Determine the purpose of each scene before you write it. Ask yourself whether its goal is to introduce new characters, create mood, reveal background information or advance the plot by escalating or resolving the core conflict.
Identify whether the scene is interior or exterior, what the physical setting is and when it takes place. In a screenplay, this is called a master scene and is displayed in the following format:
INT. LOG CABIN - EARLY MORNING
In a play, this same setup would be written as:
SETTING: All action takes place in a one-room log cabin in Amador County, the heart of California's gold country.
Provide a general description of the layout, furnishings, relevant props and lighting. In a film, this is written two lines below the master scene. Example:
A crude cot, a table with an overturned chair and a broken chest comprise the room's only furniture. Clothes, books, bottles and crockery are strewn on the floor. Daylight is barely visible through a cracked window.
In a play, the description is a continuation of the scene setting but takes spatial relationships into account. Example:
A crude cot with dirty blankets is against the stage left wall. A cracked window above the cot lets in the first evidence of a new day. A spindly table is center stage; an overturned chair is a short distance away. Entrances and exits are made from a short door downstage right. The messy scattering of clothes, books, bottles and crockery suggests a recent visit by hungry bears or a ruthless adversary on a quest to find something of value.
Introduce characters by typing their names in all capital letters. This is done for movies as well as plays. Example:
The door swings open to reveal the cabin's corpulent owner, BUSTER BODINE.
For appearances thereafter, names are written in upper and lower case. In a screenplay, a parenthetical follows the character's name and provides a minimal description. Example:
The door swings open to reveal the cabin's corpulent owner, BUSTER BODINE (60's, Caucasian, scruffy).
In a play, details are written in an expositional style. In some cases, the details are ommitted from the scene because they either already appear under Cast of Characters at the front of the script or under Production Requirements at the end.
Write dialogue separate from master scenes and action lines. In a screenplay, the dialogue is confined to the where the center column of the page would be if it were folded into thirds vertically. In a play, dialogue starts at the left margin and goes straight across to the right. In both types of scripts, dialogue appears directly below the speaker's name.