I’ve been using Celtx for my screenwriting needs. But what I soon discovered was that it was getting in the way of my writing flow, namely during the writing of dialogue. When I write my dialogue, itoften develops naturally and flows rapidly. The way Celtx handled the back and forth of dialogue was a little slower and a little more cumbersome than what I was used to: Final Draft.
So now I’ve switched to doing my primary writing in Final Draft. It’s not as full featured as Celtx: the features are pretty bare, at least the ones that I use. But I find that it’s more important for me to get the words from my head onto the page (well, screen) as quickly as I can. I intend to use Final Draft to write it all down, and then to fine tune everything and make revisions in Celtx.
In other news, I’m still trying to keep my screenplay focused and tightly written. I am naturally very verbose. I’m long winded and I take a long time to say what I’ve got to say. However, a script needs to be set within the time of an hour and a half, two at most. And that means I’ve got a lot of ground to cover in that short amount of time. I’ve got to establish the character, reveal the elements of his psychology. Then I’ve got to develop his story. If that story gets too complicated, I’m going to have to cut things out.I learned the phrase “ruthless deletion” during my brief time at Target Portrait Studio. And I think it’s a good attitude to have towards my screenplay as well. After all, I see quite a few movies where I’m wondering, what is the purpose of this scene? Why are we here? I have to constantly ask myself, what am I showing here in this scene? What is going on here? Is it necessary? Does it do anything to move the plot forward or to develop the character?