Screenplay format google docs how to#

Google Docs: You can't choose a following style in Google Docs. Use the Following Paragraph Style dropdown to choose the following style. In the window that appears, choose an appropriate Style for following paragraph.Īpple Pages: Select the first line, open the Format sidebar, and go to the More tab. Microsoft Word: Open the Styles Pane and hover over the first style, then open the dropdown menu and select Modify Style. Use the settings below to make your word processor automatically select an appropriate style whenever you create a new line.Ĭhoose these following styles for each line in your screenplay: Google Docs: Go to Format > Line Spacing and select the relevant options at the bottom.Ĭertain styles are almost always grouped together in a screenplay, such as character and dialog. Microsoft Word: Go to the Line and Page Breaks tab to choose your settings.Īpple Pages: Open the Format sidebar, then go the More tab. Then use the same settings to turn on Keep lines together (or Keep lines on same page in Google Docs) for: Use the settings below to enable the Keep with next option for: This way, sluglines or character names always appear with the action or dialog lines that follow them. It's important to keep certain lines together in a screenplay, even if that means leaving white space at the bottom of a page. The only exception to this is transition lines, which are aligned to the right.ĭouble-click to select the Transition line, then align it to the right. AlignmentĪlmost all text in a screenplay is aligned to the left, which is the default for most word processors. Google Docs: Go to Format > Align and Indent > Indentation options. To do so, double-click the word 'Slugline' and press Ctrl + B (or Cmd + B on a Mac). We made our slugline bold, to match the Avengers: Endgame script. You may see them bold, underlined, or just capitalized. Sluglines, or scene headers, appear in a range of styles across different screenplays.

Transitions: Used to emphasize the change to a new scene, such as Cut To.

Dialog: The words spoken by characters in your screenplay.

Screenplay format google docs how to#

Parenthetical: Appears in brackets before dialog, explaining how to deliver that line.Character: Appears before dialog lines to show which character is talking.Action: Describes the setting, characters, or actions in a scene.Slugline: Also known as a scene header, details the time and place of each scene.You'll format each of them differently below, then save them to keyboard shortcuts for easy access.įor reference, here is what each style refers to: Then type these six words, each on its own line:Įach word refers to a different font style within a screenplay.