Script Beginning: Writing Your First Script Page

Every beloved film started as a mere kernel of an idea, and every beloved film-to-come will start here as well. Turning your spark of inspiration into the next iconic movie can seem daunting. And, truth be told, it is daunting. Screenwriting at any level is challenging, so screenwriting for beginners can be super intimidating and leave one thinking, “How to even start a screenplay?” There’s so many steps in between inspiration, a completed screenplay, and the final movie. But it’s been done before. Every time a movie is made, it is done. So let’s demystify the process of writing a script for the first time and tackle your first script from the blank page to the final line with a step-by-step screenplay guide. 

What Does “First Script” Really Mean?

A script is simply a written text. The word can be used for written material in plays, television, film, news, etc. A screenplay is a type of script used for movies that includes a slugline, dialogue, action lines, and stage directions. A short film script is a screenplay that is less than 60 minutes. Some definitions have a short as less than 40 minutes (the Oscars use this duration).

Every script goes through numerous iterations called drafts. No first draft will be close to perfect. And much of writing is rewriting. Do not shy away from writing your screenplay because you don’t think you’re ready. You’ll never be ready in that mindset. Screenwriting is a craft to be honed. Your craft will only refine through writing, rewriting, and writing some more. 

A golden rule to remember: Perfection is the enemy of creativity. Perfection is the giant roadblock in the mind that can stall out any writer. No first time screenwriter started out perfect, and that’s okay. 

Screenplay Examples for Every Genre: A Guide for Screenwriters  

Introduction – Welcome to Page 1

Jumping right into the first scene of a screenplay after your story idea’s inception is a common mistake. The blank page can look like an impenetrable wall without prepping your story beforehand. 

Let’s look at all the script opening tips available to writers to decode their stories before putting pen to paper or typing a word. 

This guide will breakdown the steps involved with writing your first script. Starting with the work to be done before page 1, (e.g. the outline, beat sheet, and character breakdowns), to formatting your screenplay, to the drafting and rewriting process. 

By the end, you’ll be well-suited to diving into your story, be it your first short film script or your first movie script. 

Prep Work Before Typing “INT./EXT.”

Here, we’ll begin by learning various methods of cracking open your story idea and molding it into a fleshed out idea ready to become your first screenplay. 

Choosing an Idea & Writing a Logline

Choosing your first screenplay ideas to write about can be as hard as actually writing it. Story inspiration can come from anything from personal experience to seeing a news headline and saying, “that should be a movie.” Pay attention to what draws your attention. What idea stirs your soul? Makes your heart flutter. What idea begets a reaction from you to dig and explore? “What if…?” has led to many of the great works we all love. 

Once settling onto an idea. Creating a logline is a good way to crystallize the essential elements that you want the story to focus on. A logline is roughly a 1-2 sentence elevator pitch of your idea. 

‘A police chief, with a phobia for open water, battles a gigantic shark with an appetite for swimmers and boat captains, in spite of a greedy town council who demands that the beach stay open.’

This logline for Jaws succinctly elucidates the main conflicts in the story, including the external conflicts of the shark killing people and the town callously trying to keep the beach open, to the internal conflict of the flaw that the main character must overcome to stop the shark. This logline highlights the main elements that the story will explore both through the plot and the protagonist’s struggle. 

Research & Mood-Boarding

Visual and contextual research pay dividends in creating a richer story, both for your character’s arcs and authenticity as well as the worlds they inhabit around them. Researching the locations, cultures, and professions of your world will psychically make writing your scenes easier (because you won’t be writing out of your ass about how the legal profession works, for instance) as well as add opportunity for thematic resonance to help elucidate the ideas you’re trying to convey. 

Pinterest, Milanote, Canva, and Envato are all useful sites for producing mood boards and researching. A common pitfall to avoid, however, is using endless research as an excuse to procrastinate actually writing. 

Outline Like a Pro—Even on Draft #1

Writing a 100 page story from scratch makes the already difficult process of writing feel insurmountable. The outline is your story roadmap. Writing without first outlining your story is like trying to travel cross-country without knowing what roads to take. 

Beat Sheet Basics

A Beat Sheet is akin to a bullet point outline of your story. It can be as detailed as one bullet point per scene or more of hitting the main story points–the opening image, the inciting incident, the midpoint, low point (all is lost), the climax, and the closing image. Not all stories beget the same structure.

Read more about plot structures here: 10 Plot Structures All Screenwriters Should Know  

A beat sheet helps the writer see how the story is beginning to flow, where stakes are entered and raised, where urgency is needed, and how the characters’ arcs are progressing. 

Three-Act Snapshot With Key Milestones

The Beginning, The Middle, and the End. These screenplay structure basics have endured through centuries of storytelling. Act 1 introduces the world and the characters, the protagonist’s life and flaw(s). Then the inciting incident kicks off the plot and changes the protagonist's world, knocking them out of stasis. Act 2 is the rising action, midpoint which throws the protagonist’s journey for a loop, and the low point where hope is lost. Act 3 highlights the resolve to change and the climax to see it to fruition creating a new altered world to the one our protagonist started in (this change can be world-changing or simply character-changing).

Character Breakdowns

Character Breakdowns are essentially beat sheets for specific characters instead of the entire story. These breakdowns help define the character's motivations, reservations, flaws, and other defining characteristics. 

Try creating characters' backstories by  providing pivotal moments that have shaped them–this histories help mold the character’s choices and actions in the story, even if the reader/viewer never knows those backstories, it creates deeper character interactions which will be felt in their action and dialogue. 

Further Reading on characters: Character Tips

Script Formatting 101

Screenplay formatting has been molded by decades of production norms into what we see today. Script formatting for beginners is important because producers, agents, and other industry professionals expect to see the standard formatting in any script they pick up. 

Courier Font, Sluglines & Scene Headings

The screenplay basics include 12 pt. Courier font is the standard typeface used in Screenplays. Bold character names that are introduced for the first time. 

Sluglines and Scene Headings both refer to the line description that starts each scene. They include 4 descriptions: the scene number, whether the scene takes place inside or outside (INT./EXT.), the location of the scene, and the time of day (Day/Night). Time of day can also include temporal markers like later, moments later, morning, continuous, etc. Day and Night are sufficient terms, but these others can be used if the writer is so inclined. 

An example slugline: scene numbers on both ends, Int./Ext. first, followed by the location and then a dash separates the time. 

Dialogue Blocks & Action Lines

Dialogue is formatted in the center of the page with a line dedicated to the speaker, followed by the dialogue. 

The (V.O.) next to Joy’s name stands for Voice-Over. (O.S.) is also common when a character is speaking Off-Screen–speaking from another room, for example.

Action lines are the scene description. Brevity is appreciated in action lines. Generally four lines or fewer per distinctive action. Of course, everyone has their own style, but brief and concise reads better from new writers. 

A common pitfall for newer writers is to try to direct from the page. Mileage can vary with industry professionals but some definitely frown upon it. Once a director is attached, they will add direction. 

The Writing Process

Let’s talk about the act and action of writing. It is a marathon, not a sprint. You're creating a world wholecloth and creation is a process. 

Tips to Fight Writer’s Block

Three practical tactics for scriptwriting beginners to circumvent writer’s block is to schedule Pomodoro sprints (working 25 minutes then taking five minute breaks), changing your medium like going from the computer to handwriting, or changing what scene you’re working on. If sc 36 is clogging you down. Jump to the next sequence, start there, and return to sc 36 another day with a fresh mind.

Remember that momentum when completing the first draft of a screenplay is more important than perfection, get the ball rolling. You can carve it to your liking in later drafts. Reaching for perfection will only slog down your story. 

Drafting vs. Rewriting: Your First Rewrite Pass

Writing is rewriting. Rewriting is writing. It is a marathon, not a sprint. Do not live and die on the first draft’s quality. Finishing your first draft screenplay is undoubtedly a success, even if you are not satisfied with the quality. That is where a rewrite pass comes in.

Proofing Structure

Create a checklist for every scene. Does it hit everything you want it to hit? Are the stakes clear in this scene? Does the scene push the plot or the characters forward? Re-evaluate every scene to make sure it’s achieving its purpose in the story.

Tightening Dialogue & Killing Darlings

Growing attachment to superfluous parts of the text can make it difficult to evaluate their efficacy in elevating the story. Every writer confronts a process of cutting material they like for various reasons. Use a litmus test–whether a scene or part of a scene is adding subtext, length, voice, redundancy, or polish. 

Many writers keep material that pained them to scrap. Make a document that stores your darlings that didn’t make the cut.

Common Mistakes First-Time Screenwriters Make and Fixes

There are some common mistakes that new screenwriters have been making for decades. They may seem to make sense at a first glance, but let’s get into why they can lead you astray.

Over-Explaining Action

When writing it makes sense to want to put as much detail as possible to best convey the visuals of whatever action is taking place. But the trade-off is that it can hinder the flow of your writing. Screenwriting differs from prose because they have different end goals. Prose is trying to convey everything as the current end result. The end result of your screenplay is to be an audiovisual story, not a textual one. 

Your action lines should evoke the scene you’re depicting, not saturate the scene. Another key point is to avoid any action line that isn’t visual. The smell of the setting is superfluous if the characters aren’t reacting to it or the smell isn’t highlighting the setting. 

Weak Stakes & Passive Protagonist

Weak stakes can bore the audience and can leave them asking why they should care. Urgency compels the audience to care about the resolution of the situation. Look at how climate change is treated by society. An ever-present threat decades in the future makes many people shrug off the very real stakes involved. Stakes don’t have to be about the end of the world, even in an action film. The stakes in Deadpool 2 were whether the soul of a boy would be corrupted into becoming evil. 

Resources & Tools for Your Debut Screenplay

There are many great resources available to screenwriters. For resources, there is a plethora of screenwriting software available. There is free and paid software that you can determine which is right for you. Finaldraft, WriterDuet, Arc Studio pro, etc. Websites like IMSDb and Simplyscripts can help you find and read publicly available screenplays. 

Communities are indispensable assets for writers. Online ones like r/screenwriting, and in person events like film festivals where you can network and meet other writers. There are hundreds of small festivals filled with like-minded people. 

FAQs About Writing Your First Script

What is the first thing you write in a screenplay?

The first thing you write in a screenplay depends on your process and what works for you, be it a beat sheet, outline, character breakdowns, a scene that struck you out of nowhere and now you need to craft a story around that inspiration. You don’t have to start on sc1. Start where it suits you best. Start at your first script idea that pops in your head. Just start

How long should a first script be?

Feature length scripts are generally between 90-120 pages. With a rough guideline being 1 page equals 1 minute. Short scripts can be 1 page to 40ish pages. 

Do you need an outline before writing a screenplay?

You don’t NEED it before starting a screenplay, but it makes it a hell of a lot easier. Like way, way easier. Add another way. Way, way, way easier.

How many drafts does a script usually take?

Until you think it's ready. This could be 2-3 drafts. It could be more. Once pre-production starts, though, scripts can change dozens of times, even if they're just changing a few lines. 

Which software is best for a first-time screenwriter?

Final Draft is the most popular. I use WriterDuet. Watch some youtube videos and see which user interface is most appealing to you. It is a personal preference for what you think will help you most in beginning a script. 

Conclusion – Your First Script Starts Here

The Blank Page can be intimidating. But with these actionable steps on how to write your first screenplay, it can be conquered, and you can create a story. Creation is one of the most powerful things humans can do. Creating something from nothing. Doesn’t that defy a law of thermodynamics? It’s splendid and wonderful. You only have to start. Try. Right now. Craft the logline. Or jot down the character that has been circling your head for weeks. Or if it is that one isolated scene, start it. Watch it exist, then start crafting around it. Start your first script today. Create. There’s nothing else like it. 

For more first screenplay tips: How to Write a Script in 4 Steps