Screenwriting : Software Ideas?? by Marcus Caesar

Just use Word or even Notepad!

Well, the normal price for FD9 is about $ 250 I think. If you sign in to their newsletter you'll get their sales information. Then you usually can buy it for $ 169. If that still is too much I heard Celtix shall be good for beginners as well - and it's for free, but I have no experience with it. Hope that's a little helpful. Good luck!

celtx, they have a free version that does all that you would need. www.celtx.com

Fade In for $50. User-friendly, compatible with the big programs (Movie Magic, Final Draft). Great start-up program.

It's great that you have so many ideas, Marcus! Mike's right that you can use Word or even Notepad to start - there's also a program called Celtx that I've heard many people swear by (I have not used it, so I can't speak to it well). Speaking as someone who has read for development execs before, and who sees many, many scripts here at Happy Writers, though, I would encourage you to bite the bullet and get Final Draft or something similar for one simple reason: proper formatting matters. It's genuinely the first thing that will make or break your chances with a reader. Doesn't matter how great your content is if the reader can't get past a badly formatted first page - and Word won't give you what you need in that regard. Buying the newest version of Final Draft directly can be cost-prohibitive, I get that. You might check certain reputable sales sites for used copies at a fraction of the price (even a slightly older version is okay - the practical differences between FD 8 and 9, for example, are almost negligible). Good luck!

You can use 'WriterDuet' for free right now... I bought Final Draft four years ago and use both today. Primarily, Final Draft. However, when I'm traveling/out of office, Writer Duet has worked great!

I'm using WriterDuet as well and I'd recommend it. There's a free version that allows you to download your work in PDF, convert to different formats (Final Draft, for one) with plenty of other features, but works fine if you just want to focus on writing and not worry about formatting or other advanced features. The only negative I've experienced is that some of those very nice features I have not found any documentation for whatsoever. No idea how they work.

celtx

I recently purchased Scrivener because I have heard that lots of writers use it. It is also used by Scriptwriters although they admit they are not industry standard like Final Draft. I can't really comment on how good it is because I haven't really utilized it yet - but from what I have heard it's a good option and at $45 it is fairly affordable. here is the link: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php Hope that helps!

Celtx.

DON'T use Word or Notepad, particularly Notepad. How can you format in Notepad?

I once took an entire feature out of CeltX and loaded it into Final Draft 9 and reformatted EVERY line to see the difference in page count or other stats and ya know what: there was NO difference. Celtx works for me!!

I love Fade In. http://www.fadeinpro.com/

celtx.com is free

Yeah I started on celtx and used imsdb.com to compare my script to industry standards. Final Draft will just save you some time.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I did download celtx and will use that for the time being.

I started with Celtx and after they moved from desktop to online only, I moved to WriterDuet. Both are free but I like the later better because its easier to use.

Celtx desktop and Celtx Script for Android phones, both are free. I used them for about a year. Now I'm using FadeIn Pro for only 50$: it has all the options I need.

Fade In. Easy and inexpensive.

Marcus, if you have 'ideas' for screenplays, don't get hung up on screenwriting format or software. By all means get it, but the really hard work on your ideas should be done before you start with script format. The more effort you put in to the story, working out all the elements, before script stage, the easier the actual scriptwriting will be.

I use Adobe Script. I have not had any issues with it and you have the choice to use the free version or upgrade to the (I believe) the $9.99 a month version.

Celtx

I use Celtx, Adobe Script and Final Draft. :) Celtx is free and so is Adobe Script

Ronnie Mackintosh said with more detail and clarity what I meant when this thread started! Meanwhile , I am going to check out Celtx! Thanks guys.

Fade In, definitely. Buy once, use always (unlike subscription-based hostageware), gets better with every FREE incremental upgrade, developers respond to comments and feature suggestions. Affordable too. NB I use Scrivener for novelization and story structuring. Works a treat, also affordable.

What Ronnie M. wrote earlier is mostly true. Really good screenplays do (IMO) benefit from good planning and structuring, but since the end result is meant to be in 80-120pp script format, imposing standard Courier 12pt, margins and indents from the get-go and early in the writing phase helps keep things trim in the action, stops characters monologuing past, say, 4-6 lines, and helps the writer manage pacing, trim unneeded scenes etc.

Adobe Story is free and once you learn it, saves so much time over using word.

I learn the format from the book.

celtx is what I'm using and I just started playing around with https://storywriter.amazon.com/

Celtx is free and from what I understand is really good. I downloaded Final Draft from Amazon at about $60.00 and it comes with free updates!

Celtx is the only free one I have heard of. I don't use it, but I hear it's ok.

I use Celtx in a good workflow. Celtx Card app so I can flesh out a story. This then sync to Celtx on the web. Celtx Script app means I can write on my phone and tablet. So I can write anywhere. Celtx website which is a fully fledge website that has a bucket load of features, such as project manage for production as well as sharing functions. So you can keep track of who has access to your script. Good luck.

WritersDuet. Free and it handles movies and TV. I switched from Celtx as WD is easier to use.