How to Format an Audio Drama Script (With a Sample Page)

An audio drama script is formatted so that everything the listener needs arrives through sound. Each scene opens with a line that tells the ear where we are, every speech sits under a character cue in capitals, sound effects and music get their own SFX: and MUSIC: lines, and parentheticals are kept for how a line is delivered. There is no camera, so nothing on the page is written for one.

That is the whole format in one paragraph. The rest of this guide walks through each element, shows a short sample page, and explains why a clean page makes the production stage much faster, whether you record actors or cast AI voices.

Why an audio script cannot borrow screenplay format

A screenplay is a set of instructions for a camera crew. Its scene headings (INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT) tell a location manager what to build, and its action lines describe what the lens will see. Almost none of that reaches a listener. If the only evidence that a scene takes place at night is a heading, the audience never finds out.

An audio script has one job instead: tell a performer, a sound designer and eventually a listener what the scene sounds like. Every element on the page either becomes something audible or tells someone how to make it audible. If a line does neither, it should not be on the page. Keeping that test in mind resolves most formatting questions before they come up.

The anatomy of an audio drama script page

There is no single industry standard the way there is for film, but most audio scripts share the same five elements.

• The scene line. Instead of INT./EXT., open with a short description of the soundscape: SCENE 3. A LAUNDROMAT, LATE. DRYERS TUMBLING, ONE BUZZING FLUORESCENT TUBE. It is written for the sound designer, and it should name what the ear hears first.
• Character cues. The speaker's name in capitals on its own line, then the dialogue beneath it. Use exactly the same spelling every time. MAYA, Maya and MAYA (V.O.) look like one person to a reader and like three people to anyone casting from the page.
• Sound effect lines. SFX: followed by one sound, described plainly: SFX: A COIN DROPS INTO A SLOT. THE MACHINE CHUGS TO LIFE. One cue per line keeps the list easy to review.
• Music lines. MUSIC: for anything scored: MUSIC: LOW PIANO STING, OUT UNDER THE NEXT LINE. Say where it starts and roughly where it goes.
• Parentheticals. Short, in brackets, under the cue and above the line: (whispering), (off, calling from the back room). Use them for delivery and distance only. Blocking such as "she crosses to the window" does nothing for an actor at a microphone.

Many writers number their scenes and sound cues as well. Numbering costs nothing and makes notes like "cut SFX 14" unambiguous once other people are working from the same draft.

A short sample page

Here is the format applied to about thirty seconds of drama:

SCENE 3. A LAUNDROMAT, LATE. DRYERS TUMBLING,
ONE BUZZING FLUORESCENT TUBE.

SFX: THE DOOR OPENS. A BELL ABOVE IT RINGS ONCE.

MAYA
(calling out)
Hello? Sign says you close at eleven.

OWEN
(off, from the back room)
Sign's optimistic. Give me a second.

SFX: A DRYER DOOR SLAMS. FOOTSTEPS ON LINO, COMING CLOSER.

MUSIC: LOW PIANO STING, OUT UNDER THE NEXT LINE.

OWEN
You're soaked.

MAYA
It's raining. You'd know if you had a window.

Notice what the page never says. It never tells us Owen is carrying laundry, or that Maya is standing in the doorway. Distance is carried by "(off)" and by the footsteps getting closer, and the weather arrives through a line of dialogue.

Action lines, and where they go instead

The hardest habit to break when coming from screen or prose is the action line. "She picks up the letter and reads it" has no sound. In audio, a stage direction like that has to become a sound, a line of dialogue that names the action, or a reaction from another character, and usually a mix of the three. We cover that conversion step by step, with worked examples, in how to turn a screenplay into an audio drama, so this guide will not repeat it. The formatting point is simpler: when you finish converting an action line, nothing of it should remain on the page as prose. It is either an SFX: line, a spoken line under a cue, or it is gone.

Formatting habits that save time in production

A few small rules make the difference between a script someone can produce and one they have to clean up first.

• Put the cast list at the top. Each character name exactly as it appears in the cues, with one line on who they are and how they sound. It becomes your casting sheet.
• Keep one sound per SFX: line. "Rain, thunder and a car pulling up" is three cues that will be placed, adjusted and cut separately.
• Mark distance and medium in the cue's parenthetical. (off), (on phone), (on radio). These are production instructions, and they belong next to the line they affect.
• Keep dialogue speakable. Read every line aloud. If you stumble, a performer will too, and so will a synthetic voice.
• Strip anything written for a reader. Page headers, revision marks, scene numbers you do not want spoken and notes to yourself all need to go before the script reaches production.

How a formatted script maps onto a multi-voice production

This is where the format pays off. A clean audio script is already most of a production plan: every character cue is one voice to cast, and every SFX: and MUSIC: line is one sound cue to place. If you are making the drama with AI voices, that mapping is close to literal.

In AudioProducer.ai you paste the script into a blank project, then run Auto-Assign Characters, which tags every line by speaker. Consistent cue names are what make that step clean: one spelling per character means one character in the cast panel, and one voice, kept across every scene. You then pick or swap each voice from the library, or use a clone of your own voice. To be clear about what the tool does and does not do: it works from the text you paste in and does not parse screenplay or audio-script layout on its own, so treat the editor, not the file, as where the structure lives.

Your SFX: and MUSIC: lines become the checklist for the sound pass. Auto-Assign Sounds suggests music, ambient soundscapes and one-shot effects based on the scene, and you review those suggestions against your list, keeping what matches and placing what is missing. Once a sound is placed, remove its SFX: line from the text, or it will be read aloud with the dialogue. If you want to build the cue list before you open the editor, the approach in how to build a sound effects cue sheet from your manuscript works just as well from a script.

When it sounds right, you export the finished drama as an MP3. AudioProducer.ai makes the audio; where you publish it is up to you. For more on the production side, browse all articles.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an official audio drama script format? No single standard exists. Radio broadcasters and audio fiction studios each have house styles, but they share the elements above: a sound-led scene line, capitalized character cues, separate SFX and music lines, and short delivery parentheticals.

Can I write an audio drama in screenwriting software? Yes. Many writers use a screenplay template and repurpose the fields: the scene heading becomes the soundscape line and action lines hold the SFX and MUSIC cues. Export plain text before bringing it into a production tool.

How long is one page of audio drama script? It depends on how much dialogue versus sound a page carries, so time a read-through of your own pages rather than relying on a rule of thumb.

Do I need a narrator? Not necessarily. Many audio dramas carry everything through dialogue and sound. If you use one, give the narrator their own character cue like any other voice.

If you have a script ready, paste a scene in and hear it cast. You can start for free with 1,200 words per month, no credit card needed.