From blank page to Hollywood-standard PDF. Learn every element, every shortcut, every tool — the professional way to write a screenplay in ScriptAce.
A screenplay is written in a very specific format — one page equals roughly one minute of screen time. Every element — sluglines, action, dialogue — has a precise position on the page. ScriptAce handles all of it automatically.
Click each element to highlight it in the editor preview. ScriptAce auto-detects and formats each one as you type.
Tells WHERE and WHEN. Always begins with INT. or EXT. followed by location and time of day. ScriptAce auto-detects this when you start typing INT. or EXT.
Describes what the audience SEES — the physical world of the story. Written in present tense. Brief, visual, cinematic. Full margin width.
The character's name centered above their dialogue. Always ALL CAPS. ScriptAce auto-uppercases and tracks every character in the Navigator.
What the character SAYS. Indented left and right. The Dialogue Coach watches for clichés, overlapping voices, and monologues.
A brief acting direction inside dialogue — used sparingly. Type ( and ScriptAce instantly converts the line. Industry advice: use only when absolutely necessary.
Tells the editor HOW to move from one scene to the next. CUT TO: is standard. ScriptAce shows autocomplete for all WGA-standard transitions.
ScriptAce's intelligence engine detects what you're writing and applies the correct format automatically.
| Command | Short | Result | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| /scene | /sc | Scene Heading — bold, uppercase, full width | Element |
| /action | /ac | Action description — left-aligned | Element |
| /character | /ch | Character cue — centered, all caps | Element |
| /dialogue | /di | Dialogue block — indented left and right | Element |
| /parenthetical | /pa | Acting direction in parentheses | Element |
| /transition | /tr | CUT TO: / DISSOLVE TO: — right-aligned | Element |
| /beat | — | Inserts a • BEAT: action marker | Action |
| /dual | — | Dual-dialogue column for two simultaneous speakers | Action |
| — | Instantly exports as WGA-standard PDF | Action | |
| /hr | — | Inserts a horizontal rule / visual separator | Action |
Access from the ⋮ menu → Writer Tools. Each tool opens a dedicated panel for deep script analysis.
Scans every scene and classifies its emotional tone — Tension, Comedy, Romance, Drama, Action, Mystery. Renders a color-coded canvas timeline of your script's full emotional arc.
Builds a voice profile for every character — vocabulary richness %, average line length, unique word count. Flags clichés, overly long monologues, and voices that sound too similar.
Tracks character deaths, reappearances, prop introductions, and location jumps. Catches errors like a character speaking after they died, or unexplained location transitions.
WGA industry draft color system — White, Blue, Pink, Yellow, Green. Enable revision mode and every edited line gets a colored asterisk * marker in the margin.
Calculates the shooting time for every scene based on dialogue words, action words, number of characters, and action keywords (FIGHT, CHASE, EXPLOSION).
Gives your script a 0–100 Format Health Score. Catches orphan dialogue, consecutive scene headings, action blocks over 5 sentences. Runs automatically every 4 seconds.
Real-time collaboration with presence indicators, threaded comments, suggestion mode, and role-based access control.
See collaborators' cursor positions as colored avatars. A typing animation shows who is actively writing.
Click any line to add a comment. Comments appear in the right panel. Reply inline, resolve threads, or delete.
Suggest edits to lines without changing them. Suggested lines show a green pen icon badge. Accept or reject each one.
Share as Owner, Admin, Editor, or Viewer. Toggle public access for anyone with the link.
Shows every collaborator who has touched the script, color-coded by user. Click a contributor to highlight only their lines.
Tag any line with a custom label — Action, Emotional, Key Scene. Tags show as badges inline and export to the Scene Breakdown table.
Click the Export button in the header (or use /pdf) to open the format selector.
WGA-standard margins, 12pt Courier, title page included. White background, black text — Hollywood submission ready.
Open in Final Draft, Highland, or any professional screenwriting tool. Preserves all element types and scene structure.
Things the best ScriptAce writers do differently.
Don't click the toolbar buttons — just press Tab to cycle through Scene → Action → Character → Dialogue. Your hands never leave the keyboard.
Type the first 2 letters of any character name on a Character line. ScriptAce suggests all matching names — prevents ARJUN and ARJUN (V.O.) being treated as two different characters.
The gold score badge at bottom-right auto-updates every 4 seconds. A score below 70 means structural formatting problems. Fix them before you're 80 pages in.
After writing the first act, open the Beat Map and look at the color pattern. A great script should have varied tones — not 30 consecutive Drama scenes.
Before sending any draft, open Continuity Checker. It catches dead characters reappearing, props that vanish, and unexplained location jumps.
When doing a rewrite pass, turn on Revision Marks set to the correct WGA draft color. Your reader will instantly know which lines changed since the last draft.
Start free. Every format, every tool, every draft — exactly right. No Final Draft needed.
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