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Start with: A script for a television must start with a transition, such as ‘FADE IN’ ‘FROM BLACK’ or ‘COLD OPEN’. It must be in capitals and should be justified to the left of the margin. Like this:
Next: Your teaser, or heading for the scene known as the ‘slug line’ needs to be 2 spaces below, like this:
Slug lines include these 3 elements:
-INT. or EXT. Short for interior and exterior. If it’s both, such as when a drunken cop is thrown through the doorway of his favorite bar, you can write INT./EXT.
-Location. Where the scene takes place. These should be short, and avoid emotive description. It’s not INT. SUPER COOL 1970s SPORTSBAR, just INT. BAR. Don’t worry—they’ll be room for the fun stuff later.
-Time. Usually just DAY or NIGHT, but can also be a specific time, like 3:00 PM, if it’s an important detail to the plot. Don’t use demarcations like DUSK, MORNING, MIDNIGHT, or LATER. Again, save that for the next section.
Slug lines are always in CAPS. There are usually two spaces between INT./EXT. and LOCATION, then space, hyphen, space between LOCATION and TIME.
These are needed every time your location is changed
Next: The next step is an ACTION BLOCK for your teaser. You include:
-Details for your location
-What your character is doing at the time
-It is written in the present tense
-It is justified to the left, like this:
Anytime that a character is introduced for the first time, their name must be in bold capitals and the characters age/age range should be placed to the right of their name, followed by a description of them like this:
But, avoid the description being too long. A brief summary only.
When the character is about to start their dialogue, move 2 spaces down, 2.2 inches from the left margin and the name of the character in bold like this:
Any minor characters or ‘secret’ characters are ok to be anonymous. But, need some form of identification such as ‘PEDESTRIAN’ and etc. If there is more than one of these characters, it would be ‘PEDESTRIAN #1 and PEDESTRIAN #2’.
The dialogue: the dialogue of the character begins one inch left from the margin and ends two inches before the right margin. It will look this:
The action blocks after the dialogue the words LOOSE BILLS and PEOPLE have been capitalized. Any word that describes one or more people, such CROWD, PEOPLE, KIDS or ZOMBIES should always be placed in capitals, as should any key props, and words that describe sounds, such as THUMP, BOING, ZING, or WHOOSH.
At certain times, it is also appropriate to capitalize ACTIONS for special emphasis, such as:
He CHARGES into the room.
If dialogue is to be spoken with a special emphasis, you may indent by an additional .6 inches (or one tab) on the line directly beneath a character’s name, and add in your direction:
A parenthetical is used to show who a character is talking to. For example, (to, GRANDMA)
To handle a VOICE OVER, or a situation in which a character can’t be seen on camera but is heard speaking OFF SCREEN. Simply add the initials (V.O.) or (O.S.) directly to the right of a character’s name, for example:
MAC (V.O)
Or
ROB (O.S)
To cut to a new scene, simply drop down two lines and add a NEW SLUG LINE for the next scene:
At the END OF TEASER, tab down to the START OF THE NEXT PAGE. On the next clean sheet, center the words ACT ONE at the top of the page:
After the ACT ONE title, go down THREE SPACES and write the first SLUGLINE for this act. Using a transition after page one isn’t necessarily needed but can be used if needed.
After that, simply progress through the act using all of the formatting norms discussed.
In television, Act One is usually the longest, and each act that follows tends to get progressively shorter. It’s all about getting your audience hooked into your story up front, so that they’ll put with the commercials at the end.
After writing through to the first cliffhanger (see INTRO TO TV WRITING), and are ready to wrap up act, TRIPLE SPACE down, and center the words END OF ACT ONE. It will look like this:
After that, tab down to the top of the next page, and center the words ACT TWO. Move down three spaces, and begin the next act
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