Nichols goes on to suggest writing a little over the page count of what you’re trying to submit. “Even if you’re writing something for a network, I would suggest leaning towards 30 pages.

Now that you know how to write action lines in a script, it’s time to put things to the test. Stop reading and start writing that screenplay.

This means writing in a casual, conversational tone – like you're telling a story to a friend, or even your pet iguana. Your goal is to tell your story in a voice that's true to how you talk.

So to help launch Variety ‘s new “ Hollywood How-To ” video series on writing a script, we asked Lindelof to talk through some of his process as a television writer. Here’s what he had to say.

Half of the dialogue in my film “CODA” is in American Sign Language. How do you write for a language that has no written form? I didn’t. Not at first. When I started studying ASL, it struck ...

I didn’t even know what a script would look like if there was only one shot, so I was beginning to get a bit anxious and thought, “Oh, right, we’re going to just have to fly blind and make ...