Mac tutorials › Screenplay
ScreenplayWrite your first scene
Type a scene heading and an action line and see the scene appear in the scene list.
Before you start
- A new project is open on Screenplay with an empty page.
Steps
Click in the page and look at the Element menu in the bar.
A blank page starts as an Action line, shown in the Element menu. The scene list reads Scenes (1).
Click the Element menu to see the kinds of line.
The menu lists Scene Heading, Character, Parenthetical, Transition, Shot, General note (not printed) and Insert Page Break. The current element is the one the page is already in. Choose Scene Heading, or press Esc to close the menu.
Type the start of a heading, for example IN.
A suggestion list opens under the cursor with INT., EXT., INT./EXT. and I/E, each marked Standard. Pick one, or keep typing.
Finish the heading, for example INT. BUS DEPOT - NIGHT, press Return and write an action line.
Return at the end of a line starts the element that normally comes next. The page shows the heading and the scene number in the margin, and the scene list shows the scene. A list can appear with a Create New row for the text you typed, marked Beat Board; press Esc if you do not want it.
What you get
Your screenplay has its first scene on the page and in the scene list.
Watch out for
- A line only becomes a scene in the list when it is a Scene Heading. If the list stays empty, set the line to Scene Heading in the Element menu.
- Do not format by hand. Choose the element, or let Return and Tab move to the next one.