Mike Milo’s Journal

This morning I had a woman contact me wondering how to write a script with MS Word and that she couldn’t find any info on how to do it. In the interest of helping here I sent her a template that an old friend made for me back when I was trying to learn how to write.

I figure that others might want to use this tool as well so I am uploading it here so people can find it easier.
MS Word Script formatting template

NOTE: If you do download this file please post here that you did so I can keep track of whether it’s worth it to keep it up online or not?

Now of course I can’t force you to do that but if I’m trying to help you, why not try and help me? :-)

Now, if you’d like to see an animated script you can download this file to see an example. It’s not the greatest but it works.
Animated script example

Now it’s interesting to note that professional script writers do not use Word to write scripts which might be why she was having trouble finding information about it. Most professional scripts are created with a program called Final Draft which formats a certain way separating it from other Word processors. There are others as well but Final Draft is considered the standard as far as I know. It even has it’s own special font which story editors ( who you’d send your script to in order to get hired) look for in terms or formatting.

So, if you’re trying to get a job writing scripts then you’ll need to find a copy of Final Draft before someone will hire you because they can easily tell the difference but…. if you’re writing for your own personal benefit then this will allow you to write to your heart’s content!

To use the template:
As you write go up to the Formatting toolbar and change the Styles and Formatting area to suit whether you’re writing ACTION or DIALOG etc.
If the toolbar is not visible you can go to View>Toolbars up in the menu area to find the one called Formatting and you should find it easy enough.
I hope this helps and good luck with your script!

If you do download this file please post that you did so I can keep track of whether it’s worth it to keep it up online or not?

Now of course I can’t force you to do that but if I’m trying to help you, why not try and help me? :-)