Carry out the following steps:
- Move the mouse cursor to the place in the script where an embeddable note is to be added, and click.
- Move the cursor up to the three tabs (Notes, Media, and Breakdown) in the right sidebar of the screen. A flashing vertical line remains at the place where the note is to be inserted.
- Click on the Notes tab, then click on + Add Note. A yellow "sticky note" appears. As other embeddable notes are added, there will be additional yellow notes in the box.
- Type in the text content for the note. The notes are of a fixed size but you can add more text than shows with a scroll bar automatically appearing, so that the entire note can easily be read.
The small note icon shown in the preceding figure will also be in place now. Embedded notes are retrieved either by double-clicking on the small icon in the script, or by clicking on the Notes button at the top of the right sidebar of the screen.
Celtx automatically creates a title page for our projects, but we need to fill it out. To open the title page, click on the Title Page tab at the bottom of the script window and the following screenshot shows what we get:
A title page is pretty much self-explanatory
- Fill in the Title of your script (use all caps).
- Under Author, put your name and the names of any co-authors.
- In the Based on: field, fill this out only if the script is based on a book or other literary work. In my case, "Portals" is an original work.
- Do not enter anything at all under copyright for a spec script. You'll want to have your script copyrighted or registered with an organization like the Writers Guild of America (WGA) but do not put it here. This is the way agents and producers expect to see a title page and not adhering to that convention makes one look amateurish. There are times when you'll want to use this feature, but they will always be clear. For example, some screenwriting competitions require WGA registration for entry, and the registration number can be included here. Do not include this information unless you are specifically asked for it.
- Finally, add your contact information. The address you see in the preceding screenshot is my real contact information. "Portals", although it's used as an example in this book, is an actual script for sale. Always, in trying to market your scripts, make sure producers, agents, and managers know where to contact you.
Once your script is completed, protect it. One of the most common ways is by getting a Writers Guild of America West WGA number. At http://www.wgawregistry.org/webrss/, you can register your script online for $20 US and get a number immediately.
One more thing, there is a known bug in the way Celtx (at least through Version 2.71) generates the title page (and this is only on the title page). The top three blocks are sometimes off center, depending on whether there is an odd or even number of letters and spaces. Many people might not notice but me, as I always want my scripts to look perfect, it irks.
So, here's a workaround until the centering bug is fixed. Insert the cursor behind (to the right) the text you want to center. On a PC keyboard, hold down the Alt key and in the numeric keypad (not the numbers along the top of the letter keys) type 0160. That key combination is Alt+0160, which inserts a non-breaking or hard space. Insert, however many of these, it takes to center the title and byline to your satisfaction. See the following screenshot for the difference (left = before and right = after). (Also adding extra normal spaces might work, depending on your machine's set up):
A subtle difference, but for a two or three hundred thousand dollar sale, we want to make a little effort, eh? Which brings us to the next effort we had better be doing, fixing spelling errors.
Nothing turns off a reader faster than spelling errors, typos, and mistakes in grammar. We simply cannot get by with those in a screenplay being marketed to Hollywood, Bollywood, or any other professional buyer of scripts. Proof, proof, and proof again before sending any script out.
Tip
Here's an old writers proofing tip. Read your script aloud! Read every single page, every single word out loud. You'll catch errors overlooked for weeks this way. It's well worth the effort and should be an ironclad rule to do before any script goes out the door. It's also good to get people to read it aloud for you. Sometimes you find errors easier that way.
Celtx helps us with spelling. As we saw in Chapter 1, dictionaries are available in several languages and easily installed. Celtx comes with a U.S. English dictionary in place.
To start the spellchecker, click where the checking is to start in the script, a flashing vertical bar appears. Then, on the Editor Menu, just above the script window, click on the button that has the letter A followed by a check mark (see the following screenshot, the button is just above the title of the pop-up Check Spelling dialog box).
Celtx finds the first word not in the dictionary, in this case, ASHEVILLE, and highlights it. We now look at the buttons on the right of the dialog box, which show our options. We can replace it with one of the suggested spellings such as ASHE VILLE or NASHVILLE by selecting our choice and clicking on Replace for just that one instance or Replace All to always make that change.
Clicking on Ignore causes Celtx to ignore this one instance of the word, and Ignore All to not mention it from now on in this script.
The correct response, ASHEVILLE is spelled correctly and used several times in the script, would be the Add Word button, which causes Celtx to learn the word.
Celtx's spell checking feature is wonderful; use it often, and it will make you and your scripts look good.
On the very top menu line of the screen, click on Tools and then Inline Spellchecking to turn this feature on. Now misspelled or unrecognized words in our script will be underlined in red. Right clicking on the work brings up a context menu with suggestions for the word, giving you a chance to immediately correct it, as shown in the following screenshot:
