Stop wasting your time tweaking margins in Microsoft Word, or whatever it is you do to avoid actually writing. Just write your screenplay in plain text using the format below, paste it into the text box, then click the Format button to download an RTF file you can open and print using WordPad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac OS X).
Here are some words you can waste time reading instead of working on your screenplay:
First Draft generates Rich Text Format (RTF) files because they are easy to generate (I am a lazy programmer) and because I assume you want to print your screenplay. RTF is much better for printing than HTML, because RTF lets me specify margins and paper size, whereas your browser will mangle that stuff when you print HTML.
Before you print your screenplay, look it over and insert some blank lines to avoid widows and orphans. Remember to add (CONT'D) if you have to break dialogue or action across page boudaries.
First Draft is intended for short (maybe up to 10 pages) scripts. I don't know what will happen if you try to shove a feature length script down its throat.
First Draft does not save a copy of your script, so don't worry about me stealing your ideas. But let's be honest with ourselves: if they were that valuable, you probably would have shelled out for a copy of Final Draft anyway.
If you want a slick-looking desktop application that formats-as-you-type, check out Celtx. It's fantastic and, for some strange reason, completely free.
Using First Draft will not make you a better screenwriter, but reading John August's blog might help.
First Draft was written by Benjamin Ragheb and if you have any questions you can send email to him.
a benzado.com joint