What is Reddit's opinion of
WriterDuet?
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
5 reviews of this app found across Reddit:
I used to be a fan of Celtx as well, but they stopped developing the open source version. For anyone that wants the legacy Celtx Desktop Classic, here's a link.
https://www.celtx.com/desktop.html
Also, I hear WriterDuet is quite popular too. WriterDuet is not open source, but it's free.
Go to writerduet set up an account and format this correctly. Dialogue isn't just center justified.
Some notes on the first page:
>(Describe the car) ~~race car~~ is chasing another IndyCar ~~in front of it~~(If it is chasing it, we already know it is in front of it), gradually gaining on it. ~~We see this from the driver’s first person perspective.~~ (Deciding what perspective this is seen from is the directors job. A trick you can get around this is by describing the gauges and view through the small windshield. This puts the image of being first person without directly telling the director what to do.) Screen fades to black.
>Driver(Age? Description? also if this is their name it needs to be in all caps when they are introduced in the script.) is now being wheeled into the back of an ambulance by paramedics. The ambulance doors shut and the screen cuts to black.
Maybe give a clue to jump forward or jumping backward in time during the switches between the ambulance and the race.
Deciding how the title fades on to screen is a job for someone else not you. You can just put [TITLE UP].
You don't fade to black and then cut to. I'm pretty sure a cut to is for when it's one scene that abruptly cuts to another. You can just have the next slug line.
Deciding when to use a close up is not your job. Describe his weary eyes or something like that if you need a close up.
Your watermark makes this incredibly hard to read and doesn't really protect you much since you can highlight the text and copy and paste it.
I'm not going to comment on the story itself, but I need to point out two large pieces of advice.
Read a few screenplays and learn format. This looks nothing like a script should look. You need to spend a little time studying the craft to determine how things should look. You just won't be taken seriously if you can't get the format down pat.
You wrote it in Google Docs; instead, use WriterDuet for writing instead. There is a free version and it is going to be much better than Google Docs for what you need.
Keep writing!
You'll get a better response if you edit this post and link to a PDF of this written in script format. http://www.fadeinpro.com (use the demo, it just watermarks the file) or http://www.writerduet.com
That said, I stopped really reading after the second line when you give away your joke
>Mom, don’t embarrass me. I’m trying to be edgy and you sweet talking me is totally killing that image.
My advice? Watch your favorite sketch shows with a critical eye, see how they build the joke, see how they have punch lines that escalate the situation, and so on. Look for the skeleton of the joke in each sketch.
Secondly, as a beginner, it may be best for you to stick to one joke in a sketch. Is the joke the overprotective mom or is the joke the clueless band members beatles references?
As of now, it's a bunch of non sequiturs that aren't particularly clever or funny when isolated.
If I were to approach this skit, the band would be "the straight man" and the mom would go from a little lame to really eye rolling lame until she says "fine, I bet you I can play a punk guitar riff, I had a punk boyfriend before I met your father" she plays the intro to anarchy in the UK and the boys are stunned and she goes "what was his last name? Rotten! Yeah, a real German last name. Anyways who wants brownies?" thus exposing her as way more punk rock than her son would ever be. Subversion of expectations is a powerful tool in comedy, and one example among many other techniques.
I do screenwriting on Linux too, and use WriterDuet. It's my software of choice for both Windows and Linux. It's free, has industry standard formatting, export/import options for Final Draft and Fountain, and you can write collaboratively in real time. Personal preference, but I also like the simple UI and often just full screen my browser when using it to avoid distractions.