# INSERT > A brief cutaway to a detail the audience must read or notice — a letter, phone screen, photograph, or object — usually written as INSERT followed by what we see. Also known as: insert shot, INSERT SHOT **On the page** ``` INSERT — PHONE SCREEN Don't come home. ``` ## In practice An insert is not a new scene; it is a directed look inside the current one. Use it when the story turns on information that would otherwise stay invisible — a text that lands, a signature on a check, a clock that proves an alibi. If the detail is already clear in action, the insert is decoration and slows the read. In specs, keep inserts sparse and story-critical. Heavy insert stacks read like a shooting script shot list and invite coverage notes about directing from the page. Write the exact words or image the audience needs, then cut back to the scene without a ritual BACK TO SCENE unless the timeline could confuse. Production treats inserts as scheduled pieces of coverage. Ambiguous inserts ("we see something important") force later clarification. Prefer a concrete noun and readable text. When you experiment with denser insert patterns, protect the prior draft with a save point so you can compare whether the page still breathes. ## See it formatted - [How to format text messages in a screenplay](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/screenplay-formatting/text-messages): Put readable on-screen messages in action, identify the sender when needed, and use one consistent pattern instead of disguising silent text as spoken dialogue. - [How to format inserts, screens, letters, and written material](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/screenplay-formatting/inserts-screens-and-written-material): Put the exact words the audience must read in action, and use an INSERT only when the change in visual emphasis is itself important. ## Common questions ### Is an INSERT the same as a new scene heading? No. An insert is a cutaway detail inside the current scene. A new scene heading changes location or time; an insert usually returns to the same scene after the detail lands. ### Should specs use INSERT often? Only when the story depends on reading a specific detail. Frequent inserts feel like shot lists. Prefer clear action unless the close-up itself is the beat. ### Do I need BACK TO SCENE after every insert? Use it when the return could be ambiguous. If the next line obviously resumes the prior scene, many drafts simply continue in action without the label. ### Can dialogue play over an INSERT? Yes. Voice can continue while we read the detail. Keep both tracks readable — dense speech plus dense on-screen text competes for the same attention. ## Related terms - [Action](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/action): The descriptive prose of a screenplay — what the audience sees and hears, written in present tense. Also called description. - [Superimpose](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/superimpose): Text or graphics laid over the picture -- titles, dates, locations, captions. On the page, commonly written as SUPER: or SUPERIMPOSE: followed by the overlay copy. - [POV](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/pov): On the page, POV usually marks a shot through a character's eyes (or a device standing in for them). In craft talk, point of view also means whose experience the scene privileges. - [Scene heading (slugline)](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/scene-heading): The line that opens a scene: interior or exterior, location, and time of day — for example, INT. KITCHEN — NIGHT. It orients the reader and anchors production breakdowns. --- Canonical page: