[Oberon]

My early drafts I put together in an MS Word template I built myself...it helps to have career background in editing and layout, I was able to duplicate the format well enough to get a script consultant's approval.

This most recent rewrite is going into FinalDraft, however. As soon as I found I could afford it, I bought a copy. And as soon as I had a hundred-page working draft I registered it with the Writer's Guild.

[wtc911]

Future ideas should be registered as soon as you have a one page treatment. That's what I do. It frees you up somewhat to discuss it with a level of protection.

One real-world piece of guidance, resist the temptation to insert any direction such as camera movement. That's the director's job and having any in there raises red-flags concerning the writer's ability to let go. The only acceptable exceptions are POV and fade.

Also be absolutely religious about making sure that everything the audience needs to know is shown in action or dialogue. I can't tell you how many first time writers I've seen who tell the reader in narrative why the character is doing what he is doing or what he is thinking, eg...

'Larry snuck in late, wondering if the door would be locked. He knew he'd be screwed if he were caught again.'

Remember, there is no internal dialogue in film (with rare exception like an old time PI flick) and if it doesn't happen on screen the audience cannot possibly know about it.