# Scene heading (slugline) > 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. Also known as slugline, slug line **On the page** ``` INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT ``` ## In practice Sluglines are how a script becomes schedulable. A clear heading tells the room where you are and tells a coordinator what to strip for locations and day or night. Fuzzy headings like SOMEWHERE - LATER slow both storytelling and production because nobody can lock geography or strip a board from them. A common mistake is minting a new scene heading for every tiny beat inside the same space. If you are still in the same kitchen a minute later, stay in the scene and write action. Extra sluglines inflate page count, fragment rhythm, and create false location moves on a breakdown. Readers use the heading as orientation before they invest in the paragraph underneath. Keep INT./EXT., a specific location, and a usable time of day consistent across the draft. When production locks numbers later, those stable headings become the units departments quote in sides and schedules. ## See it formatted - [How to format phone calls and intercut conversations](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/screenplay-formatting/phone-calls-and-intercut): Establish what the audience sees and hears, then use clear scene headings or an INTERCUT instruction so a phone conversation stays easy to picture. - [How to format flashbacks and memory sequences](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/screenplay-formatting/flashback-sequences): Make the time shift explicit in a scene heading or action cue, then clearly return to the present when the transition could otherwise be missed. - [How to format continuous action, SAME, LATER, and time jumps](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/screenplay-formatting/continuous-action-and-time-jumps): Use CONTINUOUS for unbroken movement into a new location, SAME for simultaneous time, and a plain action beat or new time label for an actual jump forward. - [How to format a dream sequence in a screenplay](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/screenplay-formatting/dream-sequences): Establish who is dreaming, mark where the dream begins and ends, and show the return to waking life so a dream is never mistaken for the story's reality. ## Common questions ### What is the difference between a scene heading and a shot heading? A scene heading establishes a new location and time unit. Shot headings like CLOSE ON are optional and rarer in specs — they aim the camera more aggressively. Most development drafts stick to scene headings unless the shot is the joke or the story beat. ### Should every short beat get its own slugline? If the location or time truly changes, yes. If you are still in the same place moments later, stay in the scene and write action — extra sluglines inflate page count and confuse breakdowns. ### How specific should a location name be? Specific enough that production can schedule it and a reader can picture it — MAYA'S KITCHEN beats HOUSE. Avoid inventing a new label for the same room every time you return, or breakdowns treat them as different sets. ### Is CONTINUOUS required after every chase cut? Use CONTINUOUS when it clarifies that no story time passed, and MOMENTS LATER when only a little did. Do not stamp it on every scene out of habit; empty time labels become noise once readers trust your cut rhythm. ## 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. - [Transition](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/transition): An editing instruction between scenes — CUT TO:, DISSOLVE TO:, SMASH CUT TO:. Modern specs use them rarely; most cuts are assumed. - [Fountain](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/fountain): An open, plain-text markup for screenplays. Light conventions — scene headings, character cues, dialogue — keep the file readable in any text editor while still carrying structure. In Plot you write normally; Inkwell understands the structure as you type. - [Scene number](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/scene-number): A scene number identifies a scene in a shooting script. Once numbers are locked, Scene 42 keeps its number so schedules, sides, and crew notes agree. - [Read the pillar guide](https://www.inkwell.software/learn/how-to-write-a-screenplay): A longer guide for this workflow --- Canonical page: