38 terms · plain English

The screenwriting glossary

Every term a screenplay throws at you, defined without jargon — what it means, how to format it, and where it fits in the craft. From the slugline at the top of a scene to the STET on a coloured revision page.

Page elements

(MORE) / (CONT'D)(MORE) and (CONT'D) keep a single speech intact across a page break. When a character's dialogue runs off the bottom of a page, (MORE) sits beneath the last line and (CONT'D) rides next to the character cue when the speech resumes at the top of the next page. Most software inserts both automatically.Read
Action lineAn action line is the prose in a screenplay that describes what the audience sees and hears — movement, behaviour, and visual detail — between the dialogue. It is written in the present tense, set full-width on the page, and kept lean: a screenplay describes only what the camera can capture.Read
Character cueA character cue is the uppercase name centred above a block of dialogue that tells the reader who is speaking. Extensions like (V.O.), (O.S.), or (CONT'D) attach to the cue to mark voice-over, off-screen delivery, or continued speech across a page break.Read
DialogueDialogue is the spoken text a character delivers in a screenplay. It sits in a narrow column beneath the character cue, indented from both margins. Screenplay dialogue is formatted distinctly from action so a reader — and an actor — can find every line at a glance.Read
Dual dialogueDual dialogue is the formatting used when two characters speak at the same time, with their lines set in two side-by-side columns. It signals that the speeches overlap rather than alternate — useful for arguments, interruptions, and crowd moments where simultaneity is the point.Read
Fade In"FADE IN:" is the transition that traditionally opens a screenplay, set flush left at the very top of page one. Its mirror, "FADE OUT.", closes the script. The pair brackets the screenplay the way a curtain frames a stage — the image rising from and settling back into black.Read
Mini-slugA mini-slug is a short, partial scene heading used to move the eye within a single location without resetting the scene. Writers use them — a single word like "KITCHEN" or "ON THE PHONE" — to control pace and direct attention inside a master scene, without the overhead of a full slugline.Read
Off-Screen (O.S.)Off-screen, abbreviated (O.S.), marks dialogue or sound from a source that is physically present in the scene but outside the frame — a character calling from the next room. On multi-camera shows the equivalent is (O.C.), off-camera. Both attach to the character cue.Read
ParentheticalA parenthetical, sometimes called a wryly, is a short instruction in parentheses inside a dialogue block. It notes how a line is delivered or what a character does mid-speech — "(whispering)", "(to Sam)". Used sparingly, it clarifies; overused, it steps on the actor's job.Read
SluglineA slugline is the scene heading that opens every scene in a screenplay. It names whether the scene is interior or exterior, the location, and the time of day — for example, "INT. KITCHEN — NIGHT." Sluglines are set in all caps and tell the reader, and later the crew, exactly where and when the action happens.Read
TransitionA transition is an uppercase cue — "CUT TO:", "DISSOLVE TO:", "SMASH CUT TO:" — that marks how one scene gives way to the next. Set flush right, transitions signal an edit. Modern spec scripts use them lightly, since a hard cut between scenes is already implied.Read
Voice-Over (V.O.)Voice-over, abbreviated (V.O.), marks dialogue spoken by a character who is not physically present in the scene as a sound source — narration, a remembered line, a phone voice routed through a device. The (V.O.) extension sits next to the character cue to flag it for the reader and the sound team.Read

The screenwriting glossary

Page elements

Craft technique

Story structure

Documents & drafts

Production & revisions

The screenwriting glossary

Page elements

Craft technique

Story structure

Documents & drafts

Production & revisions