As a satisfied owner of Final Draft 7, I can recommend this product to anyone with a serious interest in playwrighting. For those of you not familiar with the program, Final Draft is, in essence, a computer application that allows for the easy formatting and writing of scripts. Professional scriptreaders look for a very specific format when it comes to scripts. As a script evaluator myself, I have the experience to speak to this. Film and stage plays require a a quite nitpicky format in order to adhere to industry standards. Characters’ names must be centered, dialogue must appear directly below, pages must be numbered a certain way. The Microsoft Word template (if you are lucky enough to have one) does not do a great job of including all of these factors. Final Draft, however, was built specifically for these elements. A writer can choose between a variety of templates for TV, film, and stage scripts. Each are well-edited by the software, and the program will not let the writer print the document until he/she has looked over the formatting errors (if any) it detects. A favorite feature of mine is the read-back feature. Using this, Final Draft will assign voices to your characters, and then essentially act out the script for you. Don’t look for Tony award-winning performances here, but it has been helpful to me.
The only downside to this program is the price. It appears to be fairly expensive, but there are ways around this (not stealing!). If you have any actor/writer friends, chances are they own this product. Simply borrow their CD and download the program. It does not require a CD after installation. In addition, if you know of any good peer-to-peer networks, you may find a copy there. And keep in mind, older versions are usually cheaper and, in this case, there is little difference between versions 7 and 8. Once you own this software, it will make you tip your hats to the Shaws and Shakespeares before us who could not even dream of having such a program.
A few technical notes on the program: Final Draft 7.1.2, the latest version of the program, retails for $229 on their website, www.finaldraft.com. There are both Mac and PC versions, both built for the most recent operating systems. If you have Final Draft 6, you can purchase un upgrade, making your version as good as the latest, for $60. If you are a student or a teacher, however, you can buy the latest Final Draft version for $169 off of finaldraft.com. On their site, you will see testamonials from Final Draft users like John Cusack and Steven Bochco. You can certainly ad me to that list of supporters. Since playwrighting software is such a specific product, Final Draft is really the only one to buy. Microsoft Word offers a template, as mentioned above, but it doesn’t proofread your script, only allows you to write in near-standard script form. It is downloadable for free. But don’t let the pricetag scare you. Get together a few fellow scriptwriters and purchase this product. Try eBay for used or earlier versions that will work just as well. Just remember to keep in mind what system (Mac or PC) and operating system (OS 8, Windows, etc…) you are using. Beyond that, enjoy this program!
