Screenplay Writing Software

Any tips on writing a movie script.?

I want to write a movie script and i need some tips. I don't want any software even if it is free. Can you give me any tips or a website i can go to please. Any help/tips would be awesome.

Public Comments

1. Even if you don't want the software, you'll need it if you're serious about writing. One thing you can do is set the margins to those to format a script and use courier or courier new. Here are a few things you will HAVE to do. 1.Put FADE IN at the beginning of your script. 2.Capitalize all of the headings of your scenes. 3.Capitalize the names of your characters when they are fisrt introduced. 4.State whether it's an interior or exterior scene. 5. State whether it is night or day. I would suggest just looking up an example of a script online and going by that, there are many different rules for script writing.
2. You don't need software. You should read as many scripts as possible. But remember that scripts today are kept simple from a technical point of view. You're not a director so leave that up to when the movie is being made. Each scene simply starts with this: INT. PHONE BOOTH - DAY and then in the next paragraph you describe what's going on. INT. PHONE BOOTH - DAY MAX, a haggard looking middle-aged man is searching his pocket for a quarter. MAX (to himself) I thought I had a quarter on me.
3. You START by writing a BEST SELLING BOOK then once it's successful, you approach the movie studios with an offer to sell them the rights to the book AND to do the screen play too. If you insist on doing it YOUR way, then you will need a literary Agent to market the script to the Studios because they won't talk directly to you.
4. The first tip would be: This is the 21st century, get formatting software. Freehanding when it's not necessary is idiotic. There. I said it. We're not troglodytes. We don't live in caves. We've discovered fire, and know that it's good ... but microwaves are faster. If you're serious about writing a screenplay ... get software. Then do this: Read screenplays. Look at the formatting, and understand the story structure. You can read screenplays here: www.script-o-rama.com www.simplyscripts.com www.imsdb.com Get a book on formatting. Even AFTER you've got your formatting software from Celtx, you're going to have questions. The best formatting book is The Screenwriter's Bible by David Trottier. Dave is a good guy. Tell him Meat sent you. The next thing to do is to understand structure. Story structure is a place where everyone seems to have different opinions about how things go, where they happen and what the parts are called. It's all BS. Read Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. You can do this while you're downloading your formatting software. You can also read Vogler's EXCELLENT memo on the practical application of Hero With A Thousand Faces here: http://www.skepticfiles.org/atheist2/hero.htm The bottom line is that ALL stories are the Monomyth. Now that you've learned formatting, you've got the right books, you know how to apply the Monomyth and you've downloaded your formatting software package from: www.celtx.com You're ready to write. NOTES: - A "scene heading" is called a slug line, and includes int/ext, the location of the scene, and when the scene takes place. In that order. - Screenplays do start with with FADE IN: ... and end with FADE OUT. - Keep your description short, and your dialogue tight; don't ask/answer question after question. - You DO need formatting software. - You DO NOT need a best selling book. - You DO NOT approach studios. - You DO NOT sell rights. - You DO NOT need a literary agent.