Fountain+ Scene Heading Open every scene with INT. (interior) or EXT. (exterior), the location, and the time of day. All caps, on its own line.
EXT. ARENA - DAY
Essential Guide
The beginner's guide on how to write a screenplay or story in Google Docs
Open Google Docs, follow along, and you'll have a finished 3-scene screenplay by the end of this post — no software, no procrastination.
TL;DR: You want a Google Docs screenplay template? Here's a Crime Comedy.
Are you wondering where you can find a Crime Comedy screenplay template? You can make a copy of Back-To-Africa The Crime Comedy and examine it to your heart's content.
It's written in the Fountain Format. You can use Obsidian, Fountain+ or your favourite converter to create a screenplay PDF.
The screenplay format rules (quick overview)
You don't need Final Draft, Fade In, or any paid software to write a screenplay — Google Docs (or any plain text editor) is enough. Here is the format you'll use so what you write reads like a real screenplay to anyone who picks it up.
Anyone asking how to write a screenplay typically starts here: five elements drive every screenplay on the shelf. Learn these and you can format a screenplay anywhere — Google Docs, Notepad, a napkin.
Action Lines Plain prose describing what we see and hear on screen. Present tense, visual, concise — no novel-style interior thoughts, unless you're going for artistic flair.
Hero kicks the door open and steps inside.
Character & Dialogue ALL-CAPS character name centred above the spoken line, with the dialogue indented underneath. One block per turn.
HERO
I will not yield!
YOU'RE GOING TO WRITE A SCREENPLAY TODAY
In the words of Hirohiko Araki — creator of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure — "Manga is an amalgamation of different fields."
You are not purely a writer. You are also an artist, you are here to tell a story.
Step 1: How to write a screenplay in Google Docs starts with a clear goal
Last week I wrote a guide on How To Make A Manga and thought it might be useful to expand on it here.
Today, I'm going to improve the short three page manga story by converting it into a screenplay using Fountain+ (a Fountain screenwriting tool) and adding clarity to the scenes.
The initial goal of the 3 page story was to "help women" as an ideation which led to this story of a man in a club rambling. His punchline is that giving money to women is helping.
Step 2: The Google Docs screenplay format and drafting the scene
Open a new Google Doc and type the skeleton below exactly as it appears. Don't worry about fonts or margins — Courier 12pt is the industry standard but for a draft, Google Docs' default is fine. The format is plain text on purpose.
If you want a 2-click solution, then let me shill myself! I eat my own dog food, Fountain+. It's a Google Docs Add-on with 1-click export formats. It has a useful "Format Tab" button to set up the margins for you.
For this story we are just going to set a story about a guy named Barnicus and the general idea is that he will be revealed to do a good deed. We don't know what it is yet.
INT. SOMEWHERE DARK - NIGHT A man does a good deed. His name is Barnicus.
The slugline tells the reader we are in the INTERIOR (INT.) of Somewhere Dark, at NIGHT.
The action line tells us what we see.
Step 3: Tell the actual story and make it count!
Now that the location has been placed down, all we have to do is set up a plot for our character then walk it down in a direction. For now, we'll take it down the dark atmosphere, shady men angle where there is booze everywhere.
The main character is discussing something absurd, the person on the line gives push back only to reveal that the location is part of THE TWIST.
INT. SOMEWHERE DARK - NIGHT
Dark purple lights soak the leather interior of a private booth. The area is sparsely packed with men — heads low, eyes averted. GLITTER sparkles, out of focus.
CROCODILE SKIN SHOES slam on a table. The motion rattles empty bottles of soju.
BARNICUS — sunk deep into a couch three sizes too big, lanky legs on the table — picks his teeth, yelling into a cellphone.
BARNICUS
I know we sell soju, but walk with me...
HUSKY (O.S.)
No! We are now wealthy legally, so quit it with these stupid get-rich scams.
HUSKY (O.S.)
I'm on my way to you right now.
Barnicus stares at the phone like it's about to chew his hairline. He takes a deep breath, leans in.
BARNICUS
This is generational wealth in our lifetime.
BARNICUS
The product takes 24 hours to make, then sells for $10,000 a bag.
BARNICUS
Hello?
HUSKY (O.S.)
Continue...
Barnicus sets his foot on the ground, back upright, face beaming with confidence.
BARNICUS
We pay some mope to hire another mope in Africa. Have him and his Zulu buddies collect coffee beans.
BARNICUS
'Cos coffee grows like grass over there. He feeds the beans to an elephant till Dumbo takes a massive golden dump.
BARNICUS
He cleans it up, sells the poop-coffee to us for 50 cents a kilo, and we re-sell it to millionaires in Thailand.
HUSKY (O.S.)
Where are you right now?
Barnicus freezes mid-grin. The teeth-pick stops moving.
PULL BACK to reveal — Barnicus is in a VIP booth. Outside, a pole on stage. A STRIPPER mid-pirouette blows him a kiss in slow motion. The "men with heads low" are trucking notes from their pockets to women on stage. Soju bottles everywhere.
Barnicus waves a fistful of money. The grin returns, full force.
BARNICUS
I'm at a single-mother fundraiser.
Yes. I wrote this scene, right now. It took about 30 minutes. I asked myself Who, What, Where and When, and this is what I came up with for a one-scene screenplay I'll call Back To Africa.
You can evaluate for yourself the quality and even copy the structure.
How did you come up with it being a strip club? It seemed like the appropriate place to make a joke about women.
How did you come up with his name, Barnicus? I thought about Barnacles.
What made you choose a hustler? I asked myself what type of person would be at a strip club?
Why selling alcohol? I'm literally looking at a bottle of soju right now.
How did you come up with the twist? 50% of readers will not find the single-mother dialogue to be a joke.
At this stage it is a first draft but is more than usable. I tend to not use outlines, but instead constantly ask myself questions until something coherent comes out. Telling the story is the most vital part. You do not need to be able to draw, or shoot, or direct. You need a scene that lands.
Step 4: How to build up a Crime Comedy screenplay?
In the first draft we established the main characters involved in the story, where they were and the general topic as to why they are there. But we left the topic of HUSKY is coming hanging — that needs to be resolved and a new threat introduced that will eventually lead to a plot.
Thinking about it, I decided that introducing a third character would help the dynamics a lot here. I still have not given the whole story a plot but having the characters bounce off one another is a great tool for revealing information naturally.
I also decided in the moment to do a U-TURN on Husky. It felt natural given the draft.
There are also other issues we need to slam down on:
- Are the voices of the characters clear?
- Does the action from one line to the next connect?
- Does the dialogue from one line connect to the next?
- The question of how they made their "soju money" is still in play.
- The question of the Africa scheme is still in play.
Title: Back To Africa
Author: Pistol Taeja
Website: www.pistoltaeja.com
INT. SOMEWHERE DARK - NIGHT
Dark purple lights soak the leather interior of a private booth. The area is sparsely packed with men — heads low, eyes averted. GLITTER sparkles, out of focus.
CROCODILE SKIN SHOES slam on a table. The motion rattles empty bottles of soju.
BARNICUS — sunk deep into a couch three sizes too big, lanky legs on the table — picks his teeth with a tooth pick - yelling into a cellphone.
BARNICUS
I know we sell soju, but walk with me...
HUSKY (O.S.)
Just stop! We are now wealthy legally.
HUSKY (O.S.)
Quit it with these get-rich scams. I'm on my way to you right now.
Barnicus stares at the phone lost as if it's chewed his hairline. He takes a deep breath, then leans in with one clean motion.
BARNICUS
(firm)
No. This is generational wealth in our lifetime.
BARNICUS
The product takes 24 hours to make, then sells for $10,000 a bag.
The line is cold. Barnicus peers around.
BARNICUS
Hello?
HUSKY (O.S.)
Continue...
Barnicus sets his foot on the ground, back upright, face resolute.
BARNICUS
We pay some mope to hire another mope in Africa. Have him and his Zulu buddies collect coffee beans.
BARNICUS
'Cos coffee grows like grass over there. He feeds the beans to an elephant till Dumbo takes a massive golden dump.
BARNICUS
He cleans it up, sells the poop-coffee to us for 50 cents a kilo, and we re-sell it to millionaires in Thailand.
HUSKY (O.S.)
Where are you right now?
Barnicus freezes mid motion, the tooth pick hanging by the bottom lip.
PULL BACK to reveal — Barnicus is in a VIP booth. Outside, a pole on stage. A STRIPPER mid-pirouette blows him a kiss in slow motion. The "men with heads low" are trucking notes from their pockets to women on stage. Soju bottles everywhere.
Barnicus waves a fistful of money. The grin returns, full force.
BARNICUS
I'm at a single-mother fundraiser.
A beautiful mild mannered woman strolls into the VIP room and sits directly across from Barnicus. Husky Chan.
HUSKY
Hiring whores is not what I meant when I said we should help society with all that blood money.
Hand still pressing the phone to his face, his eyes widen as they make contact with Husky.
BARNICUS
Hey! Language.
BARNICUS
I will say I'm proud of you for getting out of your comfort zone.
CHOY, young, perky, glasses with a pen and board in hand barges in moments after Husky. She cowers hand on knee gasping for air, eyes closed.
CHOY
Barny! You need to leave! That little tramp is on her way, she has keys to the hidden exit.
CHOY
(she looks up slowly)
I tried to stall her but her tiny shaolin feet...
Choy stands up right between them at the entrance, she glances at them both then puts on a cashier's smile. Her body is unapologetically facing Husky.
CHOY
Welcome to the Pussy Popper, Ms Chan. We're so happy to have you here on our opening weekend.
CHOY
Would you like me to bring you our finest selection of squid?
Half of Husky's face cuts away from Choy. Message received.
HUSKY
I'm allergic to mollusks.
CHOY
Bless your heart.
Barnicus's tooth-pick points at Choy, Husky then Choy again. His tongue points it up at the top of his nose.
BARNICUS
Can you ladies start a war in the town over? Choy, I appreciate your work.
CHOY
Awww, bless your heart.
Her mouth twists in disgust as she turns away from Husky. Choy makes her way out.
HUSKY
Fire her.
BARNICUS
No! I'm a changed man trying to help women.
She crosses her legs, head slopping.
HUSKY
Why couldn't you buy a restaurant like a normal person?
BARNICUS
Have you seen the staff turnover rates in the food industry? They leave quicker than they came.
BARNICUS
Do I look stupid?
Husky points at his ears. Barnicus puts the phone away slowly.
If you want to dig deeper into the structural rules, you can run your draft through the Fountain+ Screenplay Checker — it'll flag missing sluglines, broken character cues, and other format slips before you send the script anywhere.
How can I make this easier?
Once your screenplay is in Google Docs, Fountain+ Exporter turns it into a properly formatted PDF, Final Draft (.fdx), Fade In or plain Fountain — without leaving the doc.
This is a beginner guide after all — repetition is king. Write the scene first, format it second, polish it third.