Ken Levine Posts "Writing a Spec 24"

This hilarious post imagines a rejection letter to someone sending a spec script to the producers of 24. If you know the show, you will laugh.

http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2007/01/writing-spec-24.html

Great Screenwriting Advice

Screenwriter John August, whose blog I surf to often (I actually set up an rss recently), posted some great advice for aspiring screenwriters: How to write a scene. Among the pearls of wisdom are questions to ask ourselves while coming up with the who, what, and why of the scene. Many of his suggestions become "almost unconscious" with practice, but it's nice to see them written out when you're still struggling with what comes after the slug line.

Free Screenwriting Software

If you're looking for screenwriting software and can't afford the $150 or more price tag of the top brands, give Page 2 Stage a try. It's free!

While I can't speak too much to how well it works, I did tinker with it a bit. I was able to flawlessly import a 120 page script that I exported from Final Draft (as RTF), and then easily edit random spots. P2S has many of the most popular features, such as multiple views (outline, index card, etc.), auto complete for character names, smart tab for paragraph style, and pagination (my favorite :D). It won't make you an award-winning screenwriter, but it will take some of the banality out of creating your masterpiece.

And if you're looking for a complete production suite including development and planning tools, you can try another free screenwriting package called Celtx.

Hell, try 'em both.