Screenplay format: rules, template and annotated example

This guide is part of our screenwriting software guide. Screenwriting software is a program that formats a script into standard screenplay layout as you type: scene headings, action, character cues, dialogue and transitions, each at the right indent, with page breaks handled for you. If you do not use one, the tables and steps below let you get the same result in Word or Google Docs.

Why the format is fixed

Screenplay format exists for timing and production. Courier is a monospaced font: every character takes the same width, so a page holds a predictable amount of material. With the standard margins that is about 55 lines per page, and the industry rule of thumb is one page per minute. A producer can look at a 104-page script and estimate a film of about 104 minutes; an assistant director can break scenes into eighths of a page for scheduling.

A reader also notices wrong format in the first page. Odd fonts, centered action or a missing scene heading signal a writer who has not read many scripts.

Margins and spacing table

All measurements are from the left edge of the page unless noted. These are the values Final Draft and StudioBinder publish, and what most formatters use.

Font: 12-point Courier, Courier New or Courier Prime. Line spacing: single. Paragraph spacing: one blank line between elements, except between a character name, its parenthetical and its dialogue, which sit together with no blank lines.

Sources differ slightly on the right edge of dialogue, so do not worry about a tenth of an inch. Consistency matters more than the decimal.

The six screenplay elements, with examples

Every screenplay is built from six main elements. Examples below are from a fictional script written for this guide.

1. Scene heading (slug line)

Tells the reader where and when the scene happens: interior or exterior, the location, and the time of day.

INT. HARBOR MASTER'S OFFICE - NIGHT

• INT. for interior, EXT. for exterior, INT./EXT. for a car or doorway.
• Time of day is usually DAY or NIGHT. CONTINUOUS means the action flows straight from the last scene. LATER and MOMENTS LATER mark a jump within the same location.
• Wrong: Inside the office, at night. Right: INT. OFFICE - NIGHT

2. Action (description)

What we see and hear, in present tense. Keep paragraphs to about four lines. Introduce each character in capitals the first time they appear, with an age and one telling detail.

MAYA OKAFOR (34), rain-soaked, drops a dripping logbook on
the desk. The radio behind her hisses.

3. Character (cue)

The name of the speaker, in capitals, above the dialogue. Use the same name every time: if she is MAYA in scene one, she is not OKAFOR in scene ten.

4. Parenthetical (wryly)

A short direction under the character name: how a line is said, or who it is said to. Use them sparingly; most readers see heavy parentheticals as directing the actor.

                    DAN
          (not looking up)
     The boats are all in.

5. Dialogue

What the character says, in the narrow column below the name.

6. Transition

An editing instruction at the right margin, such as CUT TO:, SMASH CUT TO: or DISSOLVE TO:. Modern spec scripts use few of them; a new scene heading already implies a cut. FADE IN: opens many scripts and FADE OUT. closes them.

Character extensions and continuations

Screenplay title page format

The title page is plain. Use the same 12-point Courier.

                        THE NIGHT HARBOR

                           Written by

                          Jordan Reyes

Jordan Reyes
jordan@example.com
(555) 010-0199

• Title: centered, in capitals, about a third of the way down the page.
• Credit: Written by on its own line, then the writer's name, centered. For an adaptation, add Based on the novel by ... below.
• Contact: lower left (some writers use lower right): email, phone, or a representative's details.
• No page number, and the title page does not count as page one.
• For a spec script, keep it simple: no images, no logline, no draft dates.

Special cases: montage, flashback, intercut, phone calls, texts, voice-over

Conventions vary between writers and formatters. These are the common forms; pick one and use it consistently.

Montage

A montage shows the passage of time or a process in short shots.

MONTAGE - MAYA LEARNS THE RADIO LOG

-- Maya copies call signs into a notebook, lips moving.

-- Dawn. She falls asleep over the desk, pen in hand.

-- Dan quizzes her. She answers before he finishes.

END MONTAGE

SERIES OF SHOTS uses the same layout for a sequence that happens in order, without much time passing. Lettered shots (A), B), C)) are also common.

Flashback

Mark the flashback in the scene heading and close it clearly.

EXT. HARBOR WALL - DAY (FLASHBACK)

Young Maya (10) watches a trawler leave the harbor.

END FLASHBACK.

Alternatively: FLASHBACK - EXT. HARBOR WALL - DAY, then BACK TO PRESENT when you return.

Intercut phone calls

Establish both locations once, then let the conversation run without new headings.

INT. HARBOR MASTER'S OFFICE - NIGHT

Maya grabs the phone.

INT. COAST GUARD STATION - CONTINUOUS

LT. ARIS VANCE (50s) on the line.

INTERCUT - MAYA / VANCE

                    VANCE
     How many boats are still out?

                    MAYA
     One. The Morning Star.

If we only hear the other person, keep one location and use (V.O.) for the voice on the phone. Some writers use (ON PHONE) as a parenthetical instead; both are understood.

Text messages and screens

There is no single standard. A clear, common approach is to introduce the screen in action and set the message apart:

Maya's phone buzzes. ON SCREEN, a text from DAN:

     "Radio's dead. Where are you?"

Keep messages short. If a story runs on texts, pick a format in the first one and repeat it exactly.

Voice-over and pre-lap

Use (V.O.) for narration. A pre-lap, where dialogue from the next scene starts over the end of this one, is usually written as MAYA (PRE-LAP) or as a (V.O.) line placed before the next scene heading.

How to format a screenplay in Google Docs

You have two routes: set it up yourself, or use an add-on.

Option A: set it up by hand (free)

1. Page: File > Page setup. Paper size Letter. Margins: top 1, bottom 1, left 1.5, right 1.
2. Font: Courier Prime, 12 points. It is a free Google Font designed for screenplays and is available in Docs under Font > More fonts.
3. Spacing: Format > Line & paragraph spacing > Single, with 0 points before and after. Add blank lines yourself.
4. Indents: select a paragraph and choose Format > Align & indent > Indentation options. Docs measures indents from the margin, not the page edge, so subtract the 1.5-inch left margin and 1-inch right margin:

5. Save time with styles: Google Docs only lets you redefine its built-in styles. A common trick is to redefine Heading 1 as Character, Heading 2 as Dialogue and so on (Format > Paragraph styles > Update to match). Your scene headings then also appear in the document outline.
6. Page numbers: Insert > Page numbers, top right, and untick the first page.

The weak spot is page breaks. Docs will not add (MORE) and (CONT'D) or keep a character name with its dialogue, so check the bottom of every page before you export a PDF.

Option B: a Google Docs add-on

Two add-ons on the Google Workspace Marketplace do most of the work:

Fountainize's own listing notes that it does not handle continued dialogue. Both rely on Fountain, a plain-text screenplay markup: a line in capitals starting with INT. becomes a scene heading, a line in capitals followed by a line of text becomes a character and dialogue.

How to format a screenplay in Word

Word's custom styles do this well.

1. Layout > Margins > Custom Margins: top 1", bottom 1", left 1.5", right 1". Paper: Letter.
2. Create one style per element (Home > Styles > Create a Style > Modify). Set each to Courier New or Courier Prime, 12 pt, single spacing, and these indents from the margin:
   • Scene Heading: 0" left, all caps, 12 pt space before.
   • Action: 0" left, 12 pt space before.
   • Character: 2.2" left, all caps, 12 pt space before, "Keep with next" on.
   • Parenthetical: 1.6" left, 1.9" right, "Keep with next" on.
   • Dialogue: 1.0" left, 1.5" right.
   • Transition: right-aligned, all caps, 12 pt space before.
3. Set "Style for following paragraph" in each style: Scene Heading > Action, Character > Dialogue, Dialogue > Action. Pressing Enter then moves you to the next element, much like a formatter.
4. Save as a template (.dotx) so every new script starts formatted.

"Keep with next" stops a character name from stranding at the bottom of a page. You still add (MORE) and (CONT'D) by hand.

If you write long scripts, a dedicated formatter is less work; free ones are listed in the screenwriting software guide.

Annotated example page

A fictional example written for this guide. Annotations follow the page.

                                                         2.
[1] INT. HARBOR MASTER'S OFFICE - NIGHT

[2] Rain hammers the window. MAYA OKAFOR (34), soaked through,
    drops a logbook on the desk. DAN PRICE (60s) doesn't look up
    from the radio.

[3]                     MAYA
[4]           (out of breath)
[5]      The Morning Star missed her eight o'clock call.

                        DAN
         They always miss it. Bad antenna.

                        MAYA
         Not three in a row.

[6] She flips the logbook open. Three blank lines.

                        MAYA (CONT'D)
         Call the coast guard, Dan.

[7] Dan finally turns. He sees the lines. He reaches for the
    phone.

[8]                                                    CUT TO:

1. Scene heading: interior, location, time of day, all caps, at the left margin.
2. Action: present tense; new characters in caps with an age; short paragraph.
3. Character cue at about 3.7 inches.
4. Parenthetical at about 3.1 inches, used once, for a physical state the actor cannot get from the line.
5. Dialogue in the 2.5-inch column.
6. Action breaks the dialogue, so Maya's next line takes (CONT'D).
7. Visual storytelling: the blank lines do the work, not a speech.
8. Transition at the right margin. Optional in a spec; included here to show placement.

The page number (2.) sits top right. Page 1 carries no number.

Formatting checklist before you send a script

• 12-point Courier on every page, including the title page
• Margins: 1.5" left, 1" right, top and bottom
• Every scene starts with a scene heading in caps
• Character names spelled the same way throughout
• No orphaned character names at the bottom of a page
• (MORE) and (CONT'D) where dialogue breaks across pages
• No scene numbers in a spec script
• Page numbers top right, none on page 1 or the title page
• Exported to PDF, opened and checked on a second device

Where to keep the treatment and outline

A screenplay is the last document in a long chain: notes, research, a treatment, an outline. WriteOrbit does not format screenplays and does not read .fdx files, so it is not where the script itself goes. It is a good place for the documents before it: write the treatment and scene outline in a shared document with comments, suggestions and version history, and open an existing Word treatment with its styles intact (WriteOrbit imports .docx and exports Word and PDF). When you have a draft, export the script to PDF from your formatter and upload it to the Library and use Ask to question that PDF, with answers that cite page numbers.

See how it works or start on the free plan.

FAQ

What font and margins does a screenplay use?

A screenplay uses 12-point Courier (or a Courier variant such as Courier Prime or Courier New) on US Letter paper. Margins are 1.5 inches on the left for binding, 1 inch on the right, and 1 inch at the top and bottom. Dialogue starts about 2.5 inches from the left edge of the page, parentheticals about 3.1 inches, and character names about 3.7 inches.

How many pages is a screenplay?

Standard format works out to roughly one page per minute of screen time, which is why the font and margins are fixed. Most spec features run about 90 to 120 pages. A one-hour TV drama pilot usually runs about 50 to 65 pages and a half-hour comedy pilot roughly 25 to 40, depending on the show's style. Treat these as conventions, not rules.

Can I format a screenplay in Google Docs?

Yes. Set File > Page setup to 1.5-inch left and 1-inch other margins, use Courier Prime at 12 points, and set indents for each element with Format > Align & indent > Indentation options. Or install a Google Docs add-on: Screenplay Docs formats Fountain markup and exports .fdx after a 7-day trial (about $4.99/month as of November 2026), and Fountainize converts Fountain text to screenplay layout.

How do you format a montage in a screenplay?

Write a heading such as MONTAGE - MAYA LEARNS TO SAIL, then list each short shot on its own line, usually as dashes or as lettered items (A, B, C) with a brief location and action. Close with END MONTAGE before the next scene heading. A SERIES OF SHOTS works the same way but implies a sequence in time rather than a passage of time.

What goes on a screenplay title page?

The title, centered in capital letters about a third of the way down the page; a line such as Written by, then the writer's name, centered below it; and the writer's contact details (email and phone, or a representative) in the lower left or lower right corner. Use the same Courier font. The title page has no page number and does not count as page one.

Next steps

To skip manual formatting, compare tools in the screenwriting software guide. Once your draft is formatted, find out how readers judge it in script coverage: what it is, a free template and examples.

Sources

1. Final Draft, "What Are the Margins for a Screenplay?" https://www.finaldraft.com/blog/what-are-the-margins-for-a-screenplay
2. StudioBinder, "Screenplay Margins." https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/screenplay-margins/
3. Google Workspace Marketplace, Screenplay Docs. https://workspace.google.com/marketplace/app/screenplay_docs/424993687837
4. Google Workspace Marketplace, Fountainize. https://workspace.google.com/marketplace/app/fountainize/82574770793
5. Google Fonts, Courier Prime. https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Courier+Prime
6. Fountain, syntax reference. https://fountain.io/syntax