Screenwriting

Before you reach for that cloud-based, sunspot-powered geniusphone outlining app, consider the low-tech index card.

I broke out the index cards again and now wonder why I ever stopped using them.

I used to write a lot of longer pieces where an outline was a necessity, so in the 80s and 90s I test-drove most of the available outlining software. (Almost none of it is still available, illustrating the dangers of investing muscle memory in proprietary software).

Since then, outlining has been integrated right into word processors (typically poorly), or improved beyond recognition (mind mapping, cloud sorting, etc).

Simple linear outlines from your word processor work fine for simple linear documents, but I recently wrote a couple video projects. After hacking my way through scene after scene using only a simple outline, I knew real discontent.

So I did what any intelligent writer would do — I stole from better, more-experienced writers.

I turned to the 3″ x 5″ index card.

Why The Card Is King

Index cards are a natural pretty much anytime you’re dealing with discrete elements of a larger piece. Like scenes from a movie or book. Or pages and spreads of a brochure.

That’s why they’re still commonly used by screenwriters, and why it was so easy to map my video scripts.

(For documentary/AV style video scripts which use a two-column format, I draw a vertical line down the middle of the card and mimic the script style — the left side is for visual ideas and the right is for sound.)

I also mapped the pages and spreads for an annual report project using index cards, saving time and giving me the ability to see the whole layout at once.

I can reshuffle my scenes or spreads in seconds. Quickly scratch out a badly behaved idea and replace it with a good one. Or simply make sure it all makes sense.

More importantly, index cards encourage the right kind of thinking. There isn’t room to write copy, so you work at the level of ideas instead of words.

By contrast, outliners are recognizably word processors and you’re typing, so the temptation to drill down to a concept-killing level of detail — which amounts to writing — remains.

I used index cards at the start of my career (a savvy account person once taught me how to visually map out a coherent campaign strategy using colored index cards), and once again they’re a valuable part of my toolkit.

I shouldn’t be surprised; I’m using pretty much the same letters and words I did back in the 80s and 90s. Why not some of the same technology?

Keep writing (on index cards if necessary), Tom Chandler.

I’m starting work on yet another pair of video projects, and as a writer without much in the way of video experience, my Imposter Syndrome is in full effect.

On a surprising number of mornings, I sit down in my office and start writing in Celtx (open source scriptwriting software).

On a surprising number of afternoons, my clients don’t tell me I’m a fraud.

I owe at least some of the credit to Celtx, the open-source (largely free) screenwriting software that makes writing my documentary format scripts so easy, I can actually focus on the writing (given my skill level, focus is critical).

Celtx is free, and pretty damn nice.

I [heart] Celtx

Celtx isn’t the sleekest piece of software ever produced, but it pretty clearly is the Swiss Army Knife of the scriptwriting world.

You can write movie, TV, A/V, radio and theater scripts on the thing (it does graphic novels too, though there’s little point in using it for novel writing), and you can keep your script on track using its virtual index cards and notes.

It’s largely free (I feel guilty about that, so I’ve twice bought the $14 version with the extra features I don’t use), and yes, it’s available on Linux, Mac and Windoze.

All of which impressed me — before I heard they were on the verge of rolling out a long list of improvements (some of which gave me a warm, tingly feeling):

• A new free cloud service that syncs your projects
• Updates to their iPhone/iPad apps
• A soon-to-be-released Android app
• Sync across all mobile apps
• Updated desktop app
• Other things I’m too lazy to type

The Rare Rave

I don’t often rave about software, and Celtx certainly has its faults (a sometimes chunky interface being chief among them).

But I remain amazed by its power and how easy it makes this one part of my job. As someone who paid real money for basically every word processor that was built in the 80s and 90s, free and powerful are an interesting duo.

I have few illusions about my video scripting prowess; it’s not a giant part of my revenue stream, but it is something I do because it’s fun and nice change of pace.

Still, I’ve been around long enough to know that when you’re working at the edge of your comfort zone, a little help is never a bad thing.

That’s why I’m taking a minute to support an open source software package (a largely free one) that makes my job a lot easier.

Keep writing, Tom Chandler.