Writing and formatting

Start a script

1. Open the editor

   Go to /script. With no draft open, you see New Script and Import Script.

2. Pick one

   New Script gives you a blank page that starts on a scene heading. Import Script takes a PDF, a Final Draft (.fdx) file, a Fountain file or plain text.

Move between elements

A screenplay here has six elements. Scene headings, character names and transitions are typed in capitals for you.

You are in	Enter goes to	Tab goes to
Scene Heading	Action	Transition
Action	Action	Character
Character	Dialogue	Parenthetical
Dialogue	Action	Parenthetical
Parenthetical	Dialogue	stays put
Transition	Scene Heading	Action

A few more rules:

1. Type INT. or EXT. on an action line and it becomes a scene heading.
2. Press Enter on an empty line and it turns into action.
3. Type ( on an empty line and you get () with the cursor inside.

Add a parenthetical

1. Mid-speech, press Tab. The parens appear on their own line below, cursor between them, so you only type the direction.
2. Press Enter wherever the cursor sits in them. The speech carries on under it.
3. Press Enter once more on a blank line of speech to leave it.

The format bar

1. Read the element you are in

   The bar along the bottom has a button for each element. The one you are in is outlined. The ⏎ and ⇥ marks show where Enter and Tab would take you.

2. Change it

   Click another element to change the current line. The button marked ⇥ does what Tab does, for a keyboard with no Tab key.

3. Pick a name or place

   On a character line, orange chips suggest names already in the script. On a scene heading, they suggest places, and after a dash, times such as DAY, NIGHT or CONTINUOUS. Press Tab to take the first one, or click any chip.

Further right are Title, ⌕, ☰, Aa, ⚌ Cols, undo, redo, Save, Export and ✕. If the bar is in your way, drag the grip above it down to hide it.

Two columns of dialogue

1. Add a two-column section

   Click ⚌ Cols. You get two columns, each starting on a character line, with a dashed frame marked ⌘1 and ⌘2.

2. Write each side

   Press ⌘1 for the left column and ⌘2 for the right. On Windows, use Ctrl.

3. Leave the section

   Press the key for the column you are already in, or click any element on the format bar.

Columns print side by side in the PDF. A Final Draft export has no columns, so the two sides come out one after the other.

Pages

A page number sits at the top right of each page. A scene heading never sits alone at the foot of a page, and a speech moves to the next page as a whole. The PDF splits long speeches the way a printed script does, with (MORE) and (CONT’D).

Save

CinemaWriter saves as you type, in the browser and in the apps.

1. In the browser, each change is kept in this browser straight away, so closing the tab loses nothing. When you are signed in, the script also goes to your account two seconds after you stop typing.
2. The iPad and Android apps keep each change on the device and send it to your account a moment later.

Every script saved on a device is listed on its start screen, with no sign-in needed. Drafts and import has more.

To save at once, click Save or press ⌘S (Ctrl+S on Windows). The button reads Saved when the script reached your account. Saved locally means you are signed out: the script is kept in this browser and moves to your account when you sign in, with a message to say so. Save failed means the server did not take it. Your words are still in this browser, so try again.

Keys

Keys	What they do
⌘Z, ⇧⌘Z or ⌘Y	Undo, redo
⌘F	Find and replace
⌘P	Print
⌘1, ⌘2	Left or right column
⌘← ⌘→	Start or end of the line
⌘↑ ⌘↓	Start or end of the script
⌥← ⌥→	Back or forward one word

On Windows, use Ctrl for ⌘ and Alt for ⌥. Hold Shift with any move to select as you go. Double-click selects a word. Triple-click selects the whole element.