I received an email from a teacher/friend asking for tips on script format to pass on to her creative writing students. I sent a quick reply,1 but I also mentioned that the students should consider using some software that was developed specifically for writers (instead of business professionals).
I’ve tried a number of these tools, but the email motivated me to go back and review the offerings. It also motivated me to think about what tools I would recommend to student writers in a few categories: blog-writing tools, word processors, research and note-taking tools, and creative writing tools.
In a few upcoming posts, I’ll give a brief overview of the tools in each category and provide a justification for my tool of choice. The posts aren’t meant to be exhaustive, but they will include what I’ve found to be the more popular options in each category. Comments and additional tools or resources are welcome.
If you just want the quick list of my chosen tools, here it is:
- Blogging: Windows Live Writer (runner up: Zoundry Raven)
- Word Processors: OpenOffice.org (runner up: Zoho Writer2 )
- Research & Note-Taking: Zotero3 (runner up: Diigo)
- Creative Writing: Rough Draft4 (runner up: Celtx for script, yWriter for prose, and Zhura for online, collaborative script-writing)
The Series:
- Part 2: Blog-Writing
- Part 3: Word Processors
- Part 4: Research & Note-Taking
- Part 5: Creative Writing
Image: 2/365 Days – Pen and Paper by Athena
- How to Format a Screenplay; A Few Notes on Formatting; How to Format A Stage Play; BBC’s Script Formats [back]
- This announcement gives it a distinct advantage over Google Docs. [back]
- Particularly when installed on a USB drive with portable Firefox and portable OpenOffice.org. [back]
- It’s not as powerful as the other tools, and it’s no longer being actively developed, but it can equally handle both script format and prose. It will remain my default choice until I find another program that can do both well. [back]
May 15th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Those are great links and products for a developing writer. I use Windows Live Writer for creating the blogs on our page, and Zotero for building a database of online research. It’s very convenient and syncs up well with my off-line note-taking software. I will have to look over the other programs, and I look forward to your upcoming blog reviews! Thanks again for the new links.
Jake
http://www.NoteScribe.net
May 17th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Another one is Scripped at http://www.scripped.com.
It has fewer features than Zhura but makes getting to the writing that much faster. It’s especially great for students because it’s only a screenplay text editing tool. That’s it.
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:19 am
Ik kan zelf het gratis programma WritersBloc aanraden. De software is nog niet helemaal af (op dit moment versie 0.96), maar wel compleet. Het is al volledig bruikbaar en behoorlijk open. Het is vooral geschikt om al je ideeën en eventuele research overzichtelijk bij te houden. Je kunt tijdlijnen maken om bij te houden welk karakter op welk moment zich waar bevindt. Ook is het mogelijk om gegevens van karakters op te slaan. Als je van fantasy houdt, kun je ook je eigen woordenboeken bijhouden. Ik zou zeggen: gewoon proberen. Het programma biedt veel, is in het Nederlands en kost niets. Even proberen kan dus geen kwaad. Dit is de link naar de site waar je het kunt krijgen:
http://www.stichtingzilt.nl