: Re: Formatting for a visual medium: Screenplay or transcripts? I have a specific way of writing when it comes to describing things in a visual medium, like video games, movies, or shows. I'm not

@Candy753

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Every genre has its own style and professional standards. There may be multiple standards for subsets of a genre as well. They don't exist to make your task difficult, even though the learning process can drive you crazy. They exist for consistency and utility.

What you call a "transcript" style is actually very similar to finished scripts that comic book writers use. In that case, you'd give more description for the artist (not the reader) and break the story up page by page, panel by panel.

A script for live action is not going to be the same as one for animation. The level of description, settings, art style, etc will be very different. The underlying screenplay format may be the same or similar though.

TheNovelFactory is correct; your next step is to ask the people you want to work with. The point of formatting is to make it useful for the person you're giving it to. So ask them what is the most useful. Your "transcript" style is an earlier step before a full screenplay, and it may be what they want, if they will be deciding much of the visuals.

That said, go learn the proper formats. Yes, it's very awkward to write in a way you're not used to, but it's something you need to learn, even if you never write it that way. If your scripts will be turned into full screenplays by someone else, you'll need to understand screenplay format so you can give enough information for this to happen. Eventually, you will be comfortable doing it yourself.

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