This is the third day I have been working on my screenplay, now entitled Water's Edge, formerly The Mother's Wreck. I owe this burst of creativity to the long weekend and Celtx screenwriting software.
I hadn't felt like getting into my old Sophocles software because the print function is down, and I am having a hard time getting a fix on it. I compose both on the software and on printed copies. Without the back and forth I guess I was just shut down. So, Celtx, which is free by the way, got me going again.
The software is aesthetically pleasing and seems to be created for actual visually oriented people, ie, screenwriters. It also has formats for stage plays, radio, advertising, comic books and graphic novels. Wow.
For the most part all I need is a good edit window with smooth transitions from character to scene headers to dialogue and so on. But it has so much more. Character worksheets easily and quickly viewable, general notes on the right, a place to add other media, a print review function for a quick visual of your page, a tab keeping a running account of all your story elements, a list of all your locations in order in constant view.
And that is just the stuff I need. There is this whole other reality called "studios" where you pay five bucks a month for hosting for up to five creators involved in your project. This is the part where folks are taking the work to production, so I haven't even looked that over yet, as I am just a lonely writer getting it down on the page.
I'm thrilled to be back in the story. I plan to write five pages a day until the first draft is complete. Accessing the story again I can see that the whole thing is already outlined, beat out, sequenced, you name it. And it's just up there in my head, not to mention scrawled and posted in paper bits on the two bulletin boards and the dry erase board underneath the blue ticking curtains, ready to flow out. Who knew?
My favorite reality is to get up, write in 30 to 45 minute spurts, take breaks for regular life: laundry, dogs, groceries, making a living. Go outside sit in the deck chair under the umbrella, get thoroughly warmed up and head back into the cool house and start writing again. Heaven.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Thrilling! Just seeing it, The Mother's Wreck, brings back all kiny (Granny Grew-ism) deep-oceanic-flow feelings of that creative, workalicious time we were workshopping our screenplays and talking about Kate, Chris and Anne. Well and, of course, when you jumped in and swam with that as it rivered into The Mother's Wreck. God, I remember that five minute mini-session we had that day at your storyboard where you talked me through what you had up. What a charge! I'll check out Celtx. Why am I leery of free programs? I can't WAIT to hear about the story when your ready.
ReplyDeletei forgot about that! all our screenwriting meetings are pretty much the most fun i have ever had.
ReplyDeleteseems you can run into problems with any software, paid or free. celtx is much easier on my eyes than sophocles. just easier to use all the way around.