# How do you write a short drama script for AI video?

**Short answer:** Write for the model as well as the viewer: a simple plot, about 5 recurring characters and a handful of sets, episodes of six or seven shots, and each shot as one literal action with one line of dialogue. Describe what the camera sees, never what the audience should feel.

URL: https://arc.katechon.technology/answers/how-to-write-a-short-drama-script-for-ai
Updated: 2026-10-18

## The brief we write to

- A plot a child could retell in two sentences.
- About 5 core characters and 6–8 sets, each character with a signature colour.
- A hook in every opening and a cliffhanger in every ending.
- Simple shots: one action, one framing, one light source.

This is the brief [High Note](https://arc.katechon.technology/films/high-note) was written to, after an earlier, more complex series cost more and drifted more. Fewer characters and sets made consistency easy: the same few references appear in nearly every shot.

## Script layers

From series bible to shot:

| Layer | Length | Contents |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Bible | One page | Premise, cast with looks and colours, sets, the main reversal |
| Episode guide | One paragraph per episode | Hook, turn, cliffhanger |
| Episode script | 6 shots | Shot-by-shot action and dialogue |
| Shot | One or two sentences | Who, where, one action, one line, framing |

## Writing shots a model can render

- Name the characters and the set exactly as their references are named.
- One action per shot. Two actions usually means two shots.
- Put colour words on the environment, never on skin: a colour phrase near a face can tint the face itself.
- Say what is there, not what is absent. A rule like 'the balloon is the only red thing' made our image model paint balloons into set sheets.
- Write the exact spoken line in quotes; generated dialogue follows it closely when it is short.
- Give near-silent shots a sound, such as wind or footsteps, or the model may invent a narrator.

## Dialogue

Keep lines under about 15 words so they fit a 10-to-12-second clip with room for a reaction. Put the line in the shot of the person speaking; off-screen speakers are harder for the model to voice correctly.

## Using AI to draft

Language models are good at turning an episode guide into shot lists and at keeping names consistent. They are weaker at escalation and surprise, so write or heavily edit the episode guide yourself and let the model expand it.

## Where Katechon Arc fits

Arc drafts an episode plan and script plans from your premise or source text, which you review and confirm before full scripts and shots are generated.

Arc will not replace a writer's judgement on plot and pacing; its drafts need the same editing as any AI draft.

## People also ask

### Can AI write a short drama script?

It can draft one from a premise, but the plotting usually needs heavy editing. We write the episode guide by hand and use AI to expand it into shots.

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