The terms of the trade, in plain English - screenwriting format, story structure, and the industry vocabulary around them. Each entry links to related terms and to the guides that use them.
The cue extension marking that a character's speech continues across an interruption or page break.
The turn between acts - in TV, the cliffhanger before the commercial.
Present-tense description of what the camera sees and the audience hears - the screenplay's prose.
The force organized against the protagonist's goal - a person, an institution, or the flaw within.
The secondary thread - often a relationship - that carries the theme while the A story carries the plot.
The smallest unit of story movement - one shift in a scene, a character, or the plot's direction.
A story's structural skeleton - its landmark moments listed in order, before or alongside drafting.
The internal change a character undergoes across a story - from who they are to who they become.
The capitalized character name above a line of dialogue, telling the reader who speaks.
The principle that every prominent detail must pay off - if a gun appears, it should later fire.
The story's decisive confrontation - where the dramatic question is finally answered.
Third-person narration locked tight to one character's perceptions, thoughts, and voice.
A scene that starts the episode before the titles - hooking the audience before any setup.
Recent, successful works a project resembles - shorthand for its audience, tone, and market position.
The final untying - the brief closing passage showing the new normal after the climax resolves.
The spoken words, set in a narrower centered column beneath the character cue.
The attribution attached to a line of speech - 'she said', 'he asked' - marking who is talking.
Two characters speaking simultaneously, formatted side by side in two columns.
Information the audience needs - backstory, rules, context - and the craft of hiding its delivery.
The stretch after the climax where consequences play out and the story settles toward its ending.
Final Draft's file format - the industry's de-facto standard for exchanging screenplay files.
A scene that jumps back in time to dramatize an earlier moment relevant to the present story.
A character whose contrast throws the protagonist's traits into sharper relief.
Planting early hints of what is to come, so a later turn feels surprising yet inevitable.
A plain-text screenplay format - human-readable markup that any tool can import and export.
Slipping between characters' inner thoughts within a single scene, breaking a fixed point of view.
Opening in the middle of the action, then filling in how the characters got there.
The event that disturbs the status quo and sets the story's engine running.
A device for cutting between two or more locations within one continuous scene - classically, a phone call.
Your story in one or two sentences: who wants what, what stands in the way, and what's at stake.
An object or goal that drives the plot but whose specifics barely matter - the briefcase everyone chases.
The story's center hinge - a reversal or revelation that changes the game rather than marking time.
A sequence of brief shots compressing time or gathering meaning - the training sequence, the falling-in-love spin.
The sibling of O.S. - a speaker in the scene but out of frame, preferred in animation and multi-camera TV.
Dialogue from a character present in the scene but outside the camera frame.
Dialogue that states exactly what a character feels or means - subtext with the cover off.
The rule of thumb that a properly formatted screenplay page runs about a minute on screen.
A brief note between cue and dialogue - (dry), (in Spanish) - steering delivery or context.
The vantage a story is told from - whose eyes and mind the reader is given access to.
The core idea a story sets out to dramatize - the 'what if' and the argument it puts to the test.
The character whose pursuit and transformation the story is built around.
The one-page letter that asks an agent or producer to read your work - hook, story, credentials.
A deliberately misleading clue that steers suspicion the wrong way - a staple of mystery and suspense.
The story's landing - the brief 'after' picture showing how the world has changed.
The long middle stretch where complications escalate and pressure mounts toward the climax.
A prose-craft pattern pairing a proactive scene with a reactive beat where the character regroups.
The capitalized line that opens every scene: INT. or EXT., the location, and the time of day.
Production numbering beside each scene heading, used for scheduling and call sheets.
A reader's standardized evaluation of a screenplay - synopsis, comments, and a Pass / Consider / Recommend verdict.
The production draft - numbered scenes, locked pages, and revisions tracked on colored pages.
Render meaning through action and behavior instead of announcing it in narration or dialogue.
A screenplay written 'on speculation' - unpaid, uncommissioned, hoping to sell or serve as a sample.
What's lost if the protagonist fails - the reason the audience leans in.
The meaning beneath the spoken line - what characters feel and want but don't say outright.
A condensed summary of the full story - including the ending - for readers, contests, and queries.
The script read aloud, parts assigned, no staging - where dialogue proves or embarrasses itself.
The argument under the plot - what the story believes about how life works.
The oldest storytelling map: setup, confrontation, resolution - roughly 25/50/25.
A right-aligned editing instruction - CUT TO:, DISSOLVE TO: - between scenes.
A prose telling of the whole story - present tense, no dialogue formatting - used to develop or pitch.
A storyteller whose account can't be fully trusted - through bias, deception, naivety, or limited knowledge.
Dialogue heard over the scene from a speaker not present in it - narration, phone calls, letters.
The unwritten part of the page - short paragraphs and lean lines that make a script read fast.
Plan with 30+ story frameworks, write your screenplay or novel, and let Quill coach every beat - it guides and never writes. Free account, no card.
Want the longer treatment? The Writing Guides cover loglines, coverage, formatting, and 30+ story frameworks beat by beat.
