by Rich Wilson © 2001 All Rights Reserved
It has already been said elsewhere, but since you may have missed it: yes, there are shareware and freeware add-ons for MS Word and other word processors. Generally, they do not match the products reviewed here in total capabilities, which answers the question of why you might want to spend the money for these, in lieu of the cheaper packages available on the Internet. It also answers the question of why I have bothered to publish a review of these products. But the final decision is up to you, in matching your needs and financial situation with the abilities of any of these tools.
With that in mind: if you are just starting the process of picking the right tool for your needs, make sure to read the Introduction, if you haven't already. The products in this article are all intended for use with Microsoft Word for Windows. They have not yet been tested with Word 2000. Mac requirements and compatibility are also noted.
ScriptWerx
Version Tested: V6.1
Parnassus
Software
Oak Tree Press, 256 Guinea Hill Road, Slate Hill, NY 10973
(914) 355-1400
http://www.OriginalVision.com
List price $99
Requirements: PC Windows 3.1 and higher, Mac OS 7.0 and higher
ScriptWerx was one of the early players in this market, and does a good job, but it’s beginning to show its age, compared to others. It includes 11 add-on templates for Microsoft Word 6.0 and above; of greatest interest to screenwriters are: Feature film; Live TV (filmed sitcom); and 3-camera (taped sitcom). Each template has its own set of tool bar buttons. The menu choices and commands appear under a single ScriptWerx tab on Word’s main menu. The manual provides clear explanations of ScriptWerx’s features, but there’s no online help.
The Enter key performs most formatting chores. To move from a scene heading to action, press Enter. From action, Enter moves the cursor to character name. Press Enter again to start typing dialogue. From dialogue, Enter takes you back to action. Mouse buttons on the tool bar can insert elements, with the exception of dialogue. To insert a parenthetical, use the mouse button, or press Control-Alt-P (Control Command P on a MAC). You can also press Shift-Tab to cycle through all the possible script elements, to find the one you want to insert.
ScriptWerx is reasonably efficient when you are moving through a script in the normal order of things, going from character to dialogue and so on. But as you can tell from the description above, the keyboard shortcuts that move to elements out of the normal order require at least two fingers. You can modify them to some extent. But if you do, you’ll quickly discover that Word itself uses a great many shortcut key combinations. So, it can be tough to find any good ones available that aren’t already “occupied” by the parent program.
ScriptWerx has other features worth noting, including the ability to format side-by-side (two column) dialogue. Also, for the writer looking to analyze a script draft, or for basic pre-production use, it can build lists of characters and locations, automatically number scenes, and print a report of all the scenes in the script.
ScriptWright
Version reviewed: 2000 Build 9
Indelible Ink
156 Fifth Avenue, Ste. 1208
New York, NY 10010
(212) 255-1956
http://www.kois.com/ink
List price $129.95, $49.95 for students.
Versions available for Mac OS7.0 and higher, Windows 3.1 and higher.
ScriptWright 2000 for Microsoft Word 97/2000 (different versions are required for Word 6 & 7), installs its own menus and help files, making a major transformation to Word’s look and feel, while still providing access to the underlying program’s tools.
The user can specify whether the Word interface retains dominance, or gives it over to the add-on, by choosing between two menu arrangements – Word pop or ScriptWright pop. Word pop places Word's functions on pop-out menus, and distributes ScriptWright's commands under the appropriate menus. ScriptWright pop puts all of ScriptWright's commands on a pop-out menu under the menu tab. Toolbars for styles, revisions, and major features can be turned on or off.
ScriptWright does most formatting tasks with the Enter and Tab keys. Its features include cheating, format check, and the outliner. "Cheating" modifies the margins to reduce page count, therefore shortening (or lengthening) the apparent running time. ScriptWright can cheat one element, a group of elements, or the entire script. The format check looks for blatant errors in formatting before going to print. Blank elements (like, a Character name without any dialogue, etc.), continuations that aren’t needed, and other boo-boos are eliminated.
The outliner is well-planned, and includes two levels above the scene-heading level. The program's author suggests using these extra levels to create Act and Sequence groupings, to help organize the script's structure. These groupings can be printed as a "structure report." ScriptWright is a good add-on with one limitation – the only format it handles is feature film screenplays. It won’t be as useful for most TV (particularly sitcoms), plays, and other media.
Go back to previous section: Introduction.
Move on to the next section: Dedicated (standalone) Scriptwriting tools.
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