SCRIPT FORMAT 3: NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION (ACTION)

In the previous script format article, we learned about scene headings and how they are meant to (very) concisely inform the reader’s mental projection of the forthcoming scene. In this article, we’re looking at narrative description, which is the bulk of the screenplay, and provides all the details for what is seen on-screen, as well as much of what is heard.

Note that many people refer to narrative description as ‘action’, which is a mostly appropriate term as well.

What’s the point?

The purpose of narrative description is to describe to the reader what would be seen and heard in a motion picture. This means that narrative description will almost certainly be the bulk of your script, and it’s pretty easy to argue that narrative description is the most important part of a screenplay. Here’s some of what you’ll write in the narrative description:

• Details of the physical scene, past what’s included in the scene heading

• What the characters look like (characterization)

• What the characters are physically doing in the scene

• Things that are happening in the scene in the larger environment

• Sounds or other audio that aren’t dialogue

What does narrative description look like?

Narrative description is mostly written in sentence format, but there’s no obligation to write in complete sentences. Many writers write in broken, incomplete sentences. It’s really up to your personal style, and how you want the narrative description to flow.

Not only is narrative description written in sentence format, but it’s spaced out in paragraphs, too. Different writers call the paragraphs different things. I call them ‘action blocks’, but call them whatever makes sense to you.

Generally, narrative description is written in sentence case, meaning it abides by the capitalization rules of normal sentence or essay format. There are exceptions for when you would capitalize certain words that aren’t proper nouns, as well as instances for when you would write words in all caps. We’ll detail when you would do so below.

As mentioned in the format overview, one of the main ‘rules’ of narrative description is that it should be written in present tense. I’m not a believer that too many rules should be strictly adhered to, but this is one that I never break, and don’t think anyone else should either. Writing in present tense throughout the screenplay makes it active and engaging. Past tense would make it more passive. Future tense would make it clunkier, and there’s not much logic as to why you would write in future tense.

Having the ‘rule’ to always stick to present tense takes away the decision you would otherwise have to make as a writer as to which tense to write in, as well as avoids any confusion that might otherwise happen when you accidentally switch tenses, as we’re all occasionally guilty of in other writings.

As for perspective, you have some creative freedom. Most spec scripts are written in third-person, whereas many shooting scripts are written in second-person. How much your narrative voice ‘knows’ and divulges to the reader is really up to you, and you can ration that information for a more dramatic read, if you so choose, but do so knowing that withholding information can confuse your reader. That being said, you don’t want to give away something important to your reader that the viewer wouldn’t know (or soon find out). 

DIRECTING THE PAGE

Writing narrative descriptions is a balancing act. You want to include details to enrich the reading experience, and to bring the reader into your story’s world. But you also want to keep it lean enough so that the action keeps moving. 

One great rule of thumb for writing action is that it should take about as long to read as it would to show in a motion picture. So, if you imagine a lingering, long shot, write about it in more detail. Likewise, if you imagine a fast-paced scene, keep the details lean so that the read flows quickly down the page. This is a great way to ‘direct’ the way in which the reader ‘sees’ your scene.

Note that this rule mostly applies to writing narrative description in the middle of the scene, as your description should probably be a bit heavier at the start of the scene to help us get oriented. Once you’ve laid the foundation of the scene, then you can use this method to move the reader through it. 

Don’t become overly concerned with timing how long it takes you to read your narrative description, though. This is simply a nice trick to determine whether you’re writing too little or too much. 

BE CLEAR

One of your top priorities when writing narrative description should be clarity. You want the reader to know exactly what they’re ‘seeing’ and ‘hearing’. 

The best and easiest ways to be clear are to be objective and concise. Write short and simple sentences that are direct and to-the-point about what they’re saying.

Please note that this doesn’t mean that your script has to be void of style. Don’t underestimate the power of words. Think about your choice of verbs. Think about syntax. Use metaphors. Repeat yourself. Write in a way that ebbs and flows across the page. Directly engage your reader. Give your narrative voice a bit of snark or sass. Use damn, shit, or fuck in your descriptions. It’s your script.

Writing clearly and writing with style aren’t mutually exclusive. I will say, however, that it’s a good idea to write in a way that a high-schooler would be able to read and understand. No one has a complete vocabulary, and nothing feels more pretentious than a script that makes me stop and look up a word.

It’s also worth noting that most of the time that writers break from conventions of format, they’re doing so for the sake of clarity. There are many conventions of formatting that are easy enough to read and understand IF you’re familiar with the formatting convention, such as SUPER or INSERT. For the uninitiated, however, it would make much more sense to just clearly and simply write what’s on-screen in sentence format. Instead of SUPER, you might write “The screen reads:”. Instead of INSERT, you just write specific details of an object in its own action block.

BREAK IT UP

Regardless of whether you write short and simple or long, winding narrative descriptions, you should break up your paragraphs, or action blocks, into smaller, more digestible chunks. What I mean is that you shouldn’t have your narrative description in giant action blocks between scene headings or lines of dialogue. You want to partition it out over the page.

There are several issues with having big blocks of action. 

• It’s intimidating for the reader. 

  • You don’t want someone to dread or hesitate to read your script. 

• It can be difficult for the reader to keep their place while reading. 

  • A giant sea of characters makes it hard to stay oriented and anchored while reading, especially if/when the reader needs to look away from the screen or page. 

• Big blocks of action slow the read down. 

  • Whether or not your action is broken up obviously doesn’t affect your word count, but it does affect how many words fit on a single page, and we want to keep the read moving, which means pages turning.

Instead, use the return key to break up your action blocks into smaller chunks.

But when is a good time to break off into a new action block?

As a visual person, one philosophy that I use is to break each action block into individual shots. So every time I mentally see a cut in the film, I create a new action block. This results in scripts that don’t normally go over a couple of lines per action block. I personally like this because it results in a fairly brisk reading experience, and I understand my writing philosophy, so it also helps me to imagine the shots in my head.

You might have a somewhat higher bar for hitting the return key in your writing, however. Perhaps you only create a new action block every time you switch characters, areas within the scene, or larger beats on action. Ultimately, do whatever makes sense to you.

I personally recommend, though, for the sake of a clear and easy read, to limit your action blocks to no more than 5 or 6 lines. I find this is about the maximum for a reader to make a mental anchor when reading, which allows them to easily reference where they are on the page at any given time. 

OTHER ACTION CONVENTIONS

Besides describing the scenes and action detail, narrative description also includes a number of other conventions that help the reader with making sense of what’s going on in the story. 

INTRODUCING CHARACTERS

Do a little exercise the next time you’re watching a film. About halfway through, hit pause, and ask yourself what the main characters’ names are. If you’re anything like me, you might be able to name one or two, but in all likelihood your brain knows them by what they look like, and what they’ve done so far in the story. 

Viewers of a movie or series have the benefit of seeing characters, which really helps when it comes to remembering who’s who. Readers of a script are at a disadvantage because we only have words on a screen or page, so we have to remember which characters are which by their name, primarily.

One of the more consistent conventions is to use narrative description to introduce characters in a way that stands out, and is, hopefully, memorable to the reader. 

ALL CAPS

When a character first appears in the script ‘on-screen’, we should put their name in ALL CAPS. This helps the name stand out on the page, and grab the reader’s attention. Note that I say to do this when a character appears on-screen, so you wouldn’t put their name in all caps if they’re simply mentioned in dialogue or somehow come up in the narrative description without being on-screen.

In a feature-length script, it also helps us to keep sorted which characters we’ve met, and which ones we haven’t. 45 pages into a script, it can become difficult remembering if we’ve already met Shane, or if we’re thinking of that dude Shawn.

This is also nice for doing table reads of a script, because it’s a bit of a signal for a reader to know when they show up.

It’s important to note that we only put the name in ALL CAPS once, the very first time we see them. After that, the character’s name will be in regular title case like any other proper noun.

TITLE CASE

Related, a character’s name, or what they go by, should always be written in title case in a script, even if you don’t use their real name. Title case is when you capitalize the first letter of every word. The only exception to this is when we first see them, which again should be all caps. 

So, if you’re writing a minor character who is only in one scene, named Henchman 3, you should be sure to capitalize the H in Henchman 3, because even though it’s not a true proper noun, it’s how the character is known to the reader.

AGE

Since being concise and efficient is important in screenwriting, it’s a good idea to include an age or age range when introducing a new character. Most writers include this in parentheses, or between commas, right after the character’s name. Some writers will write it in a sentence of characterization description. 

So, including age might look like this:

Standing between the trees is BRAD (30s), carrying a camera around his neck.

DENNIS, 40s, stares forward with a distant and lifeless look in his eyes.

This isn’t something that every writer does, but I find it to be very helpful to the reader. Including an age only uses a few characters on the page, but can do a lot to help inform our mental image of the character.

Imagine a scene where a character cat-calls at a woman as she enters a building. Without context, you probably imagined that character as being in their 30’s or 40’s, but what if I intended for that character to be 13? Or even 83? Age provides information that can entirely change the context of a character and scene. 

CHARACTERIZATION

It’s not very often that you want your reader to make up every aspect of what your character looks like, especially not your main characters. Instead, when you introduce a new character in the script, include a bit of description that characterizes them. 

Remember that characterization is the superficial details of a character. This might include their body type, what they’re wearing, how they carry themselves, what sort of expression they wear, how they walk, and any other details you find relevant or necessary for someone to see your character in a similar way to how you do. 

Some writers say to only include whatever details are necessary for the story. While I understand this from the standpoints of script efficiency, and leaving a production team with creative freedom on casting options, I personally appreciate a bit more guidance. I want to see a character as the writer sees them, and I want a reader to see my characters the way that I see them. 

SOUNDS

Narrative description isn’t just about what’s seen, but also what is heard. Pretty much any sound that isn’t dialogue should probably be described to some degree in the narrative description.

Oftentimes, sounds will be implied by other details of the scene. If a scene takes place in the woods during the day, it’s understood that we’ll hear the sounds of birds chirping and the trees blowing in the breeze. In cases like that, you can make the decision as to whether you write about those sounds - to emphasize them or to just better immerse your reader in the scene - or not; you don’t have to. 

You would certainly write about an absence of these noises, however, as that would be strange and out of the ordinary.

Other sounds, such as a gunshot, car backfiring, or a helicopter overhead, should certainly be included in the narrative description. Not only that, but many writers put prominent and important sounds in ALL CAPS as well. Again, this helps bring this to the reader’s attention, and signifies its importance in the scene. 

If it’s not a sound that impacts what’s happening in the story, though, you probably don’t need to put it in all caps, as that would be distracting and misleading. This is another area where you, as a writer, have to come up with your own set of rules for when and why you do something. 

IMPORTANT ITEMS + ACTIONS

You can also put important items, or even actions, in ALL CAPS.

This is one area where I see a lot of writers go overboard, though. If there are dozens of words on the page in ALL CAPS, none of them will seem all that important to me. I’ve become desensitized, and the technique has lost its effect. If there are just a few words in ALL CAPS, however, then those will grab my attention. Moderation is important here.

TEXT ON-SCREEN

Since we’re writing for motion pictures, it’s common for the subject of on-screen text to come up. While most writers don’t worry about including anything about the title of their film or episode, a lot of stories include information such as location or year on the screen to add context for the viewer, and we can do the same for our readers. 

There’s a conventional way to achieve text on-screen, and it’s called a SUPER, which stands for SUPERimposed. Using this tool, text on-screen would look like this:

SUPER: “MUNCIE, INDIANA”

A SUPER would be its own action block, so that it would stand out a bit more on the page.

While a SUPER is an industry convention, many writers find ways to more organically set up the text on-screen, as is mentioned earlier in the article. A lot of writers will handle it by writing something to the effect of “The screen reads: MUNCIE, INDIANA” or “The words “MUNCIE, INDIANA” fade onto the screen.”

All of these methods are totally fine. Just remember that clarity should be one of your highest priorities as a writer, so handle text on-screen however you want to, as long as it’s intuitive enough for most people to read it and understand it.

BEYOND ACTION

There are plenty of other formatting tools and conventions that fall into the realm of narrative description, but these are the basics, and are more than enough to write most scripts. We’ll cover a few others in a later article over Advanced Narrative Formatting.

In the next format article, we’ll be looking at character headings, parentheticals, and dialogue. At that point, we will have covered everything needed to write the vast majority of scripts. Past that is the hard part: writing.