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Scriptwriting

Keep your breakdown in sync

Intermediate3 min readUpdated May 2026

Once you've tagged elements in your script, the breakdown and every list that depends on it stay live. This guide explains what happens when the script changes, and how to trust that the breakdown is always current.

Before you start

This guide assumes you've already tagged elements in a script. If you haven't, start with “Tag elements in your script for an automatic breakdown”.

1

Understand the link

A tagged element is not a copy. It is a single thing the script, the breakdown and the lists all point at. Change it in one place and every view of it changes, because there is only ever one of it.

2

Edit the script and watch it flow through

Rewrite a scene, add a prop, move a moment to a different location. The breakdown panel for that scene updates as you type, and the project's lists update with it. Nothing waits for a refresh.

3

Handle renamed and removed elements

If you rename an element, every scene that uses it follows the new name. If you delete the last tag of an element, it drops out of the breakdown, because nothing in the script calls for it anymore.

Removing a tag, not the word

Untagging text leaves the words in your script untouched. You are only telling Curtyn that this mention no longer counts toward the breakdown.

4

Check the breakdown before you export

Because the breakdown is always live, the version you export is the version of the script you have right now. Give the breakdown panel a last look before you send a PDF, and what goes out is current.

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