alonso-del-arte/screen-playwright

WORK IN PROGRESS: Open source software for writing movie screenplays that does not require an Internet connection once installed.

Screen Playwright

WORK IN PROGRESS: A simple program for writing screenplays in the Cole-Hagg format. The file format will be open source.

The Cole-Hagg format for typing a screenplay is quite standard. But the format for storing screenplays in a computer is not. Final Draft, Celtx, etc., they all have their own proprietary formats. Final Draft is the industry standard presumably only because the company that makes Final Draft was the first to make screenwriting software.

The most annoying thing, for me, however, is that they all seem to be online only now. Which is just fine when my Internet connection is working. But when my Internet connection drops out, I wonder how a program like Celtx is better than an old electrical typewriter?

I liked an old version of Celtx. I installed it on my old computer and I used it almost right up to the day that computer broke down.

I want something like the old version of Celtx, that I can use on my computer regardless of whether or not I have an Internet connection. So I don't intend this program to have all the bells and whistles of a program intended to compete with Final Draft.

I want this program to be simple and inobtrusive, and geared to someone who just wants to get a screenplay typed up properly and exported to HTML or PDF.

This program should not give screenwriting advice (e.g., to those who write screaming dialogue in all-caps instead of using a parenthetical), but it should keep you from making silly mistakes like converting a whole paragraph into a character label (something that happened to me twice or thrice with Celtx).

Character auto-complete complete might be helpful, but probably won't be included in the first proper release. However, it should also be easy to undo bad character labels.