Q. What If I Don’t Have Final Draft?

As someone who has used Final Draft forever, I first want to say that it’s an incredible program, and one that has made the sometimes-painful act of screenwriting much easier.

I highly, highly, highly recommend that you make the investment to get it – you will not regret it. 

But what if Final Draft is cost-prohibitive?

I get it – we’re in inflationary times, and money can seem tight. If that’s the case, here’s how you can format the average document. (Please note that this is for 8.5″ X 11″).

Here are the specifications to use for Word:

1. Use 12-pt. Courier. 
2. Sluglines and action lines should start 1.5” from the left edge of the paper. 
3. Character names should start at 3.7” from the left edge of the paper.
4. Dialogue should start at 2.5” from the left edge of the paper; it shouldn’t extend beyond 6.5” from the left edge of the paper.
5. Parentheticals should start at 3.1” from the left edge of the paper; they shouldn’t be wider than 2” in total width. 
6. The right margin for all of these should be ½” to 1.25” – no need to justify it; keep it ragged. 
7. Top and bottom margins should be 1” each. 

Let’s Look at an Example from Adaptation:

I tried unsuccessfully to upload PDFs to Canva so that I could label all of the margins. (It did not go smoothly).

So allow me to point out what’s going on.

1. We can see that 12-pt Courier is in full effect. 
2. The action lines and the slugs start from 1.5” from the left edge of the paper. 
3. Note how character lines start from 3.7” from the left edge of the paper.
4. Dialogue starts at 2.5” from the left edge.
5. Note how parentheticals start at 3.1” from the left edge of the paper.
6. See how, on the right, nothing goes past 1.25” (esp. with the action lines).
7. Finally, the top and bottom are 1” inch each.

I wouldn’t worry about page numbers, the asterisks marking revisions on the righthand side, the scene numbers or the “(Continued)”s. All of these are extraneous.

Hope this helps!