Can anyone give me some instructions on when to use
Transition
Shot
General Text (regular and centred)
Parentheses
And a related question. How best to introduce a new Character?
Say, Dan walks through the door for the first time. How do I properly script this?
Many thanks in advance.
Honestly, the best thing to do at this point would be to search for scripts to learn from.
Read a couple.
It’s actually fun when you pick scripts of movies you’ve seen. 
… and for the real deep dive, get the classic book “Screenplay” by Syd Field.
Good idea and I have done that already.
But I still need to understand the software usage.
How to use these?
Transition
Shot
General Text (regular and centred)
Parentheses
can anyone help?
Have you gone through the scriptwriting section in the Interactive Tutorial, found in the Help menu? It’s not in the basic area, but down in the “Going Further” folder, under “Writing and Editing”. You can also just click in the quick search tool in the main toolbar and type in “script” to find it.
It goes over all of the basics of selecting and switching between elements.
Transition - CUT TO: FADE TO:etc
These used to be used to specify how to transition between every scene. Now they are used only when a specific transition is needed for narrative effect. You no longer need to put CUT TO: at the end of every scene.
An example of when you would use a cut:
CHARLIE
Yeah, but where are we going to find
someone that desperate for work on
such short notice?
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET - DAY
LISA at the stoplight, trying to wash the windshield of an SUV.
Shot - CLOSE ON WHISKEY GLASS, ON BOB or CAROL
This is an element that came out of TV writing. It’s a way of editing the shots on the page. Example:
Bob puts down his suitcase.
THE DOG
sniffs the suitcase vigorously. Then it sits and looks up at its handler.
ON BOB
looking nervous.
General Text (regular and centred)- this is for when you want to write something that isn’t in screenplay format. Use this if you want to write a note, or an aside. Many scripts don’t use this at all.
Parentheses - this is used to explain how an actor should say a line, and sometimes to clarify the meaning of the line. Often called “wrylies” because of the cliche of using a parenthetical to add the direction (wryly) to a line. Example:
BOB
(not serious)
Maybe we should all quit.
Download this formatting guide/sample script from the Academy (the Oscar® folks) and read it through.
Thank you very much for taking the time to explain this. The SHOT was most confusing but you’ve clarified it, thnks again