# How to format song lyrics in a screenplay > Set sung lines apart from speech — italics or all caps, one lyric line per line — and quote only the lyrics the scene actually needs. Sources reviewed: 2026-09-22 Article updated: 2026-09-23 ## Direct answer Put the singer's character cue above the song and give each sung line its own line so it reads as verse, not prose. Set singing apart from speech with italics or all caps, use one convention for every song, and add a (singing) parenthetical the first time. Quote only the lyrics the scene needs; for a song playing in the background, describe it in action instead. ## On the page A sung moment set apart from speech ``` INT. HARBOR BAR - NIGHT Mara steps up to the microphone. The room keeps talking. MARA (singing) ``` Sung line: _The last ferry's leaving,_ Sung line: _and I'm still on the pier._ ``` The room goes quiet. ``` ## Current practice ### Make singing look different from speech _Common choice_ A reader should know a line is sung before reading it. Italics or all caps, with each sung line on its own line, both do that; the choice matters less than keeping one convention for every song in the script. ## Accepted variations ### Italic lyrics _Common choice_ Italics under the singer's cue keep the page quiet and read clearly as song. Produced musical screenplays have used this form. ### All-caps lyrics _Common choice_ All caps, one sung line per line, is the other long-standing convention. It stands out more on a busy page and survives any typeface. ### Reference the song instead of printing it _Context dependent_ When the music already exists or plays under a scene, name the song or describe it in action. Some musicals written alongside recorded demos refer to tracks rather than printing every lyric. ## Where reasonable writers disagree There is no single correct form: produced musicals have marked lyrics with italics, with all caps, and even with color. Readers do agree on two things — sung and spoken lines must not look the same, and the convention adopted for the first song should still hold for the last. ## Mistakes to avoid - Running lyrics together as a prose paragraph, which hides their rhythm and line breaks. - Switching between italics and all caps from one song to the next. - Printing an entire existing song where its title and one sentence of description would do. - Leaving the reader to discover a line is sung only several lines into the song. ## Submission versus production ### Submission or reading draft Outside a musical, keep songs short on the page. A reader needs the song's dramatic job, not every verse, and a one-line description often serves a spec better than printed lyrics. ### Production draft Any existing song a production uses has to be cleared, which is the production's job rather than the draft's. Original lyrics are often settled with the music team, so revise them through the script's normal revision process like any other dialogue. ## Working in Plot In Plot, put the singer's Character cue above the song and use the Lyric element for each sung line; Plot sets lyrics in italics on the page and in the PDF so they read as song, not speech. Lyrics come in from Final Draft as lyrics and go back out to FDX the same way. ## Questions writers ask ### Should song lyrics be in italics or all caps? Either is accepted. Italics read quieter; all caps stand out more on a busy page. Choose one and use it for every song in the script, because consistency is what tells a reader a line is sung. ### Do I write out the full lyrics of an existing song? Usually not. Name the song and describe what it does in the scene. Printing an existing song adds pages without adding story, and any song a production uses has to be cleared anyway. ### How do I write a song that plays in the background? In action. Describe what plays and when it matters — a jukebox starts an old ballad — and quote a lyric only when the words themselves land a story beat. ## Sources and context - [Final Draft — How to write and format a musical feature screenplay](https://www.finaldraft.com/blog/how-to-write-and-format-a-musical-feature-screenplay) - [Final Draft's lyric formats from produced musicals](https://www.finaldraft.com/blog/how-to-write-and-format-a-musical-feature-screenplay) These sources document current screenplay practice, software guidance, or production workflow. Screenplay style remains flexible, and any delivery brief or submission rule supplied by the recipient takes precedence. ## Where to go next - [Fountain and Final Draft: what survives the move](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/interop): Lyrics, dual dialogue, centered text, and every core element: how each one comes in from Final Draft and goes back out. --- Canonical page: