Re: Word count
I will divide this post into two parts:
(1) No one is saying that you should count words or shoot for a certain number of words. All I am saying is that word count can be used to overcome the huge variation in the number of pages that occurs with "nonstandard" formatting. This is especially true when the writer uses Word or a font that is not designed to conform with "standard" line spacing for screenplays.
(2) I suspect that a huge collection of scripts, with formatting that is close to what we call normal, would run about 190-195 words per page. This rests on the assumption that the writer uses a professional script writer, like Final Draft, MMS, or Fade In Pro, with the default settings.
If you want to participate in our little poll, you can post your average words per page, and I will add each to the list below. We will only do this for a week or two, until everyone gets tired of it. Please count pages to the nearest half or third of a page. If you are not using FD, MMS, or Fade In Pro, provide the program that you used, because I might need to run a separate list for things like Celtx, Word, etc. I don't know yet. Also, if you are using personalized settings for your scriptwriting software, please note that, too. (Ordinarily I use personalized settings, but for my average below I used the FD defaults.)
This poll is not scientific, but it ought to provide some valid information.
Here is our list so far:
Average number of words per page
Ten Scripts from Zoetrope
Average was: 194
IGetsBuckets
187
Hacque
190
ComicBent
196
Your average ...
I will divide this post into two parts:
(1) No one is saying that you should count words or shoot for a certain number of words. All I am saying is that word count can be used to overcome the huge variation in the number of pages that occurs with "nonstandard" formatting. This is especially true when the writer uses Word or a font that is not designed to conform with "standard" line spacing for screenplays.
(2) I suspect that a huge collection of scripts, with formatting that is close to what we call normal, would run about 190-195 words per page. This rests on the assumption that the writer uses a professional script writer, like Final Draft, MMS, or Fade In Pro, with the default settings.
If you want to participate in our little poll, you can post your average words per page, and I will add each to the list below. We will only do this for a week or two, until everyone gets tired of it. Please count pages to the nearest half or third of a page. If you are not using FD, MMS, or Fade In Pro, provide the program that you used, because I might need to run a separate list for things like Celtx, Word, etc. I don't know yet. Also, if you are using personalized settings for your scriptwriting software, please note that, too. (Ordinarily I use personalized settings, but for my average below I used the FD defaults.)
This poll is not scientific, but it ought to provide some valid information.
Here is our list so far:
Average number of words per page
Ten Scripts from Zoetrope
Average was: 194
IGetsBuckets
187
Hacque
190
ComicBent
196
Your average ...
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