I have been surfing around and became interested in screenplay scripts. One link lead to another; and, well... I found myself downloading a cool editor. Knowing that some of you are rather wordy, I thought you might be interested, so I'm sharing the link with you. <a href = "http://www.rsalsbury.co.uk/roughdraft/">RoughDraft</a> I downloaded this pup and am impressed with it. The cool thing is that it simpifies the formatting of a screenplay. Also, being freeware, it is a well written program. Oh, this might interest you too... <a href= "http://www.craftyscreenwriting.com/">Crafty Screen Writing</a>
Windows only If you haven't a windows machine, don't bother with the link. Those of us with Linux, TRS-80 or even Mac will have to do without. And why isn't 'comedy' an option?
Genius marketing Ah, the sad follies of Win-maniacs. Is this one of those things where someone thinks they can create a niche for themselves, instead of fill an existing one? Everyone knows the best writers either write by hand, use an ancient computer that won't run this current app, or have Macs. However, maybe I'll wander downstairs and check out the site on one of the PC's. I could be surprised. thanx, Tiassa Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
<i>"Everyone knows the best writers either write by hand, use an ancient computer that won't run this current app, or have Macs."</i> Work smart, not hard? Anyway, I was impressed with the quality of the app. There seems to be a market for this sort of software, and the others cost a small fortune. For a novice who has only a passing interest, free is a very good price. I suppose you could write a key macro for MS-Word. The screenplay format looks like an easy way to tell a story. I'm gonna give it a try. It's requires only 120 pages and looks like fun.
On the one hand, I don't see that the two are mutually exclusive. To the other, when it's time to write, I prefer to sit down and write; what I do not like to do is entertain silly stories about work, get up to see a replay of Brett Boone's home run, or--and this is important--fix the computer every time I need to use it. It's quite distracting when you perform your dutiful saves to protect your work and Word collapses randomly during the save and eliminates a certain quantity of work. I would prefer that my hard work be put into the writing, and not the maintenance of the writer's equipment. One cannot do insanely great work on a crappy, unstable OS. Screenplay is a wonderful way to tell a story; it does, however, create an interesting condition whereby the writer is constantly that much more conscious of the audience, and that is sometimes problematic. I tried writing a couple of stage plays; I had good ideas, but I didn't have enough of a functional knowledge of theatre to understand the relationship to what I was writing to what the audience would see. * Neil Simon: Brighton Beach Memoirs is a good one to read because it was both a play (Matthew Broderick as Eugene Jerome) and a movie (Jonathan Silverman), and without a whole lot of changes to the script itself. Any of his Suite plays (New York, Hollywood, and Plaza, I believe) are good because they're conceptual formats. Little Me, which I believe is Simon's first play, bleeds with Too Much Effort. God's Favorite is brilliant, and Prisoner of Second Avenue is jaw-dropping. You could probably find these books in a public or college library, if not readily available somewhere like Powell's. * Milcha Sanchez-Scott: Roosters is a weird, cool little play. It's even more fun to watch than read, because there are usually chickens wandering around the inside of the theatre. * Terence McNalley: Lips Together, Teeth Apart; I have never watched the movie of this; it would spoil the powerful memory of this play as performed by the Pentacle Theater, west of Salem. That performance was, end of story, the best theatrical production I've ever seen in the sense that it was rock-solid top to bottom. I bring these up, Bowser, because I believe that they will help you figure out what you want do with your 120 pages. I should also mention Miller's Death of a Salesman, which has exceptionally exacting instructions for directors, including a second volume of notes on stage production that I've never read, and only ever seen twice. And I thought I should throw the move Closet Land at you, since it was a play first and I forget the writer's name. And a dumb little note: the 1980's demonstrated that your 120 pages, written entirely on wit, will get you an 88 minute film. You can draw that out an extra thirty minutes if you choose to make your audience think, either with a minimialst script and many notes on visual presentation, or else with the best dialogue you can give 'em. Go for it, though. You could write the next Pi or Closet Land or some-such. And you'll find it far too much fun to be allowed. But I gotta run ... M's and Yanks today. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! thanx, Tiassa Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Tiassa, Thank you for the suggestions. I have started writing a comedy. The screenplay is an interesting approach. I like it. It feels right.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
