YouTube Shorts script generator built for the first two seconds
A Short is decided before the viewer has read your title. The first line has to land in about two seconds, every beat after it has to add something new, and the last line should send the viewer straight back to the start. This generator writes to that structure on purpose.
Pick a 30, 45, or 60 second Short, type the topic, and get a script broken into beats, with on-screen text and a visual note for each one, plus alternate hooks and a set of short titles. The AI-tell linter checks every line, tuned for the pace a Short needs.
What a Shorts script looks like
Topic: the lighthouse keeper who kept a light burning for a closed harbor (a fictional example). 45 second Short.
- Hook
- This lighthouse stayed lit for nine years after the harbor closed.
- On screen
- 9 YEARS. NO SHIPS.
- Beat 1
- The keeper was told to shut it down in 1961. He wrote back that he had not been told why.
- Beat 2
- So he kept paying for the oil himself, every month, from a pension that barely covered rent.
- Beat 3
- Then a fishing boat lost its engine in a storm off that exact point, and the only light on the coast was his.
- Payoff
- Four men came home because one man did not like unexplained orders.
- Loop line
- And that is why the light on this rock is still lit today.
The structure every script follows
Short-form retention is a curve that starts falling at the first frame. A script cannot fix a weak idea, but it can stop the leaks that come from structure. Each Shorts script is built in the same order so nothing is left to chance.
- A hook of eight spoken words or fewer, a concrete claim or contradiction that the payoff will resolve.
- Hook text for the screen, five words or fewer, so the idea lands even with the sound off.
- Three to five beats, each adding one new fact, with a visual change every couple of seconds.
- A payoff near the end, not a summary, so the viewer gets the answer they stayed for.
- A loop line that flows back into the first line, so a replay feels like a continuation.
Word budgets that fit the runtime
Spoken pace for Shorts runs fast, around two and a half to three words a second. A 30 second Short holds roughly 80 words, a 45 second Short about 120, and a 60 second Short about 160. Scripts are written to those budgets, so you are not cutting a paragraph in the edit to make it fit.
Each beat carries an approximate duration, which makes it easy to plan the cuts. If you are recording your own voice, read the script once against a timer and trim the beat that runs long rather than speeding up your delivery.
What the linter catches in a Short
The tells that make a long script sound machine written are worse in a Short, because there is no time to recover. The linter flags greetings, "in this video", "did you know", recaps, and early calls to follow or subscribe, along with the usual contrast framing and stock phrases.
The rules are tuned for the format. A Short can use shorter sentences than a documentary, so the minimum sentence length is lower, but a long chain of fragments is still flagged because it reads as a list instead of a story.
Titles, hashtags, and the cover frame
Shorts titles are short and keyword first, because most viewers see them over the video rather than in a list. Each run returns three title options under forty characters, a one or two line description with a few hashtags, and guidance on which beat to use as the cover frame and what short text to put on it.
Keep text out of the bottom fifth of the frame and away from the right edge, where the interface covers it. The visual notes in each beat follow the same rule, so the plan you shoot from already respects the safe zones.
From long-form to Shorts and back
Shorts work best as their own ideas rather than trimmed clips of a long video. A strong single fact from your long-form research often makes a better Short than the opening minute of the video. Pick that fact, run it as a Short, and link the long video from the Short so interested viewers have somewhere to go next.
If you batch five to ten Shorts at a time, test different hook styles across them. The hook is the variable that moves the most, and batches make the comparison fair.
Questions
How long can a YouTube Short be?
YouTube accepts Shorts up to three minutes, but most retain best under a minute. The generator writes 30, 45, and 60 second scripts, which cover the lengths most channels publish.
Does the script include on-screen text?
Yes. The hook has its own on-screen text, and every beat carries a short on-screen line and a visual note, so you can plan the edit straight from the script.
Can I use these for TikTok and Reels too?
The structure works on any vertical platform: a fast hook, one idea, a payoff, and a loop. Check each platform's length limits and safe zones before you publish.
How is a Shorts script different from a long-form one?
A long-form script builds a story with re-hooks across several minutes. A Shorts script has one idea and no time to warm up, so the first line does the work of a whole cold open and the ending loops instead of wrapping up.
Do Shorts use the same credits as long-form scripts?
Shorts draw from the same credit balance as every other action. The run setup shows the exact credits before you confirm, so nothing starts without your say-so.