Okay, I'm not the most computer-literate person around but certainly not the least either. I'm having such a problem with basic formatting. I've needed to handwrite first and type it up when I get access to a computer. I've been trying to format it on my own but I am ending up with a mess (part of the problem is a version of Word that I don't know) and I'm not sure how to fix it. Is there a formatting program that I can copy/paste my screenplay into it in chunks that will automatically format it? If not, are there any suggestions that will help me make the script look "pretty?"

Thanks,

connie/gostiee

Hi Gostiee,

Celtx is a free script formatting software. You can download it to your computer and it's an acceptable tool for publishing. Go to http://celtx.com/. You can fist save it in a downloads folder so if you ever need to reload it for any reason you won't have to go to the website to start over. Or you can just install it as part of the download and not store the package on your hard drive if space is an issue.

This is a user friendly program and has video tutorials to get you started. There's a minimal learning curve.

I purchased Final Draft because it's the industry standard but find that I much perfer Celtx.

Hope this helps,
anne/JustWriting

Will Celtx let me cut and paste my script into it or would I have to type it all over again? Also, I don't have my own computer. Can I copy Celtz onto a flashdrive and use it that way?

Thanks for your help.
Connie

To answer the second question first, Yes you can run Celtx from a flash drive :)

Now to the first question... no need to cut and paste, save your current script as a .txt file them use Celtx's import feature. Full instructions here in the Celtx Wiki... http://wiki.celtx.com/index.php?title=The_Script_Editor#Importing_Script...

and no I don't work for them I just think it's a really good piece of free software... my other favorite is this... http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter5.html

Sorry to hear about your formatting woes.

I'm not very computer literate. I had trouble trying to use Celtx the first year I did SF. Eventually, when the pressure of SF was over, I figured it out.

I'd say there is just so much formatting you should worry about this month. And I think it would be perfectly acceptable for SF to just put everything in the simplest format and come back to it later. for example:

scene 1.
stage set:int. ext. description of stage set

stage direction: character so and so enters

CHARACTER name: dialogue

CHARACTER 2 name: dialogue

lights out. end of scene

scene 2.
etc.

good luck.