Celtx: Open Source Screenwriting Beginner’s Guide

Here’s how it goes with new screenwriters: They can’t afford pro screenwriting software like Final Draft, so they struggle with a hobbled demo version which limits them to just a few pages of script. They’re so eager to get on with writing that they don’t stop to learn the basic rules of screenplay formatting, structure, tone or style. They don’t spend time learning about three-act structure because they don’t know such a thing exists.

The net result is a bugger’s muddle that completely fails to express their beautifully honed inner vision in any meaningful way. How do I know? Because I made all of these mistakes and several more that I’m too embarrassed to recount.

I learned the basics the hard way, by buying several screenwriting books, going on courses and reading scripts. Even then I always had this nagging feeling that my scripts were missing something tremendously important. I still have that nagging feeling. I don’t think it ever goes away.

Back to the point. New screenwriters don’t have to cough up a couple of hundred quid for Final Draft. There’s an excellent piece of software called Celtx which does everything FD does and a bunch more besides. It’s free and it works well.

But Celtx isn’t going to jump off the screen and tell you how to use it or how to format a script or what a synopsis is or what the difference is between a logline and a tagline.

That’s where Celtx: Open Source Screenwriting Beginner’s Guide comes in. Ignore the baffling ‘open source’ bit in the title, this book is aimed squarely at new screenwriters who want to get on with writing their magnum opus. All the information they need is here: not only how to install and drive Celtx and how to write and edit a script but also how to work with different project types including feature scripts, documentaries, stage plays, audio plays and so on.

The book then rises above your average ‘how to’ by including a shedload of useful information about treatments, synopses, outlines and, of course, loglines and taglines. There’s a whole chapter on how to market your script and a list of recommended screenwriting books.

This book won’t turn you into the next Aaron Sorkin, but if you’re standing at the starting line scratching your head, it’ll give you a solid boost in the right direction. It’s available in old-fashioned paper and new-fangled electronic formats. One’s cheaper than the other. Guess which.

All in all worth a few quid of your money. Download Celtx, buy this book, get your head down and get your first script done.

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