Use Screenwriting Styles From the Start

Writing my first screenplay is an interesting experience. I’m learning a lot about how to do it.

My first few initial scenes were written using standard Microsoft Word styles, like Normal and Heading 3. Comments (dialog) were written using quotation marks and “he said” or “she said.”

While that worked briefly, I strongly suggest other novice screenwriters skip those styles and use common screenwriting ones from the very beginning. The reason is simple: when you force yourself to write using proper screenplay styles, it forces you to think in terms of Action and Dialog.

Word users can download a free template with styles here. An additional suggestion for Word 2007 and later users is to click on the little arrow in the lower right corner of the Styles Box. This keeps the template styles visible all the time, making it easier to switch between Character and Dialog or Action styles.

I made the switch from “regular” styles to the screenplay version to check my length. Screenplays use much wider margins than do standard documents. Which makes them spread across more pages. Since one page of script equals one minute of screen time, and you want to keep your document to 100-110 minutes, it’s more efficient to know just how far you’ve come and how far you have to go.

HEROINE speaks then pulls the trigger.

Instead of a “BANG!,” though, we hear a loud “CLICK.” The gun’s hammer has come down on an empty cylinder, not the last bullet.

^HEROINE

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can--and I will personally give you an iron-clad guarantee--will be used against you in a court of law.

Do you see what I mean?

I also think writing with screenplay styles helps you think more visually. Your Action descriptions, for example, will be more visual than, “she pulls the trigger but her gun doesn’t fire.”

An initial quick edit using screenplay styles became a major rewrite and I think, wholesale improvements in the screenplay. The more I wrote, the more I became the character who was either talking or acting. My scenes have become more logical using what each character has done before to help determine how they act now and in future scenes.

So if you are thinking about writing a screenplay, use screenplay styles from the start. Your work will be faster—fewer rewrites—and better.