I use Scrivner for fiction and plays -- it's got a lovely interface and a nice way of breaking down your docs into manageable chunks - also some nice tagging and other organization skills.

I'm using Movie Outline on my second script and really dig it. The interface is kind of crappy and there's a bunch of features that it needs to replace Final Draft, but there's so many good prep and outlining tools, plus some nice tools for comparing stories to other stories, high level analysis and much stronger organization than FD et al.

What I'm waiting for is one of these software makers to introduce the idea of layers -- Scrivner has something similar in it's versioning system -- but I'd love to be able to write multiple versions of a scene on different layers and then compare and contrast them, not as separate docs but all in one doc. Kind of like the idea of Photoshop layers...

I use Final Draft because they roped me in early I'm simply brand loyal at this point I dont even look.

Celtx - it does everything a screenwriter needs and people assume I must be using FD - so obviously nobody can tell the difference.

The collaboration features are extensive (though I've personally only used them a little); the cloud storage of scripts means I'll never lose them; if I used an iPad I could write scripts on that; and the Celtx team are very accessible.

Final Draft is my go to software. I've used Celtx on occasion; Scrivener; and even the online software: Scripped (I think that's what it's called.)

FD is dead simple to use -- there's a new version out that adds some more bells and whistles but for banging out a script, my version 7.something does the job.

Final Draft, for preference. Alas, the BBC is too tight to buy Final Draft for many of its script editors. As a result I have to use fecking Word when I'm writing for Doctors - despite the fact there's a perfectly good Doctors template in FD. Sigh.

Another vote for Celtx. The cloud syncing is the killer feature. You can sync across your laptop/desktop/iphone/ipad. Nothing else has that. Heck, nothing else has HALF the stuff it has. And it's free.

Final draft for me, while nearly ubiquitous, is right at the bottom of the heap. I find it infuriating.

Drop in at the GITS Club where we have a whole section devoted to a discussion on Screewriting software. Check it out -- read the pros and cons -- make a choice.

Keep Writing!

I use Celtx too. I love the whole, it's free part.

The only problem I've had with it is that you can't center text, which I'd like to do for act info on tv pilots. However, you can just add the spaces in manually.

Everything else about it is great.

Movie Outline - the name says it all...

I started out with Final Draft, but when I took classes at UCLA, they required Movie Magic.

I still have my copy of FD, and I tried it out a few months back. It did not go well. I couldn't unlearn the MM shortcuts.

Another vote for Final Draft for me. I'm a relative newcomer to scriptwriting as a form, but already it's proving itself to be an invaluable purchase.

I like Final Draft and have been using it for a while now. I think I may be "institutionalized". I bought Scrivener last year and love, love, love it - but it's not a screenwriting software program. Even the creator says you'll want to export your Scrivener file into FD or MM or another script formatting software for polish work. What Scrivener does best is allow you to compile and organize large amounts of information in chunks in one document, provide numerous views, a corkboard layout for "index cards", etc.. Its great for research, novels, academic papers. I don't even write my first drafts on it, but I do use it extensively for organizing research.

I use Movie Magic. Not sure why I chose it over Final Draft so many years ago, but I'm extremely happy with my choice.

I don't think there's a clear winner out there. Final Draft is fine, I guess, but it's shameful that the software has been around this long and still has so many bugs and kinks. Every new version manages to introduce a ton of needless features without addressing the real deficiencies.

I'm intrigued by CeltX, but it still isn't ready for primetime. But I love that they incorporated remote file hosting from the get-go, which is something FD should have had years ago. Also, the different platform versions work seamlessly with each other; that hasn't been my experience with FD (different page counts on Mac/PC versions, etc.).

Has Celtx always been available for Mac? I'm intrigued by it after skimming pretty quickly. Still haven't decided if I want to type scripts out on my iPhone, but I'm thinking I might get a lot of work done that way.

I use Celtx. It does the job.

The only thing I have a problem with is that you have to be connected to the internet to save as a pdf (view mode). Also you can't see your page numbers in edit mode. You have to go into view mode.

I started using Final Draft because I understood it was the industry standard, now I use it because I'm used to it. I have used Celtx and liked it a lot. They are both pinned to my start menu so that must say something!

I've always meant to try Movie Magic Screenwriter.

Thank you, Scott! Had to try out Scrivener after hearing some raves from comic books folks (who shared there's a free beta for pc out now, info here, video here), love the index card feature (presented on corkboard, viscerally pleasing I will say), and the ability to easily reorder and reorganize all the text chunks/scenes, and esp love the research folder (can add all sorts of external files and content to script file, and since research is my favorite procrastination mode, has been nice having one organized place for everything).

Celtx. I work with a writing partner and the cloud syncing is critical. Combining drafts in FD is too much of a pain. I bought it in order to proof a friend's script and it has some nice features but I prefer Celtx.

I've been using FD for the past year and half because it was the software that we used on the show I was writing for, but it is buggy and sloppy. As a programmer I'm appalled at the bugs, clunkiness and instability. I have an old version of MM, and I'm about to install it and switch over.

For TV you end up trapped by either FD or MM. Usually it's FD because many prodcos use their budgeting and breakdown SW. But if you're writing features you can use whatever. I was very happy in the old days with MS Word and a template I hacked together.

You know what? Screw it! I'm going upstairs, grabbing my old copy of MM and installing it on my laptop. I'm tired of wasting time and being nervous about FD. I'm done with it...unless I get on a show where I have to use it again.