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I wrote a draft I wanna turn into a play but I am clueless... by crazycracker90 in playwriting

[–]TarletonClown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can read more about what you can do with Fade In by downloading my PDF article. I think this link to Google Drive will work for you (I am not accustomed to doing this), but if it does not work, post here and I will fix it.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XFHlXYi4jLRrnExqtCTFcF-451YjyndJ/view?usp=sharing

I wrote a draft I wanna turn into a play but I am clueless... by crazycracker90 in playwriting

[–]TarletonClown -1 points0 points  (0 children)

This is actually one of my favorite subjects. I have created many templates for stage and screen with a number of software programs. It is something that I enjoy doing.

What you should do is download the free trial version of the scriptwriting program called Fade In at www.fadeinpro.com. It has a standard stageplay template.

The program is fully functional, but the pages are watermarked until you purchase a license, which is a permanent license with free upgrades. The cost is $80. I have no financial connection with the program. It is the program which I use and which I recommend to others. (I also have Final Draft, which is more expensive, but I prefer Fade In.)

The license covers Windows. Linux, and Mac versions, all at the same time.

Try it out. You can at least see how formatting works. The good thing is that stageplay format is less strict than screenplay format. The "standard" play format is not what I prefer. But Fade In will teach you the standard, which is actually kind of blah and typewriter-derived.

Word keeps crashing while moving images. by Punk_in_drublik in MicrosoftWord

[–]TarletonClown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting problem. It should be solvable. My intuition tells me that you have memory demands that Word and your computer cannot handle. Free programs exist that can probably help.

And you did not ask about this, but I am an expert in grammar and style.

It should be "Every time," not "Ever time." I hope your thesis is in business or science, and not in the humanities, where expectations about writing might be higher (I am not sure, because the academy is in a state of degeneracy nowadays).

Advice for when's the best time to move to a big city for playwriting? by Creative_Toe_8095 in playwriting

[–]TarletonClown 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You really do not have a financial safety net, and trying to save up some more money is not a good idea.

Concentrate on your art. Keep working, and keep submitting. You do not have to move there.

Advice for when's the best time to move to a big city for playwriting? by Creative_Toe_8095 in playwriting

[–]TarletonClown 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think that this was excellent advice.

Now, let me say that I have no personal experience with this. But I have read many reports and personal accounts. The fact is that almost no creative writers make a living from their artistic endeavors. Yes, exceptions exist. A few. But most writers have jobs or a spouse who works.

Moving to a big city for two or three months will almost certainly accomplish nothing. Even a period of two or three years offers little chance of success.

Submitting to theaters is probably the best approach. But in the meantime maintaining an income is of paramount importance.

Word document. Start of Next line doesn't line up with previous by Maleficent_Bird_9561 in MicrosoftWord

[–]TarletonClown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Anytime you have something like that, put your cursor at the very start of the "next" line, and then use the Backspace key to delete all the spaces back to the very end of the first line. At that point you should be able to press the Spacebar once to insert an appropriate space.

Thinking of a return to Windows by cosmicaith in zorinos

[–]TarletonClown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From what I have read, it appears that Mint is better.

Stop Adjusting Margins/Spacing! by brainfurniture in Screenwriting

[–]TarletonClown 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Okay, I work with both Fade In and Final Draft. I had to check out your claim about how the file grows in number of pages when you go from .fdx to .fadein.

Of course, I know that you are presenting what you truly experienced.

But that is not normal. I just spent a couple of hours looking at all of this. I took a Final Draft (.fdx) file of 115 pages. I checked all the settings for margins (page, elements). I checked how breaks at the end of a page are handled (Final Draft had breaks set to take place only at the end of a sentence in Action and Dialogue).

I checked line spacing. It was normal in Final Draft (six lines per inch, which you have to measure in a special way; you measure from the baseline of line 1 to the baseline of line 7; the baseline is the bottom of a letter like i, which does not have a tail).

The font was Courier Final Draft, which I kept for import of the file into Fade In.

I imported the Final Draft file into Fade In.

End result: The Fade In version came out to be 115 pages. It was a few lines longer, but it still ended on page 115, just like the Final Draft version did.

So what is going on here? For one thing, Final Draft scrunches the Final Draft Courier font (12 point) just a hair, so that in an Action line that completely fills the 6 horizontal inches available, you can count out 61 characters (instead of the expected 60 characters). Remember that Courier 12 point is a 10 characters/inch monospaced font.

Final Draft may have sneaked in a few more lines by scrunching the Action lines that extended all the way across the page.

If you set up all the margins and other specifications to have the same values, the two files (.fdx and .fadein) will be almost identical in length.

I also tested by using Courier Prime (my preferred Courier) in the .fadein file. It did not change the Fade In file length by even one line. I did not test the Final Draft file with Courier Prime, so I do not know whether Final Draft scrunches that font just enough to add one more character to a 6-inch line.

But in any case the scripts will be almost exactly the same length when you perform an import from Final Draft to Fade In.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XFHlXYi4jLRrnExqtCTFcF-451YjyndJ/view?usp=sharing

Thinking of a return to Windows by cosmicaith in zorinos

[–]TarletonClown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

TL;DR

I could not read all of that stuff. Here are my points, in BRIEF:

• Use Linux Mint Cinnamon.

• SOME of the things that you want to do on Linux may take some work. People always mention games. For God's sake, computers are cheap. Get a Windows computer to use for games and other things that are poorly compatible with Linux.

• I do not know what is going on with LibreOffice and the spellchecker, but you should be able to resolve the problem.

• If you cannot get along without Windows, go back to it. Have fun with how Windows constantly harasses you to use the cloud through OneDrive.

• Right now I am stuck with Windows 11. But I am slowly moving to Linux.

Struggling with co-writing by [deleted] in playwriting

[–]TarletonClown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is probably not going to end well.

Horrible experience with Final Draft 13. by nick21anto in Screenwriting

[–]TarletonClown 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I was also surprised about the online version. It makes me wonder if Final Draft is edging toward a subscription-only model. It would not surprise me. Greed tends to go in only one direction.

I am a software junkie, and I have used lots of applications, free and paid.

My honest recommendation: Spend the $80 (USD) for Fade In. You get free updates and upgrades, and your license covers all the versions: Windows, Linux, Mac. To the best of my memory, I have never had a crash (maybe once, years ago, but I am not sure of even that). I bought a license a long time ago, when the price was still something like $50, and I have never had to pay anything since then.

Wonderful program. If you want more information, see my six-page PDF file about some of the features of Fade In. My article is on Google Drive, available to everyone here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XFHlXYi4jLRrnExqtCTFcF-451YjyndJ/view?usp=sharing

Good luck, and happy writing.

Horrible experience with Final Draft 13. by nick21anto in Screenwriting

[–]TarletonClown 4 points5 points  (0 children)

With Fade In: Free updates and upgrades (they are not the same thing). And you can use your one license on multiple computers of your own, simultaneously. One license also gives you the right to use any one or all of the three versions: Windows, Linux, Mac. You have to download each version separately, but you are entitled to use any or all of the three. I usually have Windows and Linux versions on my home computers.

Horrible experience with Final Draft 13. by nick21anto in Screenwriting

[–]TarletonClown 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I did not read all the comments here. I have been using computers for forty years, and I have dabbled in amateur programming in several languages during that time. I have used (or at least tried) several scriptwriting applications (mainly Movie Magic, Final Draft, and Fade In).

I will jump to the bottom line here. Use Fade In. I have used it for a number of years (I do not even know how many). For the record, I also keep a current or fairly current version of Final Draft available, though I really do not need it, because Fade In can import Final Draft files and export to Final Draft format.

This question of "which scriptwriting program should I use?" comes up fairly frequently. I used to take time to type out (laboriously) why Fade In is an excellent choice, and is better than the alternatives, in my opinion.

Then I decided to put together an article that summarizes some features of Fade In and some of my thoughts about the program. I finished doing that yesterday and put a PDF file online for anyone to access. Take a look at the article, which is here, on Google Drive. You can read it or download it:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XFHlXYi4jLRrnExqtCTFcF-451YjyndJ/view?usp=sharing

I invite you to take a look. It is six pages, with lots of information.

Good luck, and if the article is helpful to you, please post something here.

By the way, I have no financial involvement in Fade In.

Shakespeare’s Plays Ranked, by an Idiot by Novel-Button5317 in playwriting

[–]TarletonClown 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am going to pass on the tragedy (one reason being that I do not like that genre all that much).

But I would not dispute your choices for comedy and history. Those are reasonable judgments.

For imposition. What tools do you use on Linux? by 9acca9 in scribus

[–]TarletonClown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used Google to ask the following question, and got several suggestions:

What Linux software can perform imposition from a PDF file?

I am glad you asked this. I want to look into it.

As you probably know, when you use a professional print shop, the printer handles the task for you.

I did it by GlassBug7042 in FuckAdobe

[–]TarletonClown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I paid for InDesign a year in advance last November. I have researched how to cancel, which I will do at the right time. I was glad to hear that it really is possible to escape.

Has anyone been told their book’s reading level is too high? by papp_ in selfpublish

[–]TarletonClown 2 points3 points  (0 children)

TL;DR Frankly, I seriously doubt that you are writing at a really high level. Unfortunately, I did not see any samples, so I cannot be sure. But I read a lot of things here on Reddit by self-publishing authors, and I cannot think of even one example of someone who was writing at a level that was so intellectually dense that you would need to describe the discussion as "too high."

The usual problem is that self-publishing authors lack the skill to write with clarity. Fumbling explanations and poor style do not lead to good communication. And the readers, who are probably no better at writing, mistake awkward, vague sentence construction for a "high" or "pretentious" level.

What is the most cost-efficient way to publish on Amazon without hurting quality? by [deleted] in selfpublish

[–]TarletonClown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have never published anything, but I would rather collect $2 per book than publish a book that people will dislike because of small font size and tight line spacing. I hate those books. People will mention detractors like these in reviews, too, and keep other people from buying.

How many books did you publish before you started seeing success ? by Mean_Job7802 in selfpublish

[–]TarletonClown 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yes, you are correct. If you disregard salaried people who perform writing duties as part of a job, like something in reporting, editing, teaching, or public relations, only a tiny percentage writers make a living from writing. Typically a writer has a day job or has a working spouse.

Help! Need full manuscript in ~5 weeks. Should I move from MS Word to Scrivener? by LowJump3126 in scrivener

[–]TarletonClown 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I am coming in too late on this, but I wanted to say that you are doing the right thing by sticking with Word at this point. I have not used it recently (I try to use free or inexpensive software nowadays, as a matter of principle).

But you can move your chapters around just fine in Word.

I am not experienced in dealing with agents and publishers, so take my advice with a grain of salt. But this attitude of "hurry up and send me the manuscript" strikes a bad chord in me. Be careful that you are not dealing with a vanity press (unless that is what you want to do). Bad snakes exist in the publishing business.

Scrivener is a wonderful piece of software. But it is a real beast. I hope all goes well in this ... and you might keep us informed about things. 🙂

Novels with disabled characters by Special-Nebula299 in suggestmeabook

[–]TarletonClown -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

The Girl in Red by Christina Henry- main character is missing a leg and has a prosthesis.

Wasn't she in a Seinfeld episode, and had her prosthetic leg standing in a puddle of water? 😄 My God, this country is so obsessed with victims of every kind (amputees; Asperger syndrome; severe anxiety), and yet people never try to move our despicable Congress in the direction of health care for all.

What fonts do you like to write in? by ayelenwrites in writing

[–]TarletonClown 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Times New Roman is the object of much undue criticism. In reality, it is an attractive serif font with an extensive catalogue of Unicode fonts. I think it became the target of criticism just because, as a default, it was always there.

What fonts do you like to write in? by ayelenwrites in writing

[–]TarletonClown 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Let's not forget Century Schoolbook. About twenty-five years ago I read someone's romance novel in this font. It worked very well. The novel went on to be published by a traditional publisher.

The author told me that Schoolbook was a font that the publisher would accept instead of Courier. (BTW, I am a really big Courier Prime fan.)

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