THE WRITER’S GUIDE · 02 / 14

Writing & the Tab Key

Keep your attention on the scene. Let each element do its formatting.

7 min read · Mac & Windows

In this chapter

Write your first exchange

A screenplay is made of elements: headings, action, character names and dialogue. Each element has its own spacing and position. Avoid using spaces to push dialogue into the middle of the page.

After your heading, press Tab and type: MAYA checks a brass telescope. A red notebook lies open beside her. You are writing Action.
Press Tab after that text. Type MAYA in the Character element.
Press Tab again. The app opens a Parenthetical with brackets. Type without looking up inside them. If you do not need a parenthetical, use Return after the character name to go directly to Dialogue.
Press Tab after the parenthetical and type: We have one clear minute. Tell me you brought the map.
Use Return at the end of the speech to make an Action line. On that empty line, use Tab to choose Character when you want Leo to answer.

Step 1: Action follows the heading. Write visible behavior in the present tense. Open full size ↗

Step 2: the next Tab creates a Character element. Open full size ↗

Step 3: a parenthetical is a short cue, not a place for a long action paragraph. Open full size ↗

Step 4: Dialogue appears at the correct width and position automatically. Open full size ↗

Where Tab takes you

This table applies when the current element contains text, outside a suggestion menu or a two-column passage. Tab inserts the next element; it does not insert a tab character into your screenplay.

Current element with text	Tab creates	Use it for
Scene Heading	Action	Describe what we see.
Action	Character	Name the next speaker.
Character	Parenthetical	Add a short delivery cue, or use Return for Dialogue.
Parenthetical	Dialogue	Write the spoken line.
Dialogue	Parenthetical	Add a delivery cue within the speech; use Return for Action.
Transition	Scene Heading	Begin the next scene.
Shot / Mini-slug	Action	Describe the shot.
New Act	Scene Heading	Begin the act’s scene.
End of Act	New Act	Continue with the act assistant in TV / multicamera.
Teaser/Act One	Scene Heading	Begin the scene after the act marker.

An empty line behaves differently

On an empty element, Tab changes the type of that same line. The choices depend on the element above it. Shift + Tab cycles backward on an empty line. An untouched pair of parenthesis brackets counts as empty.

Element above the empty line	What the Tab cycle offers
Scene Heading	Scene Heading, Action, Character and Shot; the current type is retained in the cycle.
Character	Parenthetical and Dialogue.
Parenthetical	Dialogue, plus the current type if different.
Action, Shot or Transition	Ordinary non-speech elements; it skips bare Dialogue and Parenthetical.
Dialogue	Other ordinary elements, retaining the current type.
End of Act in TV / multicamera	The act assistant.
No preceding element	The ordinary element types.

Acts, Split Screen and Dual Dialogue are special choices in the element menu. Inside a two-column passage, Tab follows that passage’s own column sequence. When an autocomplete list is open, Tab or Return accepts its highlighted suggestion first.

Return and the Element menu

At the end of Character or Parenthetical, Return creates Dialogue. After a Transition, it creates a Scene Heading. After most other elements, it creates Action. Inside existing text, Return can split the line at the caret.

If you land on a type you did not intend, use the Element selector in the bottom bar. It is also a useful way to learn the available types. The Next Element and Delete Element buttons sit beside it.