Final Draft

April, 1998
by Richard Kadrey

Whether you're penning your own Citizen Kane or Chopper Chicks in Zombietown, you'll find that formatting a script so that it's readable can be as hard as coming up with a really good third act. While it won't get you a deal with Dreamworks, Final Draft will let you concentrate on making your work good, not pretty. Final Draft comes with templates so that you can write, the program's tools can help you outline. When you're writing, you don't have to worry about, say, setting multiple tab positions or if you're supposed to capitalize action, dialog, or transitions; Final Draft knows the proper look for each. One of the nicest features is called SmartType, a database that serves as a typing shortcut. Final Draft does not come with a learning curve, but it's no steeper than with similar software. And with all the good built-ins, Final Draft is as useful as a decent agent and a good idea.