✏️ WritingGrade 4Lesson 28
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Write Scripts or Dialogues
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Learning Objectives
- 1Identify the formatting conventions of a script or dialogue
- 2Write a short script using character names, stage directions, and dialogue
- 3Add stage directions and speaker labels to an incomplete dialogue
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Mini Lesson
A script is a written text for a play, film, or radio show. Unlike a story, a script presents the spoken words of characters directly, formatted so actors and directors know exactly who says what and how the scene should look.
Script Format Conventions
- Character name: written in CAPITALS or bold before each line of speech.
- Dialogue: the character's exact words, without quotation marks.
- Stage directions: instructions for movement, emotion, or setting, written in brackets and italics — (enters stage left), (nervously).
- Scene heading: describes the setting and time — SCENE 1: INT. LIBRARY — DAY.
- New speaker = new line; long speeches are not interrupted by stage directions mid-sentence.
Writing Dialogue That Sounds Natural
- Each character should have a distinct voice — different vocabulary, sentence length, or tone.
- Avoid "on-the-nose" dialogue where characters state the obvious — show, don't tell.
- Use subtext: what a character does not say can be as important as what they do say.
Stage Directions
- Describe actions, entrances, exits, expressions, and sound effects.
- Keep them brief and specific — tell actors what matters, not how to feel.
- Written in present tense: "(crosses to the window)", not "(crossed)".
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Tip: Read your script aloud — if a line sounds unnatural when spoken, rewrite it until it flows.
Vocabulary
script
The written words and directions for a play or video.e.g. The actors learned the script.
dialogue
The words characters say to each other.e.g. The dialogue showed the brothers arguing.
character
A person or being in a story or play.e.g. The main character was a brave girl.
stage direction
Notes that tell actors what to do.e.g. "(whispers)" is a stage direction.
speaker label
The characters name shown before their lines.e.g. AMY: I am ready. — "AMY:" is the speaker label.
setting
Where and when the scene happens.e.g. The setting was a busy market in the morning.
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