Is there a good screenwriting computer program?
A. There are screenplay formatting programs, and screenwriting plotting programs that are mean to help you along the steps of making characters, conflicts etc. I don’t know anyone who uses a plotting program, so I’ll talk about screenplay formatting programs. A good screenplay formatting program allows you to write a screenplay in proper format without going to any trouble to set the right margins for the various elements (Character, Action, Parenthetical, etc.). They’re already set for you. You can switch from one to another just by hitting Return or Tab. You can also change the format you’re using, or select from a library of standard formats. Aside from formatting, a good screenwriting program will track your changes through as many revisions as you like. This is more than multiple levels of Undo, which any modern word processor should do. When I revise a script, all the new text is in pink. When I revise it again, new text is now in blue; and so forth for green, yellow, salmon, gol
Final Draft is probably the most widely used screnwriting software application. It is also very easy to use to set your script to industry standard with very intuitive short cut keys. It takes just a few hours to learn thoroughly and then the thinking to writing process is fast and rather quite enjoyable. There is also a Word template that can be used to format, but it is not in Final Draft format, and if requested, it needs to be converted if the Producer/Director asks for it electronically.
