The Complete guide of writing a screenplay for beginners

Part 1 Preparing to write

Become familiar with the format of a screenplay. Unlike a short story or a novel, the form of a screenplay is based around dialogue, rather than prose or description. The big rule in screenwriting is: you are writing visually. Movies are a series of images, so the images in your screenplay should be striking and engaging.Another big rule is: Every paragraph of action lines should be three lines or less. This means that the descriptions about what each character is wearing or how they are acting in a scene should be no more than three lines. Use the least amount of words possible describing action or setting and let the dialogue do the "talking."Character backstory and motivations should come from a character's actions and dialogue, as opposed to the descriptions. The best screenwriters keep their action description to two lines per paragraph throughout most of the script. But there should still be a lot of description through the power of the dialogue.Keep all writing in the present tense. This keeps things moving forward in your screenplay, which is really what your screenplay should be doing: moving action and character forward.Like everything, there are exceptions to this rule of three description lines or less per scene of text. For example, the screenplay for the 2011 film "All is Lost", written by J.C. Candor and starring Robert Redford, only has about 4-5 full pages of dialogue in the entire script. The majority of the main character's actions are shown through long sections of description of the character's actions. These types of screenplays are rare though, and difficult to do well.Get used to the format of a screenplay. Screenplays are formatted differently than other types of writing. The format of a screenplay is very specific and can involve a lot of tabbing and hitting Enter if you are working in a word processing document. You can use software that does the formatting for you, such as Final Draft, Scrivener, and Movie Magic.You can also access basic versions of screenplay formatting programs for free online.Take note of elements of a screenplay format, including:
The slugline: This appears in ALL CAPS at the beginning of a scene and briefly describes the location and time of day. For example: INT. DINER - NIGHT. Sometimes sluglines are abbreviated to something as simple as "LATER" or "BEDROOM".INT/EXT: INT stands for an interior of a setting, such as an INT HOUSE, and EXT stands for the exterior or outside of a setting, such as EXT HOUSE.Transitions: These help you move from scene to scene in the screenplay. Examples of transitions include FADE IN and FADE OUT, which are a gradually opening and a gradually closing to a new scene, and CUT TO, which is a quick jump to a new scene. You can also use DISSOLVE TO, as one scene fades out, a new scene fades into place.CLOSE UP or TIGHT ON: This indicates a close up to a person or object on screen. For example: "CLOSE UP on Mia's face."FREEZE FRAME: This is when the picture will stop moving and become a still photograph on screen.b.g.: Stands for "background" to note when something is occurring in the background of the main action. You can use "b.g." or "background" to note this in the script. For example: "Two characters are fighting in the b.g."O.S. or O.C.: Stands for off-screen or off-camera. This means the character's voice will be speaking off camera or from another part of the setting. For example: "Harry yells at Sally O.S."V.O.: stands for voice over, which is when an actor reads script over a scene, narrating the scene. This appears under the character's name, before their voice over dialogue.Montage: A series of images showing a theme, a contradiction, or the passage of time. Usually used to show the passage of time in a short period of time on screen.Tracking shot: A tracking shot means a camera follows a person or an object. As long as the camera isn't locked down in place on a tripod and is following a subject, it is a tracking shot.

Look at examples of screenplays. There are several screenplays that are considered nearly perfect, such as the screenplay for the 1942 classic "Casablanca". Other screenplay examples illustrate the different ways you can play around with the form. For example:

"His Girl Friday", a screenplay written by Charles Lederer."Pulp Fiction", a screenplay written by Quentin Tarantino."When Harry Met Sally", a screenplay written by Nora Ephron."Thelma & Louise", a screenplay written by Callie Khouri.