Use a prose section for a scene's intention, an outline for its beats, and a script section for the exchange you can already hear. Freeform, Mixed, and Treatment modes let these sections coexist where the project format supports them.
Choose the section for the jobLink to this section
Choose + in the editor toolbar, or search the command palette, for the section you want to insert. It goes in where your cursor is. The sections on offer depend on the draft's writing mode.
| Section | Use it for | Editing behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Prose | A premise, treatment paragraphs, research text, or questions still to answer | Paragraphs, headings, emphasis, lists, and alignment |
| Outline | Beats and a plan for how the story moves | Outline structure alongside the developing draft |
| Script | A scene ready for screenplay form | Scene headings, action, character cues, dialogue, and other script elements |
For example, put “Mara needs a reason to stay” in prose, sketch the discovery as an outline beat, then write the scene in a script section. The prose can stay beside the scene until you decide what belongs in the finished script.
Write a scene inside your treatmentLink to this section
You don't have to start the script on a blank page. Put the cursor at the end of the beat or paragraph the scene belongs to and insert a Screenplay section: it opens right there, and the treatment carries on below it. A numbered beat list keeps counting after the scene. Type INT. or EXT. to start the scene heading.
To turn treatment text you already have into script, select the paragraphs or beats and open the paragraph style menu in the formatting controls. Under Turn into script, choose the element they should become, such as Scene Heading, Action, or Dialogue. They become script where they stand, with the same words. You can also right-click and use Change to…. Script you write beside other script joins it, so a scene grows in one piece. To undo a change, press Ctrl+Z (⌘Z on a Mac).
A scene can go back to treatment the same way. Put the cursor in its lines, or select the ones you want, and open the element menu in the formatting controls; in a scene it shows the line's element, such as Action. Under Turn into prose, choose Body text or a heading. The lines become treatment where they stand and join the prose around them: a character cue and its speech become one line, such as “NELL: Hold on.”, and notes stay notes. You can also right-click and choose Turn into prose. While most of the draft is still treatment, it keeps the treatment's page, and the outline lists your scenes among your headings.
Format proseLink to this section
Place the cursor in a prose paragraph or heading to show its formatting controls. Formatting applies within one prose section, so keep a selection inside it.
| Control | Result |
|---|---|
| Body text or Heading | Change the paragraph's role without turning it into a screenplay element |
| Bold, italic, underline, strike | Emphasize selected text |
| Alignment | Choose left, center, right, or justified text |
| Bulleted or numbered list | Keep items together with editable list structure |
| Indent or outdent | Change the level of a list item |
Inside a list, Enter continues the list, Tab indents an item, and Shift–Tab moves it out a level. In script sections, Tab keeps its screenplay element-cycling behavior.
Choose when to make it all scriptLink to this section
Choose Screenplay from the writing-mode menu when the project's format offers it. If any prose or outlines remain, Plot asks what to do with each: convert its text to script, or keep it as a note that doesn't print. Script sections become part of the script as they are.
Converting keeps every word but changes the structure: prose becomes action, headings can become section markers that don't print, and lists become plain lines with their markers. Read the result and check the export you plan to send.
Switching back to Freeform or Mixed lets you add prose again; it doesn't undo the conversion. To get the earlier structure back, restore a save point from before it.