Five Script Writing Software to Consider for Your Screenwriting

If you invest some time on Internet research, you can find several useful script writing software that can make your job of screenplay writer easier. In this article, I will take a look at a bunch of popular scriptwriting software that are popular and most frequently mentioned on the Internet.

1. Celtx

This standalone freeware for windows OS receives quite a good rating from many users. It allows you to write for several formats like movie script, play, storyboard and etc. Celtx is specially strong at writing dialog. Each Enter key can changes characters and typing first letter of a character with a shortcut key shifts dialog for that character. Some reviewers even say that Celtx has most features of expensive scriptwriting software like Final Draft. Given that it is freeware, Celtx deserves your attention if you want to try a good screenplay software without burden of paying some money.

2. Final Draft

The most recent version at the time of writing this article is Final Draft 8. The basic interface of Final Draft is composed of three windows, namely, Screenplay, Navigator, and Script Properties. When you start typing your script, the SmartType feature suggests slug line and character names, which makes writing easier and faster. Index cards feature is also useful. With drag-and-drop, you can rearrange segments to improve your storyline. Collaboration mode that allows you to work on the same script with other Final Draft users on the Internet is also convenient feature. Most resources on the Internet call Final Draft as the industry standard. Although the price of $249 is somewhat heavy, if you are serious about the craft of professional script writer, you should give a close look at this software. Final Draft is available for Windows and Mac OS.

3. Adobe Story (Beta)

This is a web-based script writing software offered by the famous Adobe company. It stores your scripts on a server, meaning you can have access to your work from any where as long as you have an account that you can make on the Adobe Story website. Thanks to its cloud-computing, collaboration with other writers is easy. You can allow different level of access to your collaborators from that of co-author to that of reader. In December 2010, the software is still in Beta stage. The software is free but expected to be a commercial service after the end of April 2011. If you are interested in no-installation web-based simple script writing software, give it a try.

4. Montage (Mac only)

The first impression of this Mac only scriptwriting software is that its developer wanted it to be a powerful alternative to Final Draft on Mac OS platform. The website has a long comparison list that shows Montage has better features than those of Final Draft. Montage offers several templates to cover almost every genre such as TV, film, theater, musical, comic book and etc. Multiple views like script view, outline view, and timeline views make more coherent writing and rearranging of storyline. The most recent version is 1.5.4 and the price is $99.95. Montage can also import Final Draft files or export montage file as Final Draft file. If you are a dedicated Mac user, Montage looks a nice software to try.

5. Scrivener

Scrivener is more of a versatile software to write various types of work. You can use it to write stage play, screenplay, comic script and etc with scrivener. A script written with Scrivener can be exported as final draft format. Among Mac users, Scrivener is quite popular as one of the greatest writing tools. The software has a number of useful features that allow you to write, research, and organize your texts. Corkboard view to rearrange your texts, distraction free writing mode, strong compiling capability are some of the great features of this versatile software. Mac only version costs $45. Windows version is available as a beta and will be released in early 2011.