Final Draft Blog

All the tips, tricks and information you need to inspire your writing!
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Three-Act Structure: The foundation of screenwriting

May 31, 2022

Most screenplays utilize the classic Hollywood three-act structure. At its core, the three acts represent a beginning, a middle, and an end. Some people attribute the origins of this structure to the Greek philosopher Aristotle. In his earliest survi...

Dialogue Choices and Dual Dialogue

April 18, 2022

In real life, people don’t speak in perfectly rendered and well-orchestrated dialogue. Not in most cases, anyway. The way we converse with others can vary depending on whom we’re speaking with: If we speak to an employer or authority figure, we’ll be...

Focus Mode & other features we love for screenwriting

April 11, 2022

You want to write a television or movie script. You’ve got the spark, even the motivation… but creative writing isn’t always easy. Oftentimes, a novice writer doesn’t know where to begin or where to take their story. Even a professional scriptwriter ...

Storyboarding Tips for Starting a Script

March 11, 2022

You have a story to tell and maybe even have images in your head. But maybe you’re still learning scriptwriting and when it comes to storyboard creation — which is important if your story is visually driven — you’re still a novice. So, let’s dive int...

Tech Tips: Sending off some of your screenplay

July 27, 2021

Every now and then you’ll need to pull a selection of pages out of your full script. Maybe you want a critique solely on Act Two, or a competition is asking for the first 15 pages, or you want to see how the script reads if you start it on page 60. L...

Tech Tips: Changing the Look Of Your Script

July 13, 2021

Sometimes you know your screenplay is a screenplay, and sometimes the screenplay tells you it is a stage play or a TV pilot or podcast. The beauty of working in Final Draft is that you can change the formatting rules of your original file rather than...

Tech Tips: File Management

June 29, 2021

That feeling when you've lost a file — the sinking, panic-inducing dread — is not something we would wish on anyone. Here in Final Draft Tech Support, we believe that keeping track of your files is a major part of being a successful screenwriter, whi...

Tech Tip: New and Improved ScriptNotes™

June 15, 2021

Next to the ability to import a PDF, the ScriptNotes™ upgrades just may be tech's new favorite thing about Final Draft 12.

Tech Tip: Track Changes vs. Revision Mode

June 1, 2021

To paraphrase Leonardo Da Vinci, a script is never finished; it is either produced or abandoned. In other words, rewriting is going to be a huge part of the process, all the way up until the final cut of your movie is released. While Final Draft has ...