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How to write a whiteboard video script

Every sentence has to be drawable. That single rule fixes most scripts.

Updated: 2026-09-10

Open on a moment, not a definition

The first sentence decides whether people stay. Do not start with 'today we will talk about'. Start with a scene the viewer recognises, a claim that sounds slightly wrong, or a direct question. Then, within three sentences, give the plain answer most people would give and knock it down. The reversal is what buys you the next minute.

Write sentences that can be drawn

A whiteboard video draws while the voice speaks, so every sentence needs something for the pen to do. 'The enzyme lowers the activation energy' is a wall. 'The enzyme holds the two molecules so close they snap together' is a picture. When you write an abstraction, follow it immediately with the concrete thing it looks like. Examples beat metaphors; allow yourself one metaphor per video, at the hardest idea.

Split into boards of about fourteen seconds

Each paragraph becomes one picture, and a picture that has to carry forty seconds of speech turns into a collage. Three sentences, twelve to sixteen seconds, one complete idea per paragraph. If a paragraph needs two different pictures, it is two paragraphs. Separate them with a blank line; the tool reads blank lines as board boundaries.

Lists need a different skeleton

For 'five ways' and 'three mistakes' scripts use the cold open, then name every item in one preview sentence and tease the last one. Give each item a claim, a reason and two or three concrete steps, and finish by returning to the moment you opened on. Read the number out loud ('way number three') so the picture can show a number card.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a script be?

About 150 words per minute of video in English, about 270 characters per minute in Chinese. A one-minute video is nine to twelve sentences.

Should I write in the first person?

For advice and story videos, yes. For science and history explainers, a neutral voice reads better.

Do I need to mark what to draw?

No. The storyboarder decides the pictures from the narration. Director notes exist for hard constraints like a recurring character or a number card.

Can I paste an existing script?

Yes. Pasted scripts are used word for word; only paragraph breaks are used to split boards.