I am writing a teenage drama script and in it, a teenage boy has a nightmare. So far I have "... lies asleep in his bed. He tosses and turns." What else do I write in the action space to convey that he is having a nightmare?
How to describe this?
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Describe what is happening in his nightmare? He tosses, he turns he slips into sleep and then there's this clown with a chainsaw....
Depends what POV you are using.
Depends what POV you are using.
Yeah, whenever I have a dream sequence I like to pull the reader into the character's head and show what's going on. Then have them wake up upset, screaming, sweating, or even bolting right out of bed and running to the opposite side of the room, whatever feels right for your character to put the reader in his shoes. Or socks.
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if it's drama (by which I'm thinking you mean play? or film? or TV script?) I assume that's all you need and then cut to/dissolve to/lights up stage left (not quite as sure of terminology here--ask a playwright for that 
) a portrayal of the nightmare events. You don't need/want more because actors know how to act; they'll get "INT. Bedroom. JOE in bed having nightmare"
If it's fiction, prose, and he's your POV character, you can't describe what he looks like from the outside, as he's asleep and even were he awake (barring a mirrored ceiling), he could not see himself moving or lying there. If you're in omniscient, or if some other character is looking at him, you could. But if some other character is looking at him, you can't see his dream.
ETA: you may already know all this but here's a how-to on script formatting, note the section on "transitional instructions": http://www.storysense.com/docs/SPFormat.pdf.
) a portrayal of the nightmare events. You don't need/want more because actors know how to act; they'll get "INT. Bedroom. JOE in bed having nightmare" If it's fiction, prose, and he's your POV character, you can't describe what he looks like from the outside, as he's asleep and even were he awake (barring a mirrored ceiling), he could not see himself moving or lying there. If you're in omniscient, or if some other character is looking at him, you could. But if some other character is looking at him, you can't see his dream.
ETA: you may already know all this but here's a how-to on script formatting, note the section on "transitional instructions": http://www.storysense.com/docs/SPFormat.pdf.
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We're not in his head, right? Then we can have him moving about, crying out (intelligibly or otherwise), and then waking up in a copious sweat. This is pretty much a cliche by now.
'...teenage drama script' suggests a play.
Say what you mean - Scene V. George is asleep in bed, having a nightmare.
Leave it to the actor to interpret that into movements. Only mention specific movement if it is relative to something else in the scene.
Say what you mean - Scene V. George is asleep in bed, having a nightmare.
Leave it to the actor to interpret that into movements. Only mention specific movement if it is relative to something else in the scene.
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INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT (alternatively, INT. JOE'S BEDROOM - DAY)
Joe mumbles restlessly in his sleep. His face glitters with sweat. A beat, and Joe wakes abruptly, realizing that he was just having a bad dream.
END SCENE
Be as basic as possible. Like others said. Let the actor and director do their job. There is no need to establish the nightmare unless we're IN the nightmare. If we were SEEING what he was dreaming, then you establish the shot of the dream. EXT. PARK - DAY.
P.S. Check out "The Screenwriter's Bible" by David Trottier. He tackles a ton of these scenarios. Very good manual.
Joe mumbles restlessly in his sleep. His face glitters with sweat. A beat, and Joe wakes abruptly, realizing that he was just having a bad dream.
END SCENE
Be as basic as possible. Like others said. Let the actor and director do their job. There is no need to establish the nightmare unless we're IN the nightmare. If we were SEEING what he was dreaming, then you establish the shot of the dream. EXT. PARK - DAY.
P.S. Check out "The Screenwriter's Bible" by David Trottier. He tackles a ton of these scenarios. Very good manual.
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