You’re right — those two steps should be one. Here’s a tightened version where Step 1 covers writing in Fountain in any text editor, and Step 2 is converting to PDF (with Afterwriting or your VS Code setup at the end).

How to Format a Screenplay to Industry Standard — Without Paying for Software

For a long time, screenwriting felt tied to expensive software. Final Draft licenses, subscriptions, upgrades — it can all feel like a barrier, especially when you’re just trying to write.

The good news is: we’ve never paid for screenwriting software, and we’ve never had problems delivering properly formatted scripts.

Here’s how we do it.

Step 1: Write Your Script in Fountain (in Any Text Editor)

Everything starts with Fountain.

Fountain is a plain-text screenplay format created by screenwriter John August and developer Stu Maschwitz. They designed it so writers could focus on writing instead of formatting — and so scripts could be written anywhere, in any text editor.

The key idea is simple: you write your screenplay as plain text, and Fountain recognises what each line is based on how it’s written.

You can write Fountain in:

Notepad
TextEdit
Notes
Google Docs
Any code editor

The only trade-off is that a basic text editor won’t look like a screenplay while you’re writing. That’s normal. Fountain separates writing from presentation.

The core Fountain rules

Scene headings are written in caps:

INT. APARTMENT - NIGHT

Action is just normal text:

The room is dark except for a flickering TV.

Character names are written in caps:

ALEX

Dialogue follows directly underneath:

ALEX
I thought you said this was finished.

Parentheticals go in brackets:

ALEX
(quietly)
I was wrong.

That’s basically all you need to start.

Step 2: Export a Proper Screenplay PDF (Free)

Once your script is written, the final step is turning it into a clean, industry-standard PDF.

Here are two easy, free options.

Option 1: Afterwriting (Fastest and Simplest)

If you want the quickest route:

Go to https://afterwriting.com
Paste your Fountain script or upload the file
Export to PDF

You’ll get correct margins, spacing, and pagination — the same result you’d expect from paid screenwriting software.

Option 2: Visual Studio Code (Our Personal Setup)

This is what we use.

We write in Visual Studio Code, which is completely free. With a Fountain extension installed, it becomes a really comfortable way to write:

Syntax highlighting for Fountain
Clear separation of headings, dialogue, and action
Auto-complete for character names
Cleaner readability than a basic text editor

From there, you can preview your Fountain file and export to PDF from the editor.

It keeps everything in one place: writing, previewing, and exporting — without paying for software.

Why This Approach Works

No upfront cost
No subscriptions
No lock-in to a company or file format
Your script stays as plain text — portable and future-proof

Most importantly, it removes friction. You can focus on the story instead of the tools.

Final Thoughts

You don’t need expensive screenwriting software to write professional screenplays. You just need a format that respects writing — and a free way to turn it into a PDF when you’re done.

For us, Fountain + free tools has been more than enough. It’s how we write, and it’s how we’ve delivered industry-standard scripts without paying for software.

If you’ve been putting off writing because of cost or complexity, this is a great place to start.