation should carry most of the performance.

A good place to use it

Film, television, stage scenes, short dramatic moments, and dialogue-led writing.

Try this

  • Begin five seconds before someone says the thing they came to say.
  • Give two characters different ideas about what is happening.
  • End the scene when the balance between them changes.

A small example

INT. KITCHEN — NIGHT

The refrigerator is open. SAM stands in its light.

SAM
You came.

Keep in mind

  • Scene heading first: INT. or EXT., where, and when.
  • Character names in caps, on their own line, above what they say.
  • Action in present tense. Only what a camera could see.
  • Say less than you want to. Actors fill silence better than lines do.
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