I’ve done alright for myself as an amateur screenwriter. I’ve placed well in contests, established industry connections, and even got my parents to stop begging me to be a doctor instead. But my biggest achievement of all – through more than ten feature scripts and around thirty shorts, I’ve never once touched the industry-standard screenwriting software: Final Draft. At first my hesitance was entirely due to the price, but after trialing cheaper options, I found a program so satisfying I’ll never switch again.
Fade In
What does Fade In have that Final Draft lacks? A one-time fee, for starters. Final Draft currently costs $200 base -$100 if you’re a student or teacher and can get the educational version – and then further charges you for upgrades. Even if you decide to stay with a previous version of Final Draft without paying for improvements, you’d still be paying more than Fade In’s lifetime price of $79.95.
And yes, Fade In DOES include constant updates.
Another important aspect of screenwriting software, for me anyway, is a responsive support team. When I was first starting out, I didn’t expect to have any tech issues opening a program and typing sentences on it, but it turns out Microsoft Word spoiled me. Issues happen, bugs happen, and sometimes you just don’t know where the Hoosit is or where the Whatsits are. Luckily, Fade In’s support is responsive. If you tweet them a question, you’ll usually get a response within a day (the same goes for email).
The user interface is sleek and intuitive – I haven’t had to look up a feature to this day. The most important thing – I have not had a single major technical issue after two years of using Fade In. The closet I’ve come is that sometimes words that I know are words get marked as incorrect, but then I just “add to dictionary” and keep on writing.
The Bottom Line
If you’re on a tight budget or just experimenting with screenwriting, the free options like WriterDuet and Celtx are enough to get by. That said, once you’re ready to enter the big leagues I highly recommend Fade In. It’s affordable, functional, and a one-time purchase – which means you get to focus all your pain and anger solely on your story, rather than the program you’re writing your story in.
~by hamilton
hamilton is a member of the Screenwriters Network. Learn more about joining or submitting an article.