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How to Use Macros for Sitcom Scripts

Writing scripts or screenplays requires knowledge of industry formatting standards. All types of scripts, including those for television sitcoms, dramas and movies, are formatted exactly the same. This helps those in the industry, such as producers, directors and actors, read the document quickly. Knowledge of how to set up a Microsoft macro in Word will help make formatting go considerably faster. Macros are mini programs that allow users to perform routine tasks with simple keystrokes. There are three main parts to a sitcom script: dialogue, action lines and scene headings.

Instructions

- 1
  Record your dialogue macro. Type a character's name in all capital letters. Hit return. Write the dialogue, with regular capitalization and punctuation. Click "Tools" in the menu bar. Select "Record New Macro." Name your macro "Dialogue." Click on the keyboard icon. Go to the box that says "Press New Shortcut Keys" and hit the keys you want to assign to the task. This will take you to the document, where you will do the steps necessary to format the line of dialogue. You'll need a centered, capitalized character/speaker name, and the actual dialogue. The margin on the name is 4 inches, and the margins on the dialogue are 2.7 inches on the left and 2.4 inches on the right. Click the square that says "Stop Recording Macro."
- 2
  Set up the action line macro. Action lines explain what actions the characters take within the script. These are formatted slightly different than regular document paragraphs, with justified margins and capitalized names. Follow the same basic macro procedure as in Step 1, but format the action paragraph with a left aligned margin of 1.7 inches on the left and 1.1 inches on the right.
- 3
  Set up a scene headings macro. Scene headings tell the reader whether the scene takes place inside or outside (INT. or EXT.), the exact location (PORCH), and whether it's day or night. They are bolded and left justified. Set up a macro for both an INT. scene and an EXT. scene. After opening the macro device, type a bolded INT. followed by a space and then a hyphen. Hit "Stop Recording." Do the same for an EXT. scene, complete with the space and the hyphen. Assign different keys for both types. When you use this macro, it will bring up the INT./EXT. heading, space for the location, and the hyphen. You will have to type in the location before the hyphen and whether it's day or night after the hyphen.
- 4
  Type a sample page of your sitcom script. Practice using the macros. Revise any macros that don't work for your purposes.

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