The script element types

In one line: what the six line types in a .script file are, how you set one, and why "type first, layout second" beats reaching for the space bar.

Why types, not layout

Screenplay layout is strict: character names centred and capitalised, dialogue in an indented column, transitions flush right. If those positions were made of spaces, changing format would mean re-laying out the whole script, and the PDF would need checking all over again.

So a .script file stores no layout — only types. Each line records that it is a piece of dialogue, and the format decides the indent, the capitals and where it lands on the page. Switch format and the whole script re-lays itself without you touching a word. Those two small letters in the left gutter of each line in the editor (AC, CH, DL, (), TR) are its type.

The six types

Type	What it holds	Example from Ink Tide (Screenplay)
Action	What can be seen and heard on camera	Sundown. The shopfront. Gu Sui locks an ink cake into the cabinet.
Character	Who says the next line	SHEN YAN
Dialogue	What that person says	Twelve pages. A hundred and forty-four.
Parenthetical	How the line is said	(very quietly)
Transition	How one scene joins the next	CUT TO:
Shot	A named shot: a type plus its content	CLOSE ON — three words on a sheet of scrap: Shen Zhuoyan.

Action holds only what's visible. What a character privately thinks doesn't belong there — the audience can't see it, so it has to be played through a line or a gesture.

The scene heading is not one of the six. It's a set of scene-level fields (interior/exterior, location, time, annotation) living in the row above each scene; see Scene heading.

INSERT isn't a seventh type either — it's one of the eleven shot types.

Setting a type

You set the type explicitly as you write; nothing classifies your lines behind your back:

How	Notes
Enter / Tab	Moves to the next sensible type for your format (see Enter and Tab)
Ctrl + 1–5	Action, character, dialogue, parenthetical, shot
/ on an empty line	Command menu: elements, quick insert, new scene, note
The slot at the bottom of a scene	Adds a transition — one per scene, see Action, transition and shot

The one place Slima does guess is import: bringing in a Fountain file or a screenplay, lines beginning INT./EXT. become scene headings and short all-caps lines become characters. Inside the editor you stay in charge.

How each type prints

The same scene, the same content, in both formats:

Type	Taiwan	Hollywood
Action	△ prefix, flush left	Flush left, no prefix
Character + dialogue	Joined on one line: SHEN YAN：Twelve pages.	Name centred and capitalised, dialogue in an indented column
Parenthetical	▲（very quietly）	(very quietly), indented between the two
Transition	Flush to the trailing edge	Flush to the trailing edge
Shot	▲ 特寫：three words on a sheet of scrap	CLOSE ON — three words on a sheet of scrap

The Taiwan △ and ▲ prefixes can be turned off in format settings. Joining the character name to the next line of dialogue is the Taiwanese convention — split across two lines it starts to look like Hollywood. See Format switch.

Two small devices on a character line

A character line is more than a name:

• The extension badge. Focus the line and a faint (+) appears after the name; click it to cycle V.O. → O.S. → CONT'D → none (the Taiwan format prints 畫外音 / 畫外 / 續). What the badge shows is what the export prints.
• The same-named file link. When the name matches a .md file in this book, a dashed underline appears and Ctrl/Cmd + click opens it.

Both are covered in Dialogue and character autocomplete.

Blank lines and breathing room

An empty action line does not print a lone △ — a blank line stays blank. An unfilled transition slot doesn't take a line either. So leave gaps for rhythm; no stray marks reach the page.

The file is structured, so AI edits it a field at a time

.script is a structured file type: AI can't overwrite the whole thing, only reach in with field-level tools to change one scene's heading or one line's text. Its proposals appear in place as dashed cards you accept or skip. That's another reason types matter — AI moves "the dialogue on line 7 of scene 3", not a blob of prose.

Related

• Docs: Enter and Tab: the element flow
• Docs: Scene heading
• Docs: Dialogue and character autocomplete
• Docs: Action, transition and shot
• Docs: Format switch: Taiwan and Hollywood