Getting Started with ScriptFlo: From Blank Page to First Draft

The hardest part of writing a screenplay isn't the dialogue or the formatting or even the story structure. It's getting started. The blank page has a gravity field.

ScriptFlo is designed to reduce the friction between the idea in your head and formatted words on the page — while giving you enough structural scaffolding that the blank page feels like a starting point instead of a void. This guide walks you through the complete workflow: from creating your first project to exporting a draft you're ready to share.

When you first open ScriptFlo, you'll be prompted to create a new project. Give it a title — even a working title is fine. You can change it later. You'll also set your script type: feature film, short, pilot, or limited series. This choice affects which story structure templates are recommended and how page targets are calculated.

Tip: Don't overthink the title. “UNTITLED THRILLER,” “PILOT DRAFT 1,” or even your own name will do. Projects can be renamed at any time from the project settings.

You'll also add any characters and locations you already know about. These populate your character and location databases, which the AI assistant uses for context and the production breakdown references for tagging. If you don't have them yet, skip it — they'll be added automatically as you write.

Before you write your first scene, take ten minutes with a story structure template. This step is optional — you can write straight into the editor — but most writers find it saves hours of revision.

ScriptFlo includes 14 structure templates — eight for film and six for TV:

• Three-Act Structure — the foundational model for features, anchored around setup, confrontation, and resolution
• Save the Cat! — Blake Snyder's 15-beat sheet with page targets; the most production-standard option
• Hero's Journey — Campbell's 12 stages, ideal for mythic, genre, and character transformation stories
• Story Circle — Dan Harmon's 8-point model, excellent for character-driven and episodic work
• Freytag's Pyramid — classical dramatic arc for literary adaptations and prestige drama
• Sequence Method — 8 sequences of progressive complication, derived from McKee's approach
• Five-Act Structure — distinct movements with natural act breaks, for long-form drama
• A/B/C Storyline — braided plotlines for ensemble stories
• TV: 30-minute comedy (network & single-cam, and streaming), 1-hour drama (network and streaming), and limited series — tuned to episode format and network expectations

Each template includes beat descriptions and guidance on what each beat needs to accomplish — not just a label, but a question for you to answer. For example, the Save the Cat! “Theme Stated” beat asks: what is the moral argument of your story, and who states it?

Which template should you pick? If this is your first screenplay, start with Save the Cat! — its page targets are the clearest guardrails in the business. If you're writing character-driven drama, try the Story Circle. If you're writing a pilot, use the TV template that matches your target network.

Open the screenplay editor. You'll see a blank page with a cursor and an element type indicator in the top-left corner — it defaults to Scene Heading.

Type your first scene heading: INT. or EXT. followed by the location and time of day (INT. COFFEE SHOP — DAY). ScriptFlo applies proper capitalization automatically and moves to Action when you press Enter.

Write an action line. When you're ready to write dialogue, press Tab — the editor shifts to Character Name. Type the character's name, press Enter, and ScriptFlo shifts to Dialogue. Press Enter again when the line is done and you'll be in Action again. Tab takes you back to Character Name for the next speaker.

The keyboard shortcuts are designed so that experienced writers never have to reach for a menu:

• Tab — cycles through the most logical next element based on context
• Enter — confirms current element and advances
• Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + F — toggles scene focus mode
• Cmd/Ctrl + Z — undo (deep history stack)
• Cmd/Ctrl + S — manual save (ScriptFlo also auto-saves every 30 seconds)

Tip for first scenes: Don't try to write your opening image first. Instead, write the scene that you can see most clearly in your head — even if it's from the middle of the story. Getting words on the page breaks the inertia. You can rearrange later.

Every writer gets stuck. The scene won't go where you need it to. The character's motivation has gone blurry. You know something's wrong but can't name it. This is where ScriptFlo's AI assistant is most valuable.

Open the AI panel from the sidebar. ScriptFlo sends your full script as context — not just the current scene — so the AI knows your characters, your world, and your established story threads. This is the key difference between ScriptFlo's AI and a generic chatbot: it reads what you've actually written.

The most useful quick actions for early drafts:

• “I'm Stuck” — generates 3–5 creative directions grounded in story threads you've already established. The AI isn't making things up; it's extrapolating from what you've written.
• “Coach This Scene” — specific, actionable feedback on the scene currently in focus. The response leads with what's working before suggesting improvements.
• “Character Voice Check” — analyzes dialogue across your script to flag lines that don't sound like the character who says them. Catches the drift that happens over a long writing session.

You can also type any question directly into the chat. What's this character's backstory missing? Does this subplot resolve? What's the strongest version of this scene's conflict? The AI will engage with your actual script, not a generic answer.

As your script grows, the linear editor alone may not give you the aerial view you need. Switch to the Canvas view for a free-form layout of scene cards you can drag anywhere — cluster them, spread them out, think spatially. Or use the Storyboard to see your scene cards laid out by act.

The Storyboard is wired to the script: drag a card to a new spot and the scene moves in the editor too (so does dragging a scene in the sidebar scene list). There's no import-export step between planning and writing.

The Timeline view shows the pacing arc of your script, so you can see at a glance where the story surges and where it sags.

When you're ready to share, ScriptFlo exports in every format your readers might need:

• PDF — the standard for industry submission, formatted to WGA standards with a title page
• Final Draft (.fdx) — for collaboration with co-writers or producers using Final Draft
• Fountain (.fountain) — the open-source format compatible with Highland, Fade In, and dozens of other tools
• HTML — a web page you can host or send
• Plain text — for backup or archive

All exports include title page generation: script title, author name, draft number, and contact information. For production, you can also generate a breakdown report — a scene-by-scene inventory of tagged production elements — as a separate PDF.

The First Draft Philosophy

A final note before you start writing: the first draft's job is to exist. Not to be good. Not to be clean. Not to hit every beat. Its job is to give you material to work with.

ScriptFlo is designed to get you to a complete first draft faster than any other tool — by handling the formatting so you never break flow, by providing structural guardrails so you don't get lost, and by giving you an AI that helps you through the stuck moments instead of abandoning you to them.

The best way to learn ScriptFlo is to use it. Open a new project, choose a structure, and write your first scene. Everything else will become clear as you go.