# Write your first scene

> Type a scene heading, move between screenplay elements with Tab, accept a ghost-text suggestion, and reach any command from the palette.

[Try it in Plot](https://app.inkwell.software/projects)

The editor formats as you type. You never set indents or capitalization by hand — you tell Plot which screenplay element a line is, and the page does the rest.

_A scene on the page — heading, action, character cue, and dialogue, each formatted by its element type._

1. **Type a scene heading**

   On the empty first line, type `INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT` and press `Enter`. Plot recognizes the heading and formats it; the next line is action.

2. **Move between elements with Tab**

   Press `Tab` on an empty line to cycle to the next element type — action, character, dialogue, parenthetical, transition. To jump straight to one, use the number shortcuts: `⌘⌥1` / `Ctrl+Alt+1` for a scene heading, `⌘⌥3` / `Ctrl+Alt+3` for a character cue, `⌘⌥4` / `Ctrl+Alt+4` for dialogue. The full set is in [Elements and formatting](https://www.inkwell.software/help/writing/elements-and-formatting).

3. **Write a character and a line**

   Type a character name on a character line and press `Enter` — the next line is dialogue. Press `Enter` again after the line and you are back on a character cue, ready for the reply.

   ![A scene typed from a blank line: the heading, an action line, Tab to a character cue, and the reply already formatted as dialogue.](https://www.inkwell.software/help/write-first-scene.light.webp)

   _A scene typed from a blank line: the heading, an action line, Tab to a character cue, and the reply already formatted as dialogue._

   [Watch the recording](https://www.inkwell.software/help/write-first-scene.light.webm)

4. **Accept or ignore ghost text**

   Pause mid-line and a faint continuation may appear. Press `Right` to accept it, `⌘→` / `Ctrl+→` to take one word at a time, or keep typing to ignore it. [Ghost text](https://www.inkwell.software/help/ai/ghost-text) explains where it comes from.

5. **Reach anything from the palette**

   Press `⌘K` / `Ctrl+K` to open the command palette. Type what you want — "save point", "draft line", "focus mode", a skill's name — and press `Enter`. Everything in this help center that has a command is reachable from there.

> **Tip: Your work is saved as you type**
>
> Plot autosaves continuously. A save point is different: it is a named moment you choose, one you can compare against and return to. Make your first one when the scene feels done — [Make a save point](https://www.inkwell.software/help/getting-started/make-a-save-point).

## What next

- [Elements and formatting](https://www.inkwell.software/help/writing/elements-and-formatting): What each screenplay element is, how Plot decides which one a line is, and every way to change a line's type without leaving the keyboard.
- [Ghost text](https://www.inkwell.software/help/ai/ghost-text): The faint continuation that appears when you pause: what it reads, how to accept a word or all of it, and how to turn it off.
- [Find your way around the editor](https://www.inkwell.software/help/getting-started/find-your-way-around): What the two sidebars hold, what the command palette can reach, and the handful of shortcuts that open and close each panel.

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Canonical page: <https://www.inkwell.software/help/getting-started/write-your-first-scene>