Final Draft
Final Draft is professional screenwriting software used by Hollywood screenwriters, directors, producers, students, and aspiring writers to write movie scripts, television episodics, stageplays, novels, outlines, treatments, querying letters, etc. It includes tools to format scri
screenwriting
scriptwriting
formatting
collaboration
Final Draft: Professional Screenwriting Software
Professional screenwriting software used by Hollywood screenwriters, directors, producers, students, and aspiring writers to write movie scripts, television episodics, stageplays, novels, outlines, treatments, querying letters, etc.
What is Final Draft?
Final Draft is professional screenwriting software that has been used for decades by Hollywood screenwriters, directors, producers, students, and aspiring writers to write movie scripts, television episodics, stageplays, novels, outlines, treatments, querying letters, and more. It is considered the industry standard software for scriptwriting.
Final Draft makes the scriptwriting process easier by including a number of useful tools to format scripts to industry standards, organize research, track revisions from others, generate detailed reports, create alternate dialogue versions for comparison, turn a script into a customizable beat board to map out stories, breakdown scripts for scheduling and budgeting, import/export between popular word processing programs and formats, and allow secure online collaboration and cloud backups of your work.
It has over 100 production-ready script templates for screenplays, TV shows, stageplays, comic books, documentaries, letters, outlines, treatments, and more. It formats as you type by applying margins, spacing, scene numbering, character names, dialogue, action blocks, page breaks, etc. automatically to industry standards like screenplay format, TV format, or stage play format.
Final Draft also has dedicated writing views like Beat Board, Index Cards, Story Map, Alternate Dialogue, and Text to Speech to provide different approaches for brainstorming ideas, organizing them visually, and fleshing out full scripts step-by-step. It has hundreds of SmartType shortcuts for fast insertion of general, character, and transition elements into your script.
There are revision tracking tools comparing drafts from you or other collaborators with color coding and linked navigation between edits. It can generate reports summarizing script statistics like word counts by character, locations, scenes, tags, parentheticals, dialogue, and action. Final Draft allows securing your script for online collaboration with limited access to control who can review, comment on, and edit the hosted script.
Final Draft Features
Features
- Screenplay formatting and templates
- Story Map and Beat Board for outlining
- Real-time collaboration
- Version tracking and Alternate Dialogue
- Index cards for restructuring scenes
- Importing scripts from other programs
- Customizable interface with dark mode
Pricing
- Subscription-Based
Pros
Industry standard for professional screenwriting
Powerful outlining and organization tools
Cloud sync and collaboration features
Extensive format support and templates
Useful for all stages of the writing process
Cons
Expensive subscription pricing
Steep learning curve
Lacks novel writing features
Mac/Windows only, no mobile or web versions
Can feel bloated for simple script writing needs
Official Links
The Best Final Draft Alternatives
Top Office & Productivity and Writing & Editing and other similar apps like Final Draft
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