Media School

Dhaka    Thursday, 28 March 2024

By Sajeeb Sarker

Basic Tips for Formatting a Script

Media School January 23, 2021

A screenplay format must conform to the professional standard. Image: wikihow.com

Screenwriting, while considered to be an art, formatting a script is perceived as a science also. To develop a flawless script, many details are there that need to be taken care of. Among them, the following tips can be very handy for developing a feature screenplay:

1. Focus on telling the story. Screenwriting is all about storytelling. So, be accurate and proper while telling the story. Make sure that the story you are telling has a beginning, a middle and an ending. And make sure to utilize all other elements of a story (e.g. emotion, character, setting etc.) along with audio, visual, behavior and dialogue accurately.

2. Be simple yet creative. Use simplicity in everything possible (e.g. simple dialogues) unless really necessary. Storyline, setting, theme and other elements you are using must be simple so that they can be understood by the mass without any hardship. But being simple does not mean being 'cheap'. You must be creative in telling the story using simple elements while being unique and worthwhile.

3. Just mention the useful facts. Put the facts there in the script if you are sure that these facts are really necessary and undoubtedly unavoidable. Unnecessary random facts will ultimately make the script chaotic.

4. While writing, always write in present tense (i.e. "She walks to him", "He walks through the crowd" etc.).

5. When you introduce a character for the first time, use ALL-CAPS to write the name.

6. Mention only the facts that can be physically seen or heard; that cannot be created on the screen, must not be introduced in the script.

Formatting the script accurately is much more important if intended for professional or commercial purposes. In that case, you can use screenwriting software to format the script in a fully professional manner.