Hey guys,

Anyone know of any free or cheap screenwriting programs? I've used celtx for years, and am trying to find something better.

Zack

Celtx is the best free one I know of.

Fade In Pro is the best professional software that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. It's $80 (compared to Final Draft's $250) and does pretty much everything you need right through production.

Hey Zack - Down in General Chat, there was a fairly extensive thread on software back in March. I just checked and it's still there. Some good info from all across the board.
~John

Woohoo! I just got my Simply Scripts Mug in the mail from the last challenge (Thanks Don and to all that participated!) and noticed that this is my 500th post. Mark the date!

Nice milestone

One problem I noticed looking back was my first 10-20 scripts were written on two different software programs.  I’m now on Celtx.  If I want to do a rewrite, I have to redo the entire script from PDF.  It’s bloody annoying.

Quoted from jayrex One problem I noticed looking back was my first 10-20 scripts were written on two different software programs.  I’m now on Celtx.  If I want to do a rewrite, I have to redo the entire script from PDF.  It’s bloody annoying.

You can open the PDF in Word and it will convert it into something you can edit, copy and paste into a text editor and then Celtx. Applying element styles to that might be marginally faster than typing the whole thing from a hardcopy.

There was a big discussion about this before, but I don't use anything other than a standard txt file, these days.

I find it's easier to achieve 'flow" and it has complete cross compatibility between all programs, all computers and is future proof.

Write in Fountain syntax:

ZACK
Which are the best screenwriting programs?

RICK
Fuck 'em all, stick with wordpad.


And even this site is a screenwriting program. I find everything else unnecessarily limiting at this point.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films There was a big discussion about this before, but I don't use anything other than a standard txt file, these days. I find it's easier to achieve 'flow" and it has complete cross compatibility between all programs, all computers and is future proof. Write in Fountain syntax: ZACK Which are the best screenwriting programs? RICK Fuck 'em all, stick with wordpad. And even this site is a screenwriting program. I find everything else unnecessarily limiting at this point.

Don't do this.

Screenwriting software formats everything to industry standard so you don't have to spend time or thought on it and can just concentrate on writing. And if you think industry standard doesn't matter, good luck to you.

There is definitely some value in keeping a future-proof copy of your work, but I also would suggest finding out how much formatting help you're willing to pay for (in money and fitting-your-workflow-to-the-tool annoyance) for your main file.

I got a good discount on Final Draft, so I use that to store the script alongside the Beat Board (electronic index cards) inside the same file. WGA accepts .fdx files, which can establish that certain ideas were part of your project as of a certain date. The issue is now I need to ensure I have something that can open .fdx files even if I later migrate to something else.

Scar is a maverick who is happy with his own system... but for everyone else I'd recommend Writer's Duet at the free end of things and Fade In if you are willing to spend a little...

I use the latter, also with Fade In you can open previous script PDFs directly and it keeps the formatting intact too.

Quoted from ReneC Don't do this. Screenwriting software formats everything to industry standard so you don't have to spend time or thought on it and can just concentrate on writing. And if you think industry standard doesn't matter, good luck to you.

Rick stares aghast at the screen!

RICK
(BEAT)
How very dare him.

Rick turns to his long suffering girlfriend, still bearing the scars from her last beating.

RICK
You won't believe what this schmuck is saying.

BEATEN GIRLFRIEND (O.S)
Whh..whut?


Fountain is Industry Standard.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_(markup_language)

Every screenwriting software on the planet takes it, and every single computer device around. Even those nasty old word processors, and the latest smartphone. It's past and future proof.

You just type like I have done above and it gets instantly formatted into standard screenplay format when you stick it in any software.

The benefit is that you never have to stop typing to tell the program which parenthetical you want, thus breaking your concentration and flow.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)

Screenwriting software actively prevents me entering that state, every time I have to look up at the screen and go down the little list.

Not for everyone, but I always recommend everyone try it.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films Write in Fountain syntax: ZACK Which are the best screenwriting programs? RICK Fuck 'em all, stick with wordpad. And even this site is a screenwriting program. I find everything else unnecessarily limiting at this point.

My apologies, I somehow missed that you said the magic word Fountain. Yes, I�m familiar with John August�s excellent program, though your post did neglect to mention that you need Fountain or the syntax won�t do anything, and anyone who doesn’t know it won’t know what you mean. But you are 100% correct, it will format everything for you.

I still recommend having screenwriting software that has production tools and getting familiar with it. Hopefully you�ll need it some day.

One of our mods used to always write in Word. It was formatted correctly, but still never looked right. That is however, the only time I've ever been so distracted by the scripts not looking right, that it bugged me. I haven't run into that type of experience with anyone else's scripts here in years regardless of what software you have used. Ultimately though... everyone is looking for a GREAT story.

Quoted from AnthonyCawood Scar is a maverick who is happy with his own system... but for everyone else I'd recommend Writer's Duet at the free end of things and Fade In if you are willing to spend a little...

Never heard of Writer's Duet. Anyone have any experience with it?

Zack

It's free to try Zack, give it a whirl :-)

Quoted from ReneC My apologies, I somehow missed that you said the magic word Fountain. Yes, I�m familiar with John August�s excellent program, though your post did neglect to mention that you need Fountain or the syntax won�t do anything, and anyone who doesn’t know it won’t know what you mean. But you are 100% correct, it will format everything for you. I still recommend having screenwriting software that has production tools and getting familiar with it. Hopefully you�ll need it some day.

Fountain is not a program.

Fountain is the syntax.

Anything written in that syntax, anywhere, gets automatically translated into industry standard format when you stick it into a screenwriting package. You can write on this site, email, wordpad, anywhere, and you'll end up with an Industry Standard format as long as you stick to the syntax, which all seasoned writers already know.

One of its many advantages is complete cross platform and software compatibility. Whatever OS or software package the production team is using, or demanding, you can guarantee your. Txt masterfile will be accepted into that OS environment.

You'll still need the software as finishing tools, or if you want to schedule with movie magic, or whatever, but that's not really relevant to the writing side of things.

Fountain' s not for beginners, working their way up to using pro software, it's the opposite, it's for people who are experts at format, regularly shift between different environments and want complete control over the way they write.

https://johnaugust.com/2013/why-i-like-writing-in-fountain

Quoted from Zack Never heard of Writer's Duet. Anyone have any experience with it? Zack

The desktop app is good, the mobile app is dreadful, at least on Android, or at least on my phone (Samsung s8).

The keyboard disappears when you press return, it crashes. It's extremely buggy.

Fade in, Celtx, Dubscript have been better in my experience if mobile writing is something you do.