forum No Name Play

Started March 08, 2018 by @daintydays

tune

I'm writing a play but I don't even know how to format it correctly. oops.

Try studying other play scripts? I've performed in a few, and I know that scenes were kinda like chapters and would be in all caps, bold and describe the setting. Like this: ACT II, SCENE 8: JOHN'S ROOM. As for dialogue, the character's name would be centered in bold and all caps and their dialogue would be underneath without quotation marks. I can't really center it with the way this forum is but here?

JOHN
Hi, I'm John! What's your name?

Also, you can put specific actions next to the text in parentheses and italics. When a character is first introduced, the author tends to give a short description of them. Character's names are always capitalized in action. So a scene would look something like this:

ACT II, SCENE 8: JOHN'S ROOM

(John paces back and forth. Something's off, but he just doesn't know what. Frustrated, he plops down onto his bed. MARY approaches him.)

MARY
Hey, John. I know something's been bothering you lately, and I just wanted to- (She is angrily shoved away by JOHN.)

JOHN
Leave me alone! I don't want to talk to anyone!

And so on. I hope this helped!

Oops, I forgot to capitalize that one of the Johns. Oh well.

I was just talking to my creative writing teacher about this and she was saying that screenplay are much more strict on the stage directions but with stage plays there's more wiggle room. Like you can have the name next to line for example. And I know in a lot of plays I've read or performed the format has varied in small ways