Chapter 5

Script Format

Up to this point in the book we’ve been looking at exercises to stimulate ideas and touched on classic playwriting structure theory. As the following chapters take you through the actual writing of your ten-minute play, it will be helpful to know the preferred format for theatrical scripts.

Below is the proper format for your ten-minute play. Some playwrights use the format they see in play anthology books. This is not the correct format for your plays.

• Your title page should be formatted correctly (see sample page). Make sure the title of your play is centered and all in caps. Beneath that you want to identify it as a ten-minute play (not in caps). Your name should be below that (unless you are submitting to a competition that requests that you leave your name off the script and place it instead on a separate information page).

• The dialogue in your play begins 1.5 inches from the left side of your page.

• Character names are always in caps.

• Any stage actions are indented 3 inches from the left and should be enclosed in parentheses.

• The dialogue of your play should be single-spaced.

• Use capital letters to bring the reader’s attention to special design effects, such as sound and lights. For example: LIGHTS: Bright sunlight shines through the kitchen window.

• Directions for actors—i.e., specific instructions you’d like the actor playing the role to follow—should be placed directly below the character’s name, in parenthesis. For instance, (Crying) or (Loudly).

• If a character’s speech begins at the end of one page with just one line and continues onto the next page, it’s best to move the entire speech to the next page. If there is more than one line on the first page of the speech, you simply write out on the next page the character’s name again, and write “continued,” in parentheses. This will look like JOHN (continued).

• Generally, most playwrights use a 12-point font. Some playwrights like to use Courier New, but most use Times New Roman.

• All pages should be numbered. I like to place numbers at the bottom of the page in the center. The title page should not be numbered. If you must have a separate page for the time, place, and character information, make sure that that page is not numbered, either. With ten-minute play contests, if some play readers see a script that says 12 pages, they won’t even open it to see that the title page and info page are part of that number. Begin your page numbers with the first page of dialogue

• If you are a Dramatists Guild member, you can include their logo on the title page on the bottom left-hand side.

TITLE OF YOUR PLAY

A Ten-Minute Play

By Your Name

Your address

Your city and state

Your e-mail address

Your phone number

Represented by:

Agent’s Name

Name of Agency

Agency’s address

Agency’s city and state

Agent’s e-mail address

Agent’s phone number

© Year Your Name

(Copyright, which credits the playwright with legal ownership of his or her play, exists from the moment of the work’s creation. The notice above may be used without registering your work with the U.S. Copyright Office; however, registration provides certain legal benefits; see www.copyright.gov.)

(Sample Format for Character, Time and Place Page From my play The Danger of Strangers)

CAST OF CHARACTERS

HE—An attractive man in his thirties or early forties. Friendly and outgoing.

SHE—An attractive woman in her thirties or early forties. She is friendly and polite fully seductive.

TIME

The present, a hot August afternoon, lunchtime.

PLACE

The living room of a one-bedroom apartment in the West 50s overlooking Ninth Avenue in New York City. Bright sunlight is shining in from a window.

(An attractive man and woman are sitting opposite each other, just finishing their coffee. A small coffee table separates them. He’s sweating but trying not to show it. She, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to notice the heat at all.)

SHE: More?

HE: Hm?

SHE: Coffee.

HE: No, thanks.

SHE: Sure?

HE: Yeah?

SHE: You sure?

HE: Uh-huh.

A wink in his voice.

But I am tempted.

SHE: Are you?

HE: You are tempting me.

SHE: (Slightly coy) Am I?

HE: (Leaning in a bit) C’mon, you know you are.

SHE looks down at her coffee cup, lifts it to her lips, takes a sip. He watches her, then smiles.

SHE: What’s so funny?

HE: Funny?

SHE: You’re smiling.

HE: (Playing with her) Am I?