THOUGHTS
ON WRITING - STYLE, VOICE, FORMAT, BUSINESS
and
other knobby screenwriting questions
KEEP IT REAL SIMPLE, PLEASE
SCREENPLAY FORMAT STYLE SHEET
If you're not ready
to go out and buy a screenwiter program like Final Draft or Hollywood
Screenwriter, here is a simple screenplay
template in Microsoft Word.
I wrote somewhere over twenty odd scripts in this format before switching
to a specialized program. I use Hollywood Screenwriter now only because
of its functions for breakdowns and budgeting. The specialized programs
are also good for fudging page margins. But I found writing in Word
was really good for forcing me to edit if I didn't like the page breaks.
In Word the style commands are basically five:
Ctrl+Shift S - This is for SLUGLINE - INT. EXT. etc.
Ctrl+Shift A - This is for the action description and any basic standard upper-lower typing.
Ctrl+Shift D - This is for Dialogue
Ctrl+Shift P - This is for Parathetical (softly) (crying) (shouting) etc.
Ctrl+Shift T - This is for Transition CUT TO: FADE TO BLACK: etc.
Use these last two sparingly. They take up page lines and don't add to the film, but can be helpful if something might be confusing otherwise.
I've also included a title page with an invisible # of 0, so the script starts on page 1.
Aside from a few variations and options (which I'll describe in a separate page) this the all the formatting YOU WILL EVER NEED for a spec film screenplay!
You can go out and Buy Final Draft for $295 or $149 on special discount and for $50 you can buy a variation of this on a program disk. But here it is for free. What you put between FADE IN: (which you don't need at all) and END is all up to YOU. The almighty writer.
If you don't use Word and have Wordperfect or something, I'm sorry but you'll just have to tab.
