Screenplay template for Google Docs and Word
A free screenplay template for Google Docs and Microsoft Word: a Word file in standard script format, with a style for every element and steps for both apps.
Open the Fountain file in Plot, or the Word file in Word or Google Docs. The Word file sets the margins and indents on every line.
Preview the download
Editable Fountain source. The download contains the text below.
Title: YOUR TITLE Credit: written by Author: Your Name Contact: name@example.com FADE IN: INT. FIRST LOCATION - DAY Action says what the audience sees and hears, in the present tense. Keep each block to a few lines. Introduce a character in capitals the first time they appear: MAYA (30s), still in her coat. MAYA Dialogue sits in a narrow column under the speaker's name. SAM (quietly) A parenthetical gives a short direction for the line under it. MAYA In Word, press Enter after a name and the next line is dialogue. CUT TO: EXT. SECOND LOCATION - NIGHT Every scene starts with a heading: INT. or EXT., the place, and the time of day. Write your own story over these pages. >FADE OUT.
How do I use the screenplay template in Google Docs?
Download the Word file, then in Google Docs choose File › Open › Upload and pick it. Each line carries its own indent and capitals, not only a Word style, so the layout travels with the text. Google Docs has no custom styles, so to add a new line of dialogue or a scene heading, copy a line of the same kind and type over it.
How do I use the screenplay template in Microsoft Word?
Open the file in Word and write over the example. Every element has its own style in the Styles pane: Scene Heading, Action, Character, Parenthetical, Dialogue and Transition. Press Enter after a character name and Word moves to Dialogue; after dialogue it moves back to Character, so a conversation keeps its shape as you type.
What screenplay format does the template use?
US Letter, 12-point Courier, a 1.5-inch left margin and 1-inch margins elsewhere, with character names, parentheticals and dialogue at their standard indents. Scene headings stay with the action under them, and page numbers start on the second page of the script. It is the layout Plot prints, so the page count works as the usual page-a-minute estimate.
When should I move from Word or Google Docs to Plot?
When you want the script to format itself. Plot puts every element in place as you type, with no styles to pick, and adds save points, draft lines and PDF or Final Draft export. Download the Fountain file on this page to open the same starter in Plot.
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