Manuscript Format

'There are so many rules about playwriting. I'd have a nervous breakdown if I followed them.'

-- Terrence McNally

The Format provides a way for you to estimate the running time of your play. It's easy for performers to use in readings or rehearsals. And it's literally the first impression Literary Managers and their readers will have of your script.

Using the format sends a signal that you know what you're doing. Since you do, or will, don't keep it a secret.

Writing a play in format can be annoying or just exasperating and distracting if you haven't done it before -- even if it's fairly easy to do. And for more than a few playwrights it can keep being just as annoying when you're up to your 10th play. So here are the only two ways to avoid it, neither of them being cheap . . .

• Hire a Secretary to Do It for You
  No, that's not a joke. But the playwrights who do this usually make enough from their plays that they never miss the money it takes. And if you don't live in New York, Los Angeles, or London, you'll have a hard time finding someone who combines flying fingers on the keyboard with knowing how to do script format.

• Get Screenwriting Software for Your Computer
  The leading screenwriting format programs also give you the format for stage plays. And if you're thinking of writing for Film or Television as well, this is the only way to go. These programs basically do all the drudge work of formatting for you -- much of it automatically as you write -- though you still have to give them a little help. I haven't checked the others, but Movie Magic Screenwriter gives you standard stage play manuscript format that looks like what you'll see here.

But if you're writing your first play, try formatting it the old-fashioned way first. Save the investment in technology for when you're ready to make a real commitment to the form. And even then, most contemporary playwrights who don't also write regularly for film or television [and that's not a lot anymore] don't bother with special software for putting their scripts in format.

What you'll see here - now we're in the 21st Century - has become known as "Traditional" play format. The exciting new "Modern" format is identical to the old thing with one exception: Stage Directions (but not Character s.d.'s) are typed without parentheses - ( ) - and begin at the center of the page, going to the right margin. And Times New Roman is often the type font choice instead of Courier. No Literary Manager or Director will think less of your script because it uses the Traditional format and many may prefer it.

• Dialogue Pages: What they look like & By the Numbers
  [With Links to more interesting things.]

• Title & Preliminary Pages: What comes first

• Type Style & Size: Saving your readers' eyes

• Covers & Bindings: Holding it all together

• What's Here: A Detailed Guide to This Unit
  • Screenplay Format: is in the Film Unit

If you can't find a good local bookstore with a large selection of film and theatre titles, you can order recommended plays, screenplays, videos, and books through the Web without having to do title searches. Look for linked book covers [as above left] or the amazon.com logo throughout The Playwriting Seminars. And the world's leading Internet bookstore can get them to you in a few days.