Free downloads for writers

Every now and again I look at my blog stats to see which posts people like the most. It wasn't really a surprise I suppose to find that it was the free downloads. These are tools, which you can download and use at no cost. Cool! The top ones are:

1 - Free storyboard template, in a word doc format.
This has been the most popular - I think because it seems like such a simple thing to create, but making one that is simple and clear takes a little time. And why bother when you should be drawing your storyboard and telling stories instead? Go to the original post here.

2 - Free word template to help you with your film treatment.
This blog post contained two examples of simple, but effective, layouts for your treatments. Now, of course, the most effective kind of treatment is a well written treatment. This is where 99% of your effort should go, on the words and the unfolding of the story. But, hey, if it looks good too, all the better. You can download the two examples from the original blog post.

3 - Everything you wanted to know about writing a script - via Alexander Mackendrick.

This handout / poster collects together the cards of Alexander Mackendrick. These are the ones he used during his many years of teaching after making films such as The Ladykillers. There are a range of ways to download it via the original blog post.

4 - The screenwriting podcast.
Myself and Danny Stack offer a totally free podcast where we discuss classic writing questions; how do you find work as a writer? How can you make you script better? What does a good script look like? How do successful writers create their scripts? And so on. Our most listened to episode of late was when James Moran joined us. You can find more and listen at the Facebook page or via iTunes.

5 - How to be a successful writer - the Scriptwriter's Life diagram.
Still very popular after several years is the free download of the Scriptwriter's Life diagram. This was my effort to put all of the key skills that writers need into one place. Find out more at www.scriptwriterslife.com or just download the pdf here.

For more cool stuff check out my blog buddy Danny Stack who has a ton more free pdf downloads on scriptwriting lessons and techniques.

Scriptwriters Desktop

Here is a nice little tool I knocked up.

Have it as your computer desktop / wallpaper. Put your icons in the relevant boxes and your writing projects will be much better organised.

Just remember to turn off any auto-sorting option that you may have that means your icons stay in alphabetical order.

The space at the left and right should mean it works fine on all the different operating systems too.

It was created at 1920x1200. So it should be able to be shrunk down to fit almost everyone's monitor - or indeed scaled up. Blogger shrinks the image above - even if you click on it. 

The full size version is here - and you can get different sizes here too.