For those who still like the WordStar keystrokes (all three of us!) I've just discovered a feature in JOE (Joe's Own Editor - https://sourceforge.net/projects/joe-editor/files/ -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe's_Own_Editor ) that allows me to use Jstar (the WordStar emulating flavor of Joe) for writing in the Fountain Markup language. The issue had been that every line ended with a carriage return -- so the text didn't flow into word processors properly. Cleaning up the text was more work than it was worth.
But in jstarrc (Jstar's configuration file) I found a setting called "flowed" that inserted a space/carriage return combo at the end of word wrapped lines. So this allows me to write in Jstar (with word wrap enabled) and then, by replacing " \n" with a single space, the text flows as if it had never been "wrapped." This is necessary for the Fountain format. (If you use Windows, you'll probably have to download the full version of JOE instead of one of the stand-alone versions -- otherwise you won't have an "rc" configuration file to modify.)
Once in Fountain format, I can use several websites (or applications) to convert Fountain into PDF or Final Draft .fdx files. Screenplain (http://www.screenplain.com/) is one of the online sites that will convert Fountain formatted text files into HTML (for previewing or ...) or into Final Draft .fdx format. www.afterwriting.com can be used to convert from Fountain to PDF format and downloaded. afterwriting also has an online editor and will allow you to save in Fountain format to your computer, DropBox or Google Drive. You can also load Fountain formatted scripts into WriterDuet (www.writerduet.com) where they can be edited and exported in several formats -- or www.youmescript.com -- where they can be edited and downloaded in PDF, .fdx, Formatted Text, or back to Fountain.
Applications that handle Fountain formatted text are (among others) Trelby (free www.trelby.org) , Fade In ($50 http://www.fadeinpro.com/) and Scrivener (about $40 for Windows, $45 for OSX and a free beta for Linux -- https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php. (All three applications available for Linux.)
At any rate, for what it's worth -- not being able to afford or find screenplay writing software is no longer an issue. More information on the Fountain markup language is available at http://fountain.io -- for me this is the best method for inputting text. You'll need some kind of "partner" program for formatting, even if it's one of the free websites.
But in jstarrc (Jstar's configuration file) I found a setting called "flowed" that inserted a space/carriage return combo at the end of word wrapped lines. So this allows me to write in Jstar (with word wrap enabled) and then, by replacing " \n" with a single space, the text flows as if it had never been "wrapped." This is necessary for the Fountain format. (If you use Windows, you'll probably have to download the full version of JOE instead of one of the stand-alone versions -- otherwise you won't have an "rc" configuration file to modify.)
Once in Fountain format, I can use several websites (or applications) to convert Fountain into PDF or Final Draft .fdx files. Screenplain (http://www.screenplain.com/) is one of the online sites that will convert Fountain formatted text files into HTML (for previewing or ...) or into Final Draft .fdx format. www.afterwriting.com can be used to convert from Fountain to PDF format and downloaded. afterwriting also has an online editor and will allow you to save in Fountain format to your computer, DropBox or Google Drive. You can also load Fountain formatted scripts into WriterDuet (www.writerduet.com) where they can be edited and exported in several formats -- or www.youmescript.com -- where they can be edited and downloaded in PDF, .fdx, Formatted Text, or back to Fountain.
Applications that handle Fountain formatted text are (among others) Trelby (free www.trelby.org) , Fade In ($50 http://www.fadeinpro.com/) and Scrivener (about $40 for Windows, $45 for OSX and a free beta for Linux -- https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php. (All three applications available for Linux.)
At any rate, for what it's worth -- not being able to afford or find screenplay writing software is no longer an issue. More information on the Fountain markup language is available at http://fountain.io -- for me this is the best method for inputting text. You'll need some kind of "partner" program for formatting, even if it's one of the free websites.
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