Thread by @MikeLew4

Play Formatting PSA:
In undergrad one of the 1st things Donald Margulies did was teach us proper play formatting. Which felt like a huge bummer. Shouldn't it be story first? Who cares about formatting?! Don't you see that l WILL CHANGE THE FORM, WITH THE POWER OF ART? 1/

But now that I've done a ton of reading committees, I can see he was right. In the same way you wouldn't show up to a job interview dressed wrong for the job, when I'm reading a ton of plays my first cut rejections boil down to, "Does this manuscript LOOK like a play or not?" 2/

And the most screwed up thing is that published plays don't look like manuscript-form plays, so you can't just learn by picking up an acting edition at the bookstore or your submission'll look weird. To wit, a thread about formatting. ARE YOU EXCITED?? 3/

A full-length play is approx 100 pgs in length (50 pgs per act). Sure your length may vary. You may have a lean 75 pg straight-through-no-intermission piece or a 120 pg 2-act that "should read really really fast" (hi @jiehaejiehae). 4/

But if you're submitting a 40-pager as a full-length I start to look askance at its full-length-iness. Similarly if you submit a 200-pg opus I'm literally like "Goddammit!" At either extreme I'm not going to read as avidly, I'm just not, regardless of how good it is. 5/

Software-wise ppl tend to write in Word or Final Draft. Final Draft will format for you but it's slightly more rigid. Plus not everyone can afford specialized script software. Word requires more self-formatting but is a lot more fluid. (PLASTICITY @VogelPaula!!) 6/

Start with a title page - title is center of the page and your by-line goes below it. Then contact info and agency info (if any) bottom right corner. 7/

For the 2nd page (tho it isn't a "numbered" page), I tend to put the title again in bold, followed by the setting notes, and character lists. Any front matter can go here too - dedications, author notes etc. 8/

Your script starts on the next pg. Number your pages. (Starting with 1 - don't count the front matter.) Again, NUMBER YOUR PAGES! Your SM/dramaturg/director - everyone will thank you. It's also nice to include the date on the upper right, esp for rewrites (more on that later). 9/

Now the formatting nitty gritty!
*character names in all caps & centered
*dialogue left-justified
*in-dialogue stage directions like "(she exits)" should be in parentheses and italics
*longer stage directions should be tabbed in and (optionally) italicized 10/

*New scenes get their own line (i.e. "Scene 1") - bolded and numbered
*Get that EXT/INT shit outta there! Dead giveaway your "play" is a pilot.
*Start a new pg for each scene
*End the act on an all-caps "END OF ACT 1" "END OF PLAY" etc - and bold it too cuz that feels GREAT 11/

BONUS! How to format new page rewrites in rehearsal:
*ALWAYS date new pages (upper right corner)
*Keep the pagination the same as the day you started rehearsals!!
*if a rewrite is LONGER than the original pagination, you'll do ABC pages, i.e. 43A, 43B, etc 12/

*If a rewrite is SHORTER than the original pagination (THE BEST!), the last page of the insert becomes a multi-pager that syncs you back up, ie. pg 42 becomes "42-43"
*if the changes are minor and don't require all-new pages, a cut sheet will do
13/

*Also during rehearsals try to keep a clean updated script with correct pagination handy for tech - your SM and designers will thank you.

Good luck out there!

END OF PLAY I MEAN THREAD/