Screenplay Basics - Format

If you are new to the screenwriting game, you might be wondering, 'WHERE DO I START??" Well, relax. Learning screenplay format (what goes where on a page of script) really is as easy as learning your ABC's. There's nothing easier which makes it absolutely astonishing just how many hundreds of unprofessional crybaby wannabes hanging out on screenwriter messageboards throughout cyberspace will try to sell you the bill of goods that professional presentation doesn't matter one itsy little bit. Ha ha, just remember these self-proclaimed experts are still hanging out on an internet messageboard instead of hanging out making their next screenplay sale. Don't buy into their bullshit. If they haven't succeeded then, for the most part, they don't want you to succeed, either. They will steer you wrong. Every chance they get. And they will hound anyone who dares to speak the truth.

First impressions DO matter. Put on your Common Sense Thinking Cap. D'oh. There. That didn't take long, did it?

Understand that there are tens of thousands, if not millions of people who have a screenplay under their arm. Most of the first-time spec scripts out there you wouldn't insult your parakeet with by lining their birdcages with that stuff. And most of that "stuff" more closely resembles what drops on TOP of the liner.

No. DON'T be discouraged. And never, ever give up YOUR dream because of what someone ELSE has said. Replace all vestiges of despair with determination. "I think I can.. I think I can.. I think I can," said The Little Engine That Could. That needs to be you.

To kickstart your effort to learn what you will of the subject of screenwriting, I present to you the following links all of which relate to basic formatting and theory of screenwriting. Check back again soon. I've got more links than anyone else I know of when it comes to helping out my fellow writers.

Is Screenwriting Right for You?

The next three links present the same basic information, but you may find one resource more useful or easier to understand than another:

Screenplay Format by Charles Deemer

Screenplay Manuscript Format

Standard Screenplay Margins

And if you have any lingering doubts about the importance of making a professional presentation of your work, go have a look at what John August said in his IMDB column:

"In talking about presentation, I'm forced to fall back on my ugly person/beautiful person analogy. Sure, a bad script can be perfectly formatted, and a good script can look crappy, just as an ugly person can wear beautiful clothes and a supermodel can wear rags. But would you recognize Cindy Crawford in a potato sack with muddy hair?

If your script looks bad or is difficult to read, no one will bother to try.

Proper formatting is the least important aspect of a screenplay. But it's also the easiest by far. Any moron can format a script. So if your script is badly formatted, you're a sub-moron. A caveman. A troglodyte. Or at the least, a very lazy writer who doesn't take his craft seriously..."

READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE

I shall return with a little something for you about screenplay structure.