Recommended screenwriting software

Final Draft 8 Professional Scriptwriting Win/Mac

I've been using Final Draft for years and for a long time it was considered to be the "industry standard," but there are a few new screenwriting products that may undermine that claim. Still, this program includes numerous templates--screenplays, sitcoms, stage plays--and is easy to learn.

Movie Magic Screenwriter 6 with ScreenStyle Bonus DVD and Screenwriter's Bible

This and Final Draft probably are the two most popular screenwriting programs on the market, and this one is the official formatting software of Writers Guild of America, East. I haven't used it but some prominent screenwriters are appearing in print ads praising its virtues.

Dramatica Pro Win/Mac

This is probably the most complex software on the market, but before you invest in it I highly recommend first reading Dramatica: A New Theory of Story. Aside from understanding the story development foundation on which this is based, this software references terminology specific to Dramatica theory, so the better you understand the theory the better experience you'll have using this software. Fortunately there is extensive support for this product--both from its creators and the Dramatica community--to accompany you through the learning curve.

Power Structure (Novel and Screenwriting Software)

This is a great program for outlining your story. There are numerous templates--3-act structure, Hero's journey structure--and you can customize the program with your own templates. You also can track conflict and plot lines, and break your story beats onto index cards.

Writer's Blocks 3

This is a nice little program that allows you to organize your story on virtual index cards and export the content to a word processer that remains linked with the blocks, so when you update one the other automatically updates. You probably won't need this if you have one of the screenwriting programs, but it is a nice organizational tool.

Movie Outline 3

This software is new to the neighborhood, so to speak, but I like its feature set so I'm including it here. I'll give it a try at some point and elaborate.