Final Draft

Final Draft (FD) has redeemed itself with the wonderful 13.2.0 update. I, like so many others, had mixed feelings with the initial version 13.0.0 release. But with the latest update, the Final Draft team has redirected its efforts to something we may all appreciate, and that new feature is called Autocorrect.

Like the great novel-writing software, Scrivener, the equally great screenwriting software, Final Draft v13.2.0, now has an autocorrection facility. Hundreds of words will automatically be corrected as you write your screenplay. For example, "theif" will change to "thief" before your very eyes.

But more than that, you can add your own corrections or make changes to the list. For example, you may wish to have your characters capitalised wherever their names appear in your screenplay. To do this, in the Windows version of FD, click the Tools menu > Options > Autocorrect tab ... once there, click the + button, type "clarence" in the left column and "Clarence" in the right column, click OK and you're done.

Go further to make your writing smoother: make "im" = "I'm", "ive" = "I've"; but take care with "ill" = "I'll" because "ill" may be written to mean "sick"; instead use "il" for "I'll".

This is what many of us ask from Final Draft: empower our writing, facilitate the nitty-gritty process of typing. The Macro utility, Typewriter Mode and now Autocorrect help our writing to flow. And this is what makes Final Draft arguably the best screenwriting software, just edging out some fantastic competitors. After all, more than any one feature, we write 70, 80, 90 or more pages of a screenplay. We write — that is our modus operandi. Why lose a millisecond pressing the Shift key to capitalise a character's name? Why lose a couple of seconds to correct a spelling error? Why continually scroll to keep the writing near the top of the screen (closer to eye level)?

To the incredible credit of the FD team, it has listened and has set itself back on course to enable writers to write more smoothly and flowingly. For many screenwriters, to list Emojis as a new feature — as was the case in the initial 13.0.0 release — was too much to take. Right or wrong, screenwriters take their craft and creative efforts a little more seriously than to work out where to place a smiley face or a sad face. Another new feature of the initial release is Stats, which would interest producers more than writers. Set Goals is more for professional screenwriters on contracts than probably hobbyists who are at the mercy of the Muses.

The new Autocorrect feature, introduced in 13.2.0, is likely to bring back into the fold many disaffected FD users.

I have used Final Draft as a student and then on some companies where I worked. On my new job this is the software we use for every script and I find it so comfortable and easy to use and to send the new versions. Is great to collaborate specially when developing tv scripts, I like the option to track the changes and the beat cards.

I’ve been using Final Draft for over 15 years. I’m extremely comfortable with using this product to a fault that I’m hesitant to switch, even though there are other products that are significantly lower in cost. I feel the products are becoming less consistent and more buggy and being rushed to newer versions without fixing the issues that currently exist and specifically when using the product on a Windows computer.

I’ve had a good time using it as I sold a script. Wouldn’t have been possible without it.

I love using Final Draft. Unfortunately I don't use it enough to validate spending the money for it but it is definitely the best screenwriting program on the market.