;fi

VYnitllng lor iiiiralarncarsi; N4[ecj]ln

A seireempltay or scnlp tis abiweprint fbi. 'profuaatngu rn"otion-plcture" Screenpllays anp

either aCaptations fron'r previous works (surela as a novcl, pJlay, TV-slhow, or slnont story)
or onginal worlis. .\ scrcenplayTiiTils trreirnir it serirpt ill 'lliil;,lri it is lllolc s1p,oc;ificalny {iurgotccn
at th.e visriraX, narrative afts, sueh as film and television, wl'lereas a scnipt aanr invollve a
Yt'lweprirrt al't'whul happcns" in a conti,r:, alr ar.,rilvod.i:;slr,'rsn1l., arr tliileatricall p,{ay arne11 otllfrrer
" bl'"lep:inted " creations.

Ttrte mLa.joreomponents of a sereenplay arc g€lion @dialqgue, wirila tllae "action" being
"what we see happening" anC "dialogue" buiolg
**ha,t tine aTdffiaters say". llJlae elaaraeters,
when first inkodriced in the sereenpnay, nnay also be desanihed visuLallJly. Scn'eemp)lays
diflfer fl:om tr:aditionatr lliteratllre cculrvcu,lliieuls iila rxvlti'ys cllescriil[rocll hcllow; l]l,trwa:vrlr,
sereenplays ntay not involve emrotion-rella'tecr ciiesarrip'ilorns a,r,tril orllheLr aslpccts of rlJhe stony
that a:re, tn faclL, visual within the end-p;rodulct.

Sei l'rvsiter

A serip/;writcn is a pcrson whc wntes scripts for m,ovies, plays, ileJlevision, comedy
shows, pciitieal speeehes and other;oresenta'rions. Seiriptr*n'iting is noriahly diffenent ftoan
witillg novels in its brevify: thc ar/e,:age ;fu.lI-length ifuat:ui:e movie se;reernplay is between
95 and i25 pages.

TIC_qas;c @iitrerences bctn /ecn _ryery!_oi@g_r-mnqdlA

trt's diffieurlt,io eomc aeross a tDerscr" wno's ma..de a gccd frirn of a baLcjl senipt. Tlhe fotlndatlon of a

t;roduee: a rctt af iinue, etergy artd irrtpc(e.rlt1,y, :3xsv,s, .

Scrip'tv,lnttng tnvaives vrsuanisation anc;;u'fi.ir,g it i,n v'rorcls axx pe.pe,(. V/lhile one neecl rnot he a
{ihakes:sea.reor V/ordswo fth or e'verr lFraneis ':}arJan, iti cioes re,quire an aspinimg seripliwrlten to be
wenl-reaci" updtated alldl wenl-infomred" Ar good vocaburiary amd tLle ahilliiry to tlhink creatlivelly alld
write shoffi but effeetlve scntenecs p:aekeeil lviiih rrneaning are tlhe hasie requinenaents of a
scniptwri'rer.

While pointing out'rhe dif,f,erences in'anlirrg for print, radio and tenevrsioll, tllrris see'tion wilil lay
ite func-a.rr'ente,i r:rinci^;\es involvec, :.'r, vr'";':::.i; ic': ':iir sCr?;e;1fi.
rJ,o'wn

Le[ us begin 'uitk a srmall exe,eise.',llzitcin awrirnet tirme nev/s hulle'rin" ]R.eeond the atldio of ttlae
first three stories in the bulletin on your iapc ieeorcer. 'ihe next morning, connparre the sto,nies you
have neeor.ciied wirth iihe stories printeci inr. ,ihe newsrcaper. lFLilntlhroi", folldi a slhaalt olr- tpapen tvertioalllly
and write dcwn what ycu iear froyni'ne:,z.pe::cccrd,si cn thc ieift I'land sidc of the page. Copy tX'le
first two 'paragrapks af 'the story f,ro,rn Toir r;o:'vvsparter o:ir 'r;he riglht hand slde. Rcad bolrih of trnenn
alouC. 3c you c-bserve a differenee :n tne';tzy'.7,e lr.evlsicri a,neihor/ncporte,r s,poke a;n'd tlre
newspaper TeLDor$\er: \\)t'ote? lflhat's b'er::irL::l 'llt'c r'rlr.rr'l'./;rrrrrt:lnlir sproiKc lklr yourr c{rrs. Bult rlX'ro
 newspaperf retporter wrote tne s{tory .for ycrii 3yc" 3:c,"::s c:l tolevisl'on are Jistened lo and seen.
Stonies in a newspaper arc yead. Thatis the dlf',ri.er.-enec.

lnlext, tunc ini:"o a fuJk slh.ovr o;: a fr,iom-:oa.se'a sitcvt r>::, 'r.cle yislon anC observc how the host speaks.
Tlney spealk as iiitihey ane tallking to ycu" ilhey sroeak the ilangt-nage you speak. lfhat's beeause they
want you to unrdenstand wlnat they ane saying in one go. llil you don't understand a sentenee or
wond in a newspaper, you can read it omce again to uncle;rstand it. tsut o;n television, that's not tl,le
oase. llhenef,one, wtaat's said on televislon has to be elear, has to be in a language that's easy to
understamd. Imrfaet, you.jrr-rstl have to he a.hle tc speck the trangu.age being spoken on television. To
rr.nmdenstand wiflat's wnittcm in a newstoaper, you need to know hcw ta read.

So, when you wnite fon video you wnnte infornnally. Vou vrzrite colloquially. You write as if you
ane addlnessi ng e,ack pejrsoni sitfr.ing ir,, f;:oni of ':";rc ':e'!<:vis j,.-:i sei.

R.ead the fiollowing exarmpJle. Notice tlae difFcrenee rn wntlng for a newspaper and wrrting for
televisiom"

ilt is a lt"rsh gneen ganclen. The siky rs blue and';he

water in the hig pondl in the rmiddle of,t;he ga.rden
ris refiieeting tlrlre greyish whi'ie cltoirds in the sky.
llhe ponncjl has piirrnk loturscs with, cnro:plcls ai,Nr.Le::
dancimg orn grocn Jlezi'zcs. Surlitglnx' t:; tiI't; 'tat:zfti,on l,trne tr'or sclrool children. ',1 ir;ku,
l.lh,oiin rllurllJl
fliltcnirn'g tJhnougl'l tJhe hig banyan tree near the Finkii and Rinku are having a whale of a time
pornd. llhe childnem eould not ask for a bette: ca5v playing Iderry go round.
to play. Eright yeltrow and ncd balloons aie Others are busy play)ng hide and seek. But
swaying in the ain cven as tlhc ehildren try ta some'rning seen?s to be worrying tsobby.
hond them dowm. '[inku, Pinkul anC Rinku are Dossl"r- he have fiiends? Or is he worried thai
playirag lWerry ga a'ownd.l\4e;rimeni is elca:iy il his ::c:r will punish him for losing his Teddy
tlac ain. lea.r?

JEohhy is sitting qulietly 'trmdlen the taanyan t:e:e

waitirng for his n'lother tc arrive. hle is rsrlla-os
worried that lne will he punistrred fcn iosing h:s
favoulnite Tecrdy bear". ".

youn irearcleli llecrJls rlo inwgine w]hat's wii-lttell. 'll';ittr.t:tiio:ie, youi wilX need'to rJescribe the blue sky, .
tihe gneyish irylhite enoulds, tl,le pink lori'uses aLnci collourfi-il iballcons. When your reader goesthraugh
tlne above D,assage, he wiil inaagine tlhe situaticin. iBrut on tenevisiona, you doil't write so iong. Youl
woulllcl -justs,rrolvtlhe'lushg;ieen''gar: en,tlne"-5;ue's[<y.enithe"pink'lotusesandsoon. You
orany ,w;iite 'to supplcmenri what you sho,w. Wnei yctl v.rrite fior television, deseribing what you see
wou-rnd be ncdl'undant. lli,rsrlezLdl, onrr: wo'ulllC s,ripnlentenX. tl:,e ,zisuals with othcr inforrnationthat.
viewens canmot penoeive. jl'lhe narnes of the clailir:en anrJ tl'le garnes tleey are ptraying and whzJ"
tsohhy is gonng tlhnouglh would be irnportant. So, yrou fii! in on those details. T'his means tlnat
,wlaile a ne\ /spalper wnitcr ean go inarlo rlhe rnincjjs of ',ihe e harae ters, televisiorn requires you to
expnain rt. AJ a vlewen, one eannot go irrato the rnlnri af Bobby. Sin'lptry pult, ideas have to be
cornv,eyeC in terrnns of pic,turi"es- sotlncii ancii e-ctioii'rs-
 Rememnhen the primciple: lDom't wmtc wlhat yorur sees whail yoru hesrn" lPnovidle imforrur,natiom
that vlewens cammot see, cammot hean.

Writing for video nequires a distinct language style. Being a medium whiela Ys keard and seen,
and not read,ttte language has to be simplc and eonversational. Long-winding sentenees and
complex words are difficutrt to understand sinee telcvisroll is a transicnrt nnedit"lm, i.e. vicwers see
the-progrannrne only once. Simple, shoft sentenecs, in aotive volee, witlnout complex words and
expression are ideal in television writing.

bfiow impavwmt ls tlne Scrflytt?

Very irnportant. Different k:nds of pnograrnn'xes requine diffcnent appnoaehcs. Fietion nequines
elabarate ici"ipt work-right frorn carnera srnb'as; chanacilen n,overnents to dialogures. nf it is am
anchor-based slnow, rnost of it is written dovvn but gives the host a eertain freedom to adnib sonee
lines.

Therefore, a script helps in organising all produetion-relatcd inf,onaaation, establislaing a sllaow's

format, and reveal a show's content.
The ability to organise written n'laterial into a usable foinrnat is a speciatr talcmt alad nequines
practice andanunderstzndingof how asaript is used in production.

Writlng fon your audience

The style, tone and cornplexity of a script for a ehildren's prognamnnne onn nnaking {inae hcst use of
hoiidays on Pogo Clnnnel will be different from the National Geog,aphic Ckannel senipt on
nublear weapons. Cbviously, the "se of language and sfyle depends on the issue, the pnoduetion
situationandthetargetaudience.AseripT1vri66frfa@entirelydifferent
from a script written for Yy'orld This Week. This is beeeuse eaeh of tlee progran'rrnnes tristed ahove
have different tar get audiences.

Tite cornposition of an audience is ancther in'ryartz,n't faetcr for the writer to eonsidcr. For
exarnple, a news story about a wandal tn a statc atrned at a |,acall avdience coutrd assuune that most
viewers are familiar with the chief minister, tke cabtnet n'rinisters and the surrounding characters
and events. T'he same story would have to be written qurite differently fon a raationan network
auldience, since the degree of famitriarity va,ries. A\ ilir{ilo nnone time will lrrave to he sper,nt pnoviding
the backgnound and the people invoived.

Every script goes thnough several revisions bef,ore ifinalisartiom. At scnipt my nequlirie nevisions for
reasons of pnoblems with charactenisarlion or t:vcu soquurrcing. Orllhans nlay noquiint: ncvisilons
because the scriptwriter's imagination andthe budgets dcn't matolh. lin suole eases, it nraay have to
be rewritbn to atrtraw pr"odunction within the huclgot linrit.
Thinegs [o remember
o Always research well before writing tlhe soruprt.
o KeWthetargetaudience in mind.
o Time your script
o .Always include all elements of a scnipt.*video, arudio
(diaiogueVcomrnentary/mu s iclso Lrnd effeets) and gnaph ics.
 Scripts ean erflren be wnittem im tlae splicpage fbmlat on fiiee eoiinmercian fihn fomaat. Fdere is an
exampne of a senipt in thc split-pagc foineat.

Video Audflo
Dense fonest witfta hirds
Supen: R.amganthittu tsird Samefiiary, Chirping cf birds
Sninamgapatmartm
rClosc inr clrn tlnc loirr-clls. V/O: \Winrtcrs are bittenly eotrd in Russia this
Close-urp of one of tnae swans. tinae o-f the year.
Shofs of hinds fnuffier"ing and makimg
tnaennselives conrrrfonrtahle on hnanaches.
Cut to CUs otirbinds and hea,ks lF!r.itter and ehirps
'V/Q)'; {io,l"lharse birds xnigrata hero in seareh of
Slow pan from lleft to nigllat onr tlae tnees. wo,t*u.,ri?t c Iinmates.
lBincl settlimg on n hnamclh
Amhlenec
V/O: Cften, these birds travel up to 3000
ki{ornetnes in search of warmth.
Group of tounists watohineg the hineils iinorm a They stay naene for about fbur months and fly
distance. lfounists ehattirng up eaeh ottr'ren, baele home.
pointimg nrl rlllne hilnris,
Wlaen, tnrey are here, these birds beconae a
iourist ati:aetion.
Not all of them are tourists, though.
NfS Fanlea.j S]harruma (FS) with his hinoeulans
and eanaera laarngirng on his shoulders waliking Fankaj Sharma is an avid bird-wateher who
down towarcls rllnre carTxera. eolnes to the R.anganthittil sanctuary every
tsinds on hnanala N4arel-r. I{e spends over two months clicking
FS peeps tlanu hinoaullars a\/ay. CnXy one out of thirty ate fit to
aeeompany his artieles that he regularly
rputhlishcs in N,{T'[JRE...

Writflmg Visual Dianies

One of tlae effeetive ways of leaming laow to write seripts is to learn to wT ite a visual
diary. Sinae TV writimg is more about writing for tlae ear,itis important thatwe know
visl..latr.desariptions of tlaangs al"ld cvents tirat we see around us. This enables us to
visualizc our 'stories' bc it for fiction or nora-fiction. Whitre learning to write visual
diaries heltps in visuanization, orLe rnust renaenaloer raot to unite such descriptive passages
wnaen writing for llV simee the viewer can anso see a lot of infonnation on the screen.

ndeas fon visualization eofile from ohserving, nisfiemrag, readirtg, rememberingand writing
tnaem dowttr. lln short" naaintailaing a vistlan diary.

E
Read the fbilcwing exarnple of an entry in a visr:al diary. lihis entry has heen taken frona a diary
of a scriptwriter. (Courtesy: Mr. CYS Sarma, ls.Ai. Sc,lool r.Jniversity of tr{yderabad):

TItJe af tke enryt Why dfrdrn'tWakrabcallt ft.fna rdas>r? t

This slunr, lillienli shlnrs, is rl ciogx'assim5l; siglllt. 1l'llrra: srluurrtl lll,r>usos nulcl llrulitls.." Mklmy
houlses have tin doors. We ean't see dctails anyway; it's too dlarlk fon tlhat. llhere is
blapk frlth on the pafik-a purddie of dnain waten night in the rniddie of the snulm.
You have to walk around thcnm if you <ion't want to step into it. Thene is alaother
open drain, skirting onc row of,houses/l.luts.

The houses look unpainteti. As you walk through ttae slurn, you can hear, in the
dead of the nighg the slight rumble of tnaffie on tlne laighway in tnre distance. They
are all sarne, these houses...even Kaka's house is.just nike tlee othen houses. It's
srnall and has a window set hrgh. n-nke a window of a pnison celn. The doon is made
of cheap wood. A largish fonn, naale hy ttre looncs of it is walking towands dae door.
There's sornething suspicious about tlae way it rnoves. fts head turns this way and
that, as if to check if anyone was nortieiiilg. l'iher,.l it opens tlhe door quietly, withoult
much effiort and goes in.

The intrurder surveys the roorn. Jl-lie is narge,, darkislh and weans a loose-fitting
trousers and a dark shirt. T'he only souree of liglht in tlae noonn is a hed-lamp. lfwo
tlnings strike you about the room. It's neat and bane. 'lfhenc is a snaatrll wooden tabne
set against the wall and propped on it is a ftarned picture of Kanl Nzfianx. Direetiy
above the picture, nailed to the wa.ll is the ned hamnraer-and-siekle fnag"

The int'uder moves ahead. F{e pushes the Coor ln tlac far eonner of tlais smanl roonra
and enters Kaka's beclrocm.

This roorn is even snr,allcr tnan';ire otler. A e ilothes hangen, a wantr-cloek wlhose faoe
you can't see in the dark. Kaka rs sl.eening on a maftness on lihc fToor. .A erinason
sheet covers the mattress. Kaka is thin, iefinitetry. IF{e's elad ira a nungi. lfnae intruden
bends over lKaka, Kaka's face ts gaunt arnci lhis hrr:athimg steady. The intnuder puts
one hairy hand into his pockot ana d.ravr:; out a grLrn fitted wittn a silieneen.

Kaka wal<es up with a start. )H[e's opening his mouth to slaout, yoLl t]aink, wlaen the
intruder ftresthe first shot into V,aka's chest. Thene's a hnief spit of a sound and
blood starts oozing from Kaka's ehest. Kaka lets out a weak ffinoan. The intnuden
elamps hls left hand on Kaka"s mouth anci fi;res the secoL'ld shot" ttrais tinae throulgl.l
Kaka's tluoat. Spitfine and sitrcnec. Kaka gungles hlood and life chhs out of taim.
ll'he intnuder straightens ulp to checJr l,,ris work as nae shoves ttrae gunr haok into the
pocket. K.akais dead. There- is biood ani!\el,'ralitr,,Amd hlood menging into Kaka's
crimson bedspreat.

The intruder stares at Kaka bnie1itry, 'cu.rns and wanks into the nivillg noonn. We ean
now see his f,aee paftialny. lFic's encan shaven, tlnin nips set in tfTeslny dank faee. Flle's
wearing shcil-frarne gnasses. He stops hriefly ncan Mlanx's pietune alad stanes at it.
F{e then :pens the door careftilJiy, slowly. llt mrakes a eneaking sound as it opens. nt
is silent outside but for tne cistant nlritbie ofl tu"affic. T'hc illtruden walics out. F{e
looks baek onee at his vietiir's l,louse, 1itrnen, expently skintimg tlae drain puddnes he
waiks away into the night.
 "llar
ln iurnrrry 11 0, jl 996; ll 0" 11 l,i ;sr,,rmr
"

You winn notice tlhat the diar"y gives a llot of detai{s and uses slhort sentenees. nt's written in present
temse and you get a sense that the event is happening rzoNr. One ean begin with
shorter visual
dianies arad then pnoeeed to wniting longer ones.

Thinlk of a 'ehildnen's p-ieilie '. Quiekny wnite',down ttre wonds that you associate with a qlmp.
You nnignlt write 'cannpfine, tent, sleeping hags, water cans, bedspreads, lush green mountaini,
water fatrns' cte. Of course, yoLn won't ignore peopne affiending ttre carnp. You have just drawn up a
'mind maap' fon the visual dialy.

Next, think of a mar, ative; a story of sonts. What if'sorneone suddenly disappears? Why did he
disappear? \il/hcne did he disappear? V/lhat is tXne reaction of the other peoplei you wondJr why it
happened amd thintr< of diffcrent reasons. nf youl"ask yoursonf questions about the words yot/te
writtem when yoLl thought ahout 'camp', sonme story ideas rnay start forming. Always keep your
eyes and ears open fon ideas, and keep a noteboofi< laandy to wnitc them down the minute you
think of,theml.

lEefone windimg up, let's do a necap on the pninciples:

o Write lflon the ean. Cheok itFwll'lat you are wniting sounds right to your ear.
o Wnite shont senteraees. ,&oid eor,aplex words and phrases.
o [f youane convinced about tl'le writing, comvert the diary entry into shots and scenes.

S-$erylb-asrd

.A sequence of ineages and amotations for aaartoon, emtmation or video dtawnonpaper

or rendered rimr the conmlpnnten'. Storyboards are previews of,the final version and tjrpically
aontain nnoclcups rather than final art and images.
i"
i
)

Wnurtrmg for frctiorrr

@byeetflves:

o [bevel]ap a p\ak
o Wnlte epfisode bneak-ups
o Devre0op ckaraatens andl ururruirre: cliatfiai;rg1,t;tatr;
o . .lFaumtatyaur ecniipts

{n the previotrs sections, you neannt how to writc seriiotis fon teilevision news and doculruaentaries.
You leamt that a script is a document rihat outiines every aural alad visuan element required to tenl
a story. Fiction scripts go a step ahead and include behaviounal elenaents too. Since many people
are involved in the making of,a prograrutntre, a senipt nnLust comfonrmr to stanadands so that alll pensonrs
related to the programme understanci iri conncctly. 'll-]his s,cctioul thnows nigil-rrl orn the pnincipJlcs
involved in writing seripts fon fiction and ithe standard iflonlmats usecl in the industry.

Youl would have seen episodes of tele'rision series sueh as ti,le onanipresemt 'K' senies, on tlaeir
coilnterparts on regional language ehannens. What dici you notlec? lflaey have been on ain fon
years now! Every day of the week, a new episoCe elfterrtpts to snlstaim dle viewers' intenest. Sonne
swcceed; othewvise, they wouldn'tbc ort air for suetrl a trong tinae now!

IVriting a seript for a 20-minute doeumentary itseXf is no eakewalk. Jlmagine how painstaking it
must be for scriptwriters of these soaps to write senipts for so neany episodes and for so naaray
years! Cne needs to cultivate special skills to wnte those innunnenahlc episodes alld yet be ahne {o
hook the viewers. trf TRFs fall for a series, tPre :first one to take the btralne is the seniptwriten!

One has all the time inthe world to wnte a rnovte scnipt, lBut tenevision is a rnonsten that gobbles
up programmes on ahalf-an-hour basis! Deadlines keep ctraasing the seriptwniter. tsy flie tinae lae
has completed scripting five episodes for the weei<, the elhannel is alneady hunggy for tnac next flive
episodes! rffhile nobody expects classics at tnaat pace, ttrney do expeot some contieauity, sonne
caherence and ssrne rnavernent in &c story. 'lllhis l'r,lca,ns l.lhat you canmot have a 'writen's hnoon<.'.
Not only do you have to chulrn cut scrupts, your aiiso ihave to rnake tllaerm intenestling. Alad
interesting between two commeroial breaks. l3lse, viewcrs willl shrlft charnrnels; viewerslnip
(Television R.ating Foints) for your soap witrX funl anal soon yoLn might llndl youlnsenf senrding out
resumes again! 1

\Mhateven be the flction genre, television seriptwntens deciole on a storyline alld hegim expandlmg
on it. llhey begin writing sequsncet; frtr cvo,ry tc;r;, r,-rillriitlos (to hnr:irli< fon connrrieroiar,ls) amcll rnahe
tkern interesting cnough for the viewe;: to neturn to the soap aften ttr'le bneak. .A very intenesting
'break'in the middle of a sequence willtheneforc bc wasted. nn il.le naiclst of all this, the pnodulcer
of the show tells you that aparticular ckaraate'r has to he'knoclced olilthe story' beoar.lse s/he's
had problems with the actor. Depending how irnpontant the characten is, the ston'y line may itsenf
change. The scriptwriter has yet anotl'ler tasn< oli'l haradl T'he seniptwriten must be aneft enough to
handie such eventualities and make necessan-y changes in the soript. T'his caltrs for utlarost
familiarity of skills.
 Whateven the maodc of deXivery-TV or
"veb strearning--the prlmary task of the soripwriter is to
tetrl a story arad tell it effeetively" To tunl a story ef'ribetively, lihe seniptwriter takes sevenal triberties.
JFon exannple, a llV seniptwniter ean write abcut ary period be it 1857 or 2330. He ean ercate
'places', 'ctaanactens' and 'situations'. lHlis chanaetens cani mnove rlnorn Ftrydenahad to Switzenlaxxd or
tfi.om .,{ustnalia to Kanyakumarri in ahout seconds! Lne can flashhack, flash forward or even tell the
'cutrtrernt' story. llt is tlhis flexihillity th,at a seiriptvrriten us.es to his advantage.

lihe r,'novie seniptwniten lhLas very lliffine tlnrne (say abcut two trnouns) to tell a story that actr.lally ran
fbn ahout, say, eigfint yeans. iEutl a il-V sories writier rJo*sn'tfaco suehrest:rictions. ATV series can
atifond tto take lts ti,rme r'rntri'odiucirng clna.nact,ers, estatrlisii'irirng tlnLe rminieu amd sornetirnes even tell the
stoly ill neail tiinae" 'lltrrene lhave lbeesr insrlances in ii]he west where TV series have run for more than
30 ycnnsl Acttons pilavnnp, riiilcrcnt ckr,ru:'i<',:::; i:r' rhr: :;crie:; a.cfitally Syew up, becarne yanth,
attainedl olcll age amd sorme evern dier,{i iiii a.'t"V sc.:ries (.;aiil hrol<i its viewers'attention it can go on
and on if iit l<eeps tlhe produreeii's and the eho;nnel cwners haproy with good T]R.Fs and revenues.

Ithe hadc; cnmuryt

iEveny seneenpllay begins with a basie eone-^pt. tsasie ecneepts eome from ldeas. Ideas ean eorne
ftona vanious sources. llf a sitLlatioll has af:fueted you ceepiv, ii eould well be a good eoneept for a
senipt. ndeas eould genalinate in ycuir minc or eome froin letters to the eciitor eolumn in a
n€wspaper. llt eould even be a shcrt story ycu have read in a rnagzzine oi a nove]. You get
interesir,ei in iit a:ncil want to wriiie a sc:ilt.

iil.le nex.,i step woilld be to iivide the ecneent ;nfc a nu:lbsr of 'episodes'. To do that, cne musi
finst develiop the stoty. ll'hen w;rite 'what hapne:ls' in eaeh eciscde i,q about two to three sentenees
eaeh. [t's e;a|ned a singne-iiine break up. lif the story ycl have d.eveloped ean run into 45 episodes,
wnite o'i-lt si;np;il,e-Jlime hneak ups far eaci:r of tl:,e eplsocles. P'e:-nernher, when you break it up into
episodes th,e story mlust fTnove forward. ]ln the; cotilit'si., of 'rhese episocnes, cha.racters and tkeir
nelationslai,ps wirth eaehL otlher muast he estahllsnledl. New el'lanaeters may eome in, some may fade
out, hgt the s'tony rTiust nnov.e lfonwand. Every episodle rnust have a beginning, a middle and end.
Wniting out epiisodes irn thiis liashion iis nonna.lly as the ittkire,e.-act n'rodel. Also rernember to have
oliff-hamgens at tlae end of eaeh aet tlnat will leave tlae audienees tlainking, "What'll happen next?"
nf youn episode hnealkup has heem ahtre to aotrieve this, you are on the track.

lFor cxarmple see tlae episode hneakup f,on Shyar,ir Beiaegal's tshat'at Ek Khoj. TTae break ups given
below aneoJiepisode one amd z$4 of tlre series tlaat was teleeast on Doordarshan. You will see the
scnipt o11'cpisqlclla ome a llittIc Iartlcn.

m,lpllSODE clNE: Bharat fufata Ki-[ci : lpandrt Nchru explains tlae nneaning of Mother nndia. How trndia
with all her inflnite eha.nm:l ared vanerry grew ,i.nponn l.lim. F{ow difficult was it for him or anybody else to
grasp the inJeas slhe emnhodied. [nd,ta vrat liV,e an a.nqnenn. i?^1lirnplest, an wkich layer wpan layet of thavfi$
irad nevenie hed heen inscribed.

trlpnsolDlE IFCIRTV *\r*, nnrligoReyoly;.lincha was a prosperous counfry ready fon industo'ialization.
nrasteadl as a delihenate policy of ttu ]Errtrsh, ]lndia regressed and becarne an agricuttural country. xn 19th
nenntlnry Benigal, a few'lEmgliishmaen tumed ta frrdigo t,rade and bwame Land\ords,l\ey
set harsh tawns
ulnden wlaioh thein tenants'were eompelleci tc grow irdigo and sell it to the British at very iow prices.
Exasperated heyond nneasure, the oultivariors nebelled'
 Whac nnakes a good story?

You rnust tnve begtn walnhing a scrics and l,'e|,t lrkc ncturnrnirng to {hc llV sat at axaatly tho sanne
tirne tlee next day. What is it that drew you fro the series? lfhe charactens, the nstory nine', the way
it has been presented or even may be heeause you cor.rld nenate to tlae series? \Mlay, fon exampne
did the audiences drop all their activity when R.annayan or fulaXgudi Eays were o]rn ain? \Mlay do
people watch their repeat telecasts too? Why are they still watehing the 'K' series on Star Flws?
For one, they could reiate to the seiies. Second, the comflict hetween chanacters. Youl winil see that
rnost successful series have strong eonfliicrts in them. Oull;renwlse so nxany f'arnily dlnalmas woullcim't
be hits. ,A good seriptwriter creates plots alld eharaetens to eneato eonflliot flaat is intenesting.

..,|
n/ r'i i r li' i'

p-pa'.r. '':' :' . { frl j'r'rr

- tl
.
lEevelap,frng the plot t
t,
; ' ('
\,
Once you laave the storyline on hand, it's inaportanll to tl'link eanefurlny ahout lnow yor.l wamt to tell
the story. Every story rnust have a polnt to naake. Tle nrlorc intenestirng it is the hctten. Why
would anybociy want to sit before a TV set if s/he ean grasp the story at the heginning on cvcn in
the middle?

-&e-plot is.ly!4lggh-Jbg-v=igrver9 to the g.e1!-e.g.,'T'nr*o*foo.,'uo writc a good plot, one nceds to

constantiy keep asking questions. "$,/net if tnc e,lar:aeten" did tlilis, on ttrrat?" "What if this
happened at night?" "What if the good rnara suddenly iiurns bad?" so on and so forth? Tnais hellps
intakingtke stary farward that is in,tcresting to v,ratr:h on thle scneen. Asking questions also nrrellps
you clevelop sub-plots that are the eornt:;r stolrre ol aiti,y '',, soap,
"/
nt is at this stage that your expericnee arad researeh henps. As a penson you wound havc gone
t\wawgh ssvcraN cxpcrienccs in lif'c orh,aerd <>r rt;itI iiLborut otlhcn's expcniences. Sce ifrttr'ley can bo
wcven into your story. This lencis reani'ry to yoirr ehanacters. l'o rmake your story wonn<, the
ctr'laracters need to'be comf,ontabXe wi'fhltlhe ciionnanciis oi1'tlhe ipliot. Sonnetirmres it nmay so )happen tllra{
the chanaeters werc fleshcd out too la'te in the pr,oeess, and iihe sollultioua unay be to clhange the
course of events or alter the plot altagethar. Ewt it'rna"'t renden dle ehanactens lifuless. They rnight
notbe acceptsdby the audiences.

Let us ta<e tke exarnptre of lKakartrtnl Gkatir Gkriur i(,i. Cla,vtawsly, the story was modelect orn
iRannayana" A father with four sons, antr of tliaem very oheclient. llt's a neappy fzualiny. tsut then tlaene
has to be a conflict. This appears in the fonn of a ;fur,'lane ailtagonist. lFnorn thene onwands, tlae
course of, the story changes en'iirrely. Tlae scripriwririer piitches anothen won-lam-Fanvatlai-- to
tackle the antagonist. Since it was feit '':-v1-. Dr.*^t^i war 'takireg tl'le story fonwand' arnd hninging in
more lfRPs, it was decided to nlake lher'rhe pnotagomist. lftrhefuforc, the entine story in tlne=series
revolves around Farvathi and her reiaiionship with elaraeiens that keep fiitting in and out of the
 series. Whil.e lPanvathr and oonc mcmhers ortthe ifomily pnovide'thc pXot, the seeondary charaetens
that keep eoming in and out of the senles provicie what are known as sub-plots. Sub-plots are
stonies within a story. lfhe strength of a series lics in hovr the scniptwriter can weave sub-plots
witthim surh-pilots witlhirn sn-nb-ipliotis to keep tliee story running. Sub-plots are equally irnportant to rhe
story andi ttlhe series to netain the auclionces' initori'est.

NVriting 1fV soaps is, rlo douhf, a ecrnptrex pn"oeess, as eomplex as the plot itself should be. The
surface nannattive has to he appealiriag: even wlhile weaving in sub-plots that only add to the
suspense amcl intenest of the viewen. lBveny n:anrative wiln have a beginning, middle and an end.
1ffiaenefore, a typioal llV senies wil[:
o ]l'ake a sll,lont tinae to estahllisllrr tlhe oonc chanactens amd the milieu.
o Develop oomfTiet on distr.rrbanoe in the status quc bef,ore interest begins to f1ag. A new
ehanacten entens tl'le scerae, does sometining nasff or something unforeseen happens that
charnges tlhe life of tlae pnotagomists. 'll[nis ta]kcs cornsiderable tirne on screen.
o Give oomsidenabne tiame to eillaraaten response and development. F{ow the protagonist
nespomds and reacts to the clistuinbance. F{ow the antagonist tries to hit back. This forms a
n:la.ion paft of tlae senies.
o Give sorne tinne fon resolutiom, wheire irn the pnotagonist overcomes the antzgonist or the
distunhing situatior/s.

Gnaphioaltry, a soap, when divided irnto episodes trooks sonnething trike this:

,Ar-an-a2-aS-azJ--lE-hlL-h2-h3-h4-h5*-C*cn-c2-a3-e4i-c5-e6-e7-48-e9-clO-D-dll-d2-ds-dl4-ds

whene A\,IE,C & D nepnesent establishrment, *cn'frtct, cha,raeter response z-nd developrnent and
nesolution nespeetiveiy. 1l'iiae alptaabets a1-a4. b1-b5, e i-e i0 and d1-d5 represent the sub-plots in
which the cone chanactens conle in cor:ltac,i with a nunrber of other characters. It is these
intenesting suh-ptrots that nna"ke the stony interestiiig cven as the surface narrative is happening.

Cnce ffie 'sttrructune' is neadly, dle senfrptlviiiter rney wanli to.just introdulce a charaeter at b3 and
hning him/naen hack signifioantiy at e2 on evcn mention a eharaeter at bl but bring hirn at c3 in
onden to nnance stolytelling nnone intoresting. Techniques iike suspense, flashback and flash-
fonwarrd aome in I'larady to give a twist in tlne tafle.

Fon exarimpne, you nnay want to l'ntnodluice eLchara-cter inb3 meant to be introduced in e2.bilaw tke
entn-y of the characten and lais nenationshiip wirih tlire eore chz'racters develops could be one part of
tlhe senies nrnrnmiing panallllell tto wli'iiat's alrc,rrcllSr lhnpnening in h3. lltre conflict nray develop in h4 on
b5 hrurt thc pnotogorurist rrnay n<lspomd alldl ncilr.:t to [1i,rls cliraracten only in c4" Of'counso, yoLx cal) try
out a numhen of permutations and eornbimatioras, bult ttrae impontant thing to nernernber is to take
the story f,onwandl amd netairn the audiemee's intenest. The scheme becomes all the more complex
wLnem tlhero arle fifi]ore sets of clhanactens.

Chanactclri <llelc,liopnrnen t a d diia i1o,g,l,ire

r;r

lPlots eannot r"un hy tlaenaselves. T'lae5r need eharaetcrs, plaees, things, cvenxts and dialogue and a
host oif orlhen additions for thcrn to talice shape.

You ano tihc arrcllrriito<:rl olf'yorLrn scnilort urr,cii all Liiiro cfl.etiusnlts in it. Characters are the ones whicLr ien<l
life to youn seript. You rmust ereate eharaeters that;fit in'Ic yourstory. nf you really nnust use reai
4
 peopie you lmow, then try to disgt"lise that person's identiry as mueh as possihne. Evely olaanaotcn
will have a nawte to hegln with. You can give nalmers ttrhat yonl ane conafortahle with hut tnaey
should also suit the ckarapter. After a|tr,,'ya'u\Nanti yoDtr arudjrt';mr:es to helieve tl,he chanaaten.

Normatrtry, stories have one or two pri"fi:inary elh.aracters, a lnramrdLfi.ln ,f uuo,r*tdluoy alharaicters and
many mimor clharactens. Frimary eharaotcns an'e usuanly '[)he pnotagonist and ilac antagonist;
secondary characters are those wtrao ane imr,aecliateiiy nelated to tnaenn. Nt{inon oharactens ean n<eep
flining in and out and are naosttry like 'extras'.

Many stories fail becaulse they oharaetcrs arc too flat and stcneofypican-poon, good hoy, nich ginn
who is who tkinks har fathsr's rnaney car\ cyan h,ury trova: cte. Goor.l chanactenization a:volkes a
range of, ernotions within the viewers. llf the wniter fains {ro naake us eane ahout tlae ehanaetens, no
matter hc.w i:genious the plot, it is likely '-: he nejected.

Relying on reahty can help a great dcan. Sincc no two people an"e simailar, charactens have to
appear diffierent (unness it's a story of twins!). lBach one of us has our hLahits, tastes etc. Wllaine
'lll,he writen call
appeaxances te!l half ttre story about thc eharaetcn, his aetlons neveall tlae othe:r hallf.
also ulsc them to his advalltage to give a riwlst. nn faet, gone ane tlne days whcn a villairn tlsed to
have a rnole on his chin or arching eycbrows. A very well-gnoorned naay hc vely wioked in naftire
and create obstacies for the protagonist. T'nae things that tlaey cary with tlaena and thein laahits ann
rnar{'er. Ona repeatadly checks if slke':; Iod<eC the dooir', amotlner koeps shnulgging shou"lndelrs or
twitches the ehin! Yet another always stands witln his arnns erossed. .,\nd yet another has the laahit
of rubbing hiV her nose.

People wtth dtfferentbackgrownds and professions speak cliffrenentny. A nawyen doesm't spcane like
a ternple priest. A very orthodox granny doesn't spea,k iike a supcr naodctr. Cne naay naave a lisp,
artother may be too loud and yet anotlaer rnay only speak im raaonosynnahnes. ,Also hean in rrueind
other behavioral traits. Cne may pineh hisltlen ears a.rnder stness. Anotlacr is punctuan to the last
second and yet znoiher is very short-tempered! Ceeupation on the naek of it is allother kcy
eonsidcration.

We are all pradu&s of sorno socialtzation pro(:.,ass. Crun ulphningimg, tlrle atmosp)heno im whioh we
were brought up, alt have a bearing on our pensonaliff. Even ouan ehanaeters wound have a laistory.
For exarnple, why did thc son tum against the rnother? V/as he onpl.lalled by }aer when youllg?
Why does tlie snother-in-law not talk about ffie etrdest son's death?.

So now you have characters to wonli witlh, lori:t then eir.s alli ]hrLLuman heiuags eitlhon rtotally good on
totally bad? Eaeh person has certain srlncngtl.ls and weaknesses. Mlost oftem, it is tliae wcakness of
a ckamcter that drives the story! Cne orf the wa5rs oil cieaning witla a elaanaetcn is to delay
realization of hislher weakness. Nornaalny, ffie pnotagonist ita tlhe senies is tlae one wlao faees a
eornpnex sct of problerns. Use sorne obstacnes to bning out hoth strengths and wcakmesses. Giving
yoar frrt)W&anwl e fsw obsWIeB $,Jony,N.hti vnry will hip,lirligllrl tJho clnarrut;tor fnilits yorur ,hrrLvo cl]losoll
for hini/her.

Deai witla prirnary characters in depth, give sorne time (alld pnoblenas to solve!) to the seoondary
charaptnrs and just allow the minor ctr'taraoters to.jurst fnit im and out. lFllowever, carefully decide
when your prirnary character faces cnisos. tsy the end of, the story, the pnotagonist naust }aave
survived stu'nggtres and oven coffie seven'afl ohstaelles. When yoll have all these pieces in pnace,
you'i! have a complex character that audienees witrl enjoy and remexllber.
 Wn0tfrng Dnalogue

llet us hegin this pant of tlhe unit witla a senies of exeneises:

o V/nite dowra youn oomv,ensatiom witin your friend/eotrieague or a relative over tfie day and
exarnime how yoLl spon<e dtnough the day. trt's ak-ay if you don't get every word you
spoke.
o Cbserve how peopfle spealk in a ri"esiauirant or a shopping mall. V/nite dowl snippets of
ttlein connvensatiom without lookir,ng veLry s,"rspie ious! You will neatrize that most of tlrena
dom't even conalpnete a semtemcc.
o Aslk tlhe samne qulostliorl to rjlil tfirrt::nI pt;optro tffi/J-jito't"t.)'Jown thein resiponsos, '{'hey wiill all bo
ditflfenerat. MIay he not in temas of eonten[ bil; -i e way they speal..
"rhre
o Reeond diffcnent 'lfV shows oil eiifferen'c g€nnrtes, say one episode each of a siteori'n, a
dtrarna, a tenefinma or even soap. Notiee how eharaeters speak diffierently in each genre.
o lR.ewri'ite tilae diailogr.les yonr ihave recordedil in your own sfyle. Notiec how different it is
one teneeast. Do you trike ycurs beffer on the one telecast?
fnonr.l tiiae
o llny to imtenollaange tJiee genne ar,rd rev.rritre {ne rnc.t: cf riialogue Ckange the setring, change
-

the peopne's inttemt, and change; tlhe ton";. \(ou wttrl nottr:e that they dan't fi't in. The tone of
dialogule iFon a familly dranraa eannot fit into a s\tcar?,.

Story inextnicahny nelaterd. lJo srrory ce.n bi good enough withiout good dialogue"
anad diallogure ane
Siminanly, you nnnay have tnae snappiest *nianogrLle in tlae series but if the story isn't going anywhere,
the senies is hound to be a fnop.

lfhe diationary/ says clialogue is ".A eonve:satic;i beivrreen f$/o or more persons". Therefcre, it
reqt"linesat treast two people for a diaiogue. When cnly one person speaks, it's calied a
rnomollogule" MToiniologues alt'e used wlnen a einaraeter is in an inNrospective rnood. However, sorne
wnitens slnun nnomoilogures lllocannse" atltelr a t;inle, they can be boning. Eut a dialogule is a
eonversation ffiat eann gerxerate eonfliet. lDlalogues beeorne reCundant if expressions can do the
.joh. Diailogue slh,ould hourace back and f,artkbetvte,en tne; aha.racters. trf one chamrter keeps talking
antrthe tinne, rt winli lose "hounoe".

Good dialogue helps thnow liglat on the elaaraeter and -iurther the plot. .Action is a product of the
plot. Dianogue is a produret of tlae elaanaeters. llhey need to spean< in order to take the plot funther.
Whille sorne stonies ane aetio:n dnivem, nnost TV series are dlaiogue dniven. Wnaat one ehanaeter
says to amotlhen" an'ld vice-vensa nesullts iirn cornlflliat. llt's the eonflict and the response to the eonflict
and tlhe nesolurtiom that rnove tlhe storyv. lFllow a e f lanacter speaks depends on hisArer
'ehanaotenizatiom'. Ohvior.lsly, a seiemtist wouldn't speak like a thug, or the mother wouldn't
speale like a eoflnege-going ginl who's.just falien in love. Dialogues also corne in handy to provide
imfommatiom, partica.llanly whcn intnoclueing eharactens or even in flashhaelc situations. It does
sen've exposition, hut in very ratre oases.

R.epnoduced hcnow is an exeeqpt fnonn the vrenl-neoeived ancl eritically aeclaimed Bharat Ek Khoj,
a senies hased on.fawalaanla]lNehru's Discovery of [ndia ciineoted by the eminent Shyam Eenegatr.

lElHi.AlR4\1t ielK IKIT{OJ hy Sftrynnrn l%entegt)t

IE a secl om ijarw ah a nila, I Nei'r ru' s iE]i S (CCVig IRV'Oic liNDIiA

 trPnSODE, ONtr: BHIAlR.All MLAil.A X<ll
"'.{11

Sepier borae. A large banyan TtuJineroorc> :n'ouis:ie e Sl'q(

tree" The camera cxanes down

and dollies out after credits
to show its many hanging roots "

Movemr;nt, aonEittusa unEil vtrt rieq

a large group of villaqers
sitting and waiting patiently
for some one" Suddenly, some erowd
people notice some one coming"
Mair;rt-nra Ganclhj ki j;lj
Most of them rise. !

Jawahar.Ial Nehru ki jai!

Opposite anqle: A bulfock cart Hindustan zindabad! Bharat mata
is approachinq. On it is a ki jail Phir se bolo! Bharat
khadi clad figure wlth a Gandhi mata ki jai!
cap "
Dran of the enowd
Cut to crowd shouting slogans.

Bul I ockearE ha l. f,s , The. vi c:vt i :;

somewhat. observed by the heads
of the onlookers " Some are with
Tlla;lnst'vt: Kisan moLhers and
vi-11age turbans. Some are bare
sisters. It is good that you
headed. There are women and
are crying for the victory of
children too"
Bharat Mata"
'I'he ficSure on tlrc buT.Ioc:k r:arL
(still in the distance) stands tsut what do you mean by this
up brings his hands together -in cry Bharat mata ki jai? Who is
a namaskar and t-hen qestures to this Bharat Mata whose victory
the people to sit down. We you"want? Come on I want you to
notice it is Jawaharl,al- Nehru tel-I me" (To a man sitting in
 (JN) " He begins to speak tire fr:orrL)

Audience

You tel-L me. Who is Bharat

MCU of some farmers
Mata.

Su::eJ-y, .y'olr' must, know what you

are crying victory for? What is
MCU of a farmer. Perplexed
Bharat Mata" Have you seen her?
Iook "

CU of JN" Farmer: Pandit, Bharat Mata

MCU" Another aged farmer means this dharti"
volunteers an answer"
Our mother j.s the ctrood earth of.
Tilt down to his rough hands this country
He scoops a bit of the earth"

CU of JN
lNehru: What earth? The earth of
this particular village? All
the patches of earth in this
district? The earth of this
Old farmer MCU
province? Or the whole of
fndia ?

.IN CU
J!o.arr.*:Nu,r:r,-::: The earth in aIl of
India is Bharat Mata

JhT: Only the earth and nothing

Another farmer stands
JN in LS with farmers in front
up el-se? Not the rivers and
mountains of lndia as weLl?
En Fa:rroer: Rivers and
mountains, and forests and the
broad fields which give us our
 food "

k
JIN: And what else?

nX lFamer: And what. else is

ther: ?
'1 i:rr: :
: :l ':

cTEq: Something more important

than all- these... ' , ,i;r.
l
' ' il'':
ItTIi Faraner: What is that? you.'r.l
tel] us... .'''
, .r,, .

''' ;ll "

JIS: Bharat Mata is all of .theS,e,
),. ,

things, tlvers, mountains/ : , . '. :\

.
forests, broad fi.ld", the.'6'-44",,...
' '' _:ai'r-'
around us and the sky above , ,,t,,,:,
. l.:,,
but what are they all- without t -:;
it,i
you and me? What counts
ul-timately are the people of '.,,,1

India, spre4d out all over, this

vast land. Bharat Mata is
essentially these millions of
her sons and daughters " Victory,
to her is vi ctory to all of
them" You are all parts of t
Bharat Matai you are in a ,,.
manner, yourselves, Bharat
Mata ,'.

i:: l

iiir
 tr. Wnite comvensationan ilaingurarge, evefi nf nt actnzLn'Js straccaio. RmA outyour dialogue and listnn
to it. Evenn if a sinrgle wond sounds too lltenary, duirnp it and rewrite.
2. \Vhen yonn are featuning olnanacters fnom dif,fenent negions, stetes, countries ete. take care of the
accerffi, dialeet. R.emernhen, a eharaeten frorn KenaXa doesn't speak Hindi like one from tsihar or
Uttar Fnadesh. Takimg cane of such featurnes lends reality to dialogue.
3. Devetrop youn ear'. n-isten eanefiitrly to people talking in series on radio and televisidn.They
speak differentny. ,{lso take cane not to naake it too 'theatrieal'. Theatrical dialogue is boring on
TVi R.ead conversations ira novetrs. T'hey sound diff,enent f,rorn those on television
4.,Avoid sialag.
5. Don't nepeat dianogue, unless the eharaoterization dem'lands it.
5. Keep youn speeches neasonahny short, maybe ahout two to thnee sentences maximum. You will
see a sea change in the way earlien wnitens wrote thein dialogue and how modem writers do it.
7, Don't use too nnuch dielogue. Whene exprcssi<tns suff,ice, dialoguebe*amas redundmt,
E. Diatrogue staoulld add new imfomnation. Do not repeat information that aviewer can already see
on the sctreenx on anneady knows. JFon exanaptre, your eharactens don't need to call each other by
narne in every sentence. Thene are otlaen ways of neminding the audiences the names of characters
now aracl then.

lFormattfing the scnfpt

There is a panticurtrar way in wleich sonipts are written. Scripts eontain a nurnber of elements such
as Snug Lfrme, .Acfiorno Sceme ll{eardlfrnrrgs, Citis'us,cten Na,nne,, Mfianogwet Shof, 'lframafi{fion, Aat
Numhers, Sceme Nunmhens etc, n-et us see lnow each one of, thern is formattpd. The following
applies to the aornnaenoian format (not the AV on spnit-page fbnelat).

{n a screenplay a slug ilf,me tells tile reader that ttae story has changed in location or time.
nt tells the reader wtrere alad wlaen tF"e action appeals and the line comprises three parts:

o INT. - is the seene al'l Lnlied.or or exteior seene?

on EXT'.
o Loaation - where cloes the aetion takes ptraee?
,o DAY or NIGF{T - what is the tirne of day?

trX.AN/ilPI.]ES

nNT. WARIEHOUSE NnGiHlT

"o
EXil" CCNT'IINIENTA.I ILCDG]S D,AY

Descniptf,om or Aatf,@m is what we see tlae elaaractens cicing on the screen. It describes visually
what is happening on the sereen. For examrple

Viknamn walks dlowm the connidon amol ilools,s lefri" iHie opems tllae bednoom and seeirng notlning inside,
scnatches lnis laead. Closimg the doon, ft,re wnili<s down t[,te connidon with a stupid expnessiom on his f'ace.

Sceme headlfimrg tells us where the seene is talking plaoe. Xt rnay also hint al where the camera is.
For exanapie:

. :o trXl|. V[]K]R.,AM'S ltilOUSE, VIEIRANDAH - IVlGHll, LS-

t.:,'
."1' .,. ' : :'

:*lili{;i;i , t:.
 O]PT

O IIN1i" VII]K]R.AM'S O]F]FNC]E _ trSIIA]EN.ISH

Stafli ane husy with their wonk Suddemny, Vlkram's doon opems suddeuuly amd he falls out with
Ilnood in his mouth"

Chanacten's m&me: Too obvious to warrant explanation. [f it is an off-soreen voice, rnention it'
For example:

Viknann

lDon'it dio tlhnrt! Vou'va alneudJy nurlnrerdl r,nmy ofiilice!

O]R

Summanatha (O.S)

1fhene's mothing left to ruiu it! You've clorne maost of my.ioh!

Dialogue is everything said by the charaeters.

Vikram:l:

, don't emjoy sayimg tlrls" But thcn, pleasc...

.vou krow
llt's beconning diffictrittrt f'on moe to sunvivc nlke this"

lPanemthe'aiaal is an instruction to the aeton lnow to detiver tiile dianogue

Surnnanatha (sancastlc and hiftimg lRa-nnu on the head)

Cf course Il love you. tr love mny burffalo too!

Shof is the description that teltrs us wlnerc thre f'oous is, on is shifting to

C{J oli tenephone" nt nimgs amd stops abruptny,

l}atits Vfrlknalrra

Tnamsntloul indicatcs the shift &om one shot to another. Sorne of tlae eonnnxon tnallsitions nised are
CUT TO, DISSCN.ME TO, F.ADE NN, FADE O{JT, WNPE T'C.
 Viknamn iloolks at tlhe ellepihamt. Cluii'jlO

MIS ollellepi,hault tnumnpetiirilg ilur agorny C[Jll T0)

,A\tn nro ur s lLqrce o 1i' Vii lhrra rnn. ZOO Ml ll NliC} I\\.11 (C'U,

IDIISSOLVE lIO

Vfr lkrnr mm pl1,myfl im g wiittlh relloplhnnrnt

Dum[ aoiiurmmrm dfialogue is used when two ehanactens tan]e sirnultaneously.

VTIGA&I Sumalattra

TaII ma ! TeLl" m@ yolr l-ove u,re ! Stop rt. (paueal " $&ogt 1,8,
TenI :me becauge ucy hrear:rb is ViXcraml (pause).
pourndianE arndl caLn' t bera:e t]he (Louder)
any lonEer. S'n} dro
sung>6na@ Vikrnm! Stop it!
r.\ar; if you tel-l me you don't love V{trat, nade you think, I'I1 love
--" m@. lfhe r+orld r+i-lJ- come 4ca -an you\ WhaE da you h.ava f;.ha.t
eald, X'Il" " "
I'11 love you?
You rdy to ru
exF,. ...-.t.. . -... aJ. iptas t -.r, -----.,/.---.5Q
proc{uoalrrs arnla,{ riinectbrs do fio[ fouch ,a s0iri11][ unXcss it is pnt-tponly formattecl, oven lf it is a elassie.

o Mlake sure your soript is printeal frorn eomaputen. Tirese days it's easy to print in any
llmdian lamguage. Coirmposi;ng youLr scripts ofrr a computer helps you in more than'ane
ways. Jlt llemds stnuciturne to youn sen'iipt; is eesier to rnake corrections if,you have a softcopy
oni yoLulr oorvrlpulter. Uso orany wilite color papen folorintouts.
Douhfle-spaoe your script. Use a f,ont and stze that ean be easily read. Font size 12 is
eonalt|ortable to neadi. Do aaot use too rnany italieized words in the senipt. {.Jse btraek ink
omily.
o lLeave at least one ineh nnangin on alll the f,our sides of tho page.
o Wnite the nnanne of tlhe senies on tlhe treft kand side of avery page. Do not forget ta insart
page numahens.
Mlake sune tlae episodes laave heenn clirvided imto seencs. Nfention the nurnber of eaeh seeree
om the tlop.
lfhe eover.page strnould neeessanily aover" infonnxation like the narne of the series, the total
innnrnnhcn of episodes, tlhe marnne ancn ncicliross of tlhe atrtlaor.
,\llways pnoof read youn seniipri. Do rnot give away seripts to produeers/direetors withou't
eheeking fon naistaltes.
Mlake at neast two good eopics of tl'le senipt. Frodueers/directons are busy bodies and tend
to nose 5,oun senipt. Yotl naust have annotlaer eopy ready if needed.

Sunnmnfimg up

lfV soap wnitens ane comstantlly rwonking egains''l ciendlines.

 'j
j9
'i

.;

o Scriq{s start aff wtth ats'astc concep'(. /';rn irlqa gcnm,imates in his mairnd amd tlho wniter goes
on to expand on that idea.
o The story is then divided into'episodes'. Eaeh episodc is ti,len.nepnesentcd in terrns of a
smal! paragraph.
o { story with a conflict rnafi<es interesting viewing.
o lfhe plot is the rnain plan of youn story, dle emgine that drives ffie story fonwand om coun'se.
Sub-ptrots are stories within a story. Weaving sublolots demands skills arnd they are
equally important to the story and the seni'es.
o Every series plot should necessarily have an estalblishment, confliot, chanaoten responnse
and development and rcsalutxon.
o Characters lend life to youn scnipt. Vou naust create claanaatens that fit into youn stoly.
Stories have one or two priman'y claaraetens, a handful of seeondary charactens arad nnany
rninor characters. Every chanaeter must appcan diffenent.
o No story can be good enough without good dialoguc. Dialogue becomes redundant if
expressions can do thejob.
o Dialogue is used to further thre piot andl nnirron tlhe characten
o Elernents of a fiction script incXude Acrtic'rn, Scene llllcadings, Characton Narnc, Dialogurc,
Shot" Transition, Act Numbens, and Scenc Nnamhens etc.
o Dual column dialogue is usod when two ckaraaters tann< simunhraeoulsny.
o Make sure your script is properly f,onnrratteci bcforc denivening it.

Kepruorois
o trpisode bneaik-unnr: ,All that happens in an episode in aibout a panagnaph. Atrso aalledl
single-line break up.
o lPlot: Refers to the senies of events that give a story irls meanimg alad cffect.
Pl"tmany and Secomda:.ry reharaetens: Frimary ehar,"aeters imt: usuanny the protagonist aLrld
tke antagonist; seconciary charaetens are'rhose wtr'lo ane immecliateny nclated to thcr,n"
o Mimon alhanactens: Keep fli'rting in and oult otf ttr'le senies