(to share it with other people and keep your formating)
According to cnet.com "[t]his file format, developed by Microsoft, enables you to save text files in your word processor with formatting, font information, text color, and some page layout information intact." also, in addition to Microsoft Word, "[i]t is supported by WordPerfect, FrameMaker, Interleaf and many other packages on UNIX, Apple, Macintosh, Next, and PC platforms." (http://www.library.arizona.edu/branches/spc/udall/rtf_info.html)
Convert your screenplay so you can send your script to other people by e-mail and maintain its formatting.
A computer with Microsoft Word installed.
The brand, model, and other information about your computer aren't really important for this.
With your screenplay open in Microsoft Word, choose "Save As..." from the file menu.
A dialog box looking something like this should open:
(note that it may look different depending on the version of Microsoft
Word you are running)
In the dialog box, there is a file format pull down menu:
(note that this menu may be in a different place and/or look different
in your version of Microsoft Word)
With this pull down menu, choose "Rich Text Format" (or rtf) from the list:
Now the file type is set to Rich Text Format. Before you save
it, rename the file with ".rtf" as the ending:
(note that many computer systems use this ending to identify the file
type, even if your system does not)
You now have a version of your screenplay saved in Rich Text Format. You can send your script electronically to anyone you need to, and they will probably be more likely to be able to open it and see your formating (if you want to see what they will probably get, just open the ".rtf" version of your screenplay, and take a look).