Comic script and screenplay guides

How I write comic scripts and screenplays in the plain-text formats.

Each guide covers one part of writing a script: how to lay it out, and what the artist and letterer need from you.

Comic scripts

How to write a comic script: Everything that goes in a comic script: pages, panels, dialogue, captions, sound effects, notes and the cover. Start here if you haven’t written one before.
Comic script example: a complete script, page by page: A three-page comic script you can read, download or open in the editor. The script and the finished pages are shown side by side.
How to write comic panel descriptions: What the artist needs to draw a panel, and what to leave out. One moment per panel, how to introduce a character, and leaving room for the balloons.
Comic page layout: splashes, spreads, tiers, and insets: How to ask for a full-page splash, a two-page spread, panels side by side, or a small panel set inside a bigger one.
Comic lettering: balloon order and reading order: How balloons are numbered, the order they’re read in, and what to tell the letterer.
How many panels fit on a comic page, and how long an issue runs: How many panels fit on a page, how much dialogue a panel can hold, and how many pages an issue usually runs.

Fountain screenplay format: How to write a screenplay in plain text: scene headings, action, characters, dialogue, transitions and the title page, with an example of each.
A complete screenplay: A three-page screenplay you can read, download or open in the editor. The plain text and the formatted pages are shown side by side.
Comic script and screenplay, side by side: The same scene written as a comic script and as a screenplay, and what changes between them.
Writing a script in plain text: What Markdown and Fountain are, what .md and .fountain files are, and where screenplay formatting came from.