Looking for the Mac version?
After a long time in development, SceneWriter Pro for Mac OS X is out and it's called Movie Draft.
Visit www.moviedraft.com for more information.
Screenplay tips
There are many mistakes that can be made when writing a screenplay. The following is a short collection of the most common mistakes made when writing a screenplay:
- Avoid the use of "we see" or any other collective observation.
For example, "We see DON walk into the bar" should be written "DON walks into the bar". - Only write what the viewer will end up seeing on the screen.
The viewer is not privy to inner thoughts or what the character is feeling unless the character explicitly speaks about their feelings either out loud or in a voice over. For example, this is wrong: "DON walks into the bar, he's feeling tired". We could not possibly know that, so instead write: "DON walks into the bar. He looks tired." - Avoid the over-use of "wrylys".
It can be tempting to use descriptive parentheticals (a wryly) in every possible event within dialog. Don't. At most only use a maximum of 5 throughout your entire screenplay. Consider the following examples. The first one will be frowned upon by a reader while the second example uses descriptive text to say the same thing through observation. Remember, write only what the viewer will see:
DON
(angrily)
Are you looking at me?
(squints his eyes)
Well, are ya?
DON
Are you looking at me?
His face falls still. Fists clenched.
DON (CONT'D)
Well, are ya?
