I've been on the hunt for a good (free) tool for collaborating with another screenwriter. This week, I learned of Etherpad, an online, open-source, realtime text editor. Basically, an open source Google Docs.
Out of the box, Etherpad doesn't have much advantage over Google Docs for screenwriting. It doesn't have any screenwriting-specific features like autocomplete for characters' names or scene headings.
But here's what's cool: Etherpad is customizable via plugins.
Could some enterprising developer write plugins that makes Etherpad into the best collaborative software for screenwriters? I think this could work!
These are the plugins that already exist that would be useful for screenwriters:
- Align
- Heading
- Markdown
- Spellcheck
- Comments page
- Desktop notifications
- Ether-o-meter (displays metrics, could be good for sprints)
- Table of contents
Someone would have to build a few screenwriting-specific plugins to make this work for Fountain. Basically the features we find in Better Fountain, which makes Visual Code Studio into a good screenwriting app.
- Smart autocomplete for recurring characters and scenes, as well as title page keys.
- Go straight to writing dialog after a parenthetical by pressing enter, while the cursor is still inside it
- Maybe a way to generate real-time previews, the way that Better Fountain does.
What do you think?