The audience for the products of entertainment industries worldwide and people aspiring entertainment industry aspirants and workers if not professionals in almost all parts of the world have developed the habit of using the terms screenplay and screenplay interchangeably with the latter being used more often. This, however, is erroneous custom and should be changed to represent our correct understanding of the two terms, as well as for people not connected with the industry terms to cite the terms properly.

Let’s begin to understand the difference between scripts and screenplays by taking a look at the definitions of the terms used to refer to the writing assignments of the two types of entertainment industry documents.

Screenwriting (Not Screenwriting):

Screenwriting, sometimes written as Screen Writing, which is no longer a valid method of writing the term in almost all of Hollywood but in some other parts of the world, is the term given to the task of screenwriting.

Screenplay or Screenwriting:

Script or Script Writing is the term given to the task of writing scripts.

What most people shouldn’t do, but do, is confuse screenwriting with screenwriting or screenwriting. Although screenwriting and screenwriting are not totally different, they are still two different means of media writing.

A script for a talk show, news, infotainment show, etc., whether on TV or radio, cannot be called a script. On the other hand, a script for a movie or TV show that is presented in a dramatic narrative with cutscenes and dialogues can be called a screenplay. Because? Because a hyphen is a form of hyphen and not the reverse is the case.

Here’s what Babylon’s glossary of film terms says about a script:

A text document in a specific format that contains the dramatic elements of the film, as well as indications of other elements such as setting, light values, action and, in general, everything that is essential to see on the screen from the point of view of the entire narration; In its relation to the finished film, a script is sometimes described as analogous to a blueprint for a structure. The analogy is true up to a point, but in fact there is no other type of text that has the specific characteristics and limitations of a script. And no other text that, when it achieves its goal, that is, the finished film, effectively ceases to exist, except as a historical and critical curiosity.

And this is what the Babel glossary says about a script:

A general term for a written work (and with special reference to the entertainment industry) detailing the story, setting, and dialogue. A script can take the form of a script, shooting script, line script, continuity script, or spec script.