Sometimes the best way to get writing is to read about how other people got started. Before you buy any script writing books, you might want to check out these classics at your local library. "Blueprint for Writing: A Writer's Guide to Creativity Craft & Career" (1995) by Rachel Friedman Ballon is well-organized, if not a little dated. "Crafty Screenwriting: Writing Movies That Get Made" (2002) by Alex Epstein is essential for helping you determine if your script is ready for the big screen. You know why your characters do what they do, but does the reader? "Inner Drives: How to Write and Create Characters Using the Eight Classic Centers of Motivation" (2005) by Pamela Jaye Smith will help ensure your message gets across. Worried that your screenplay might not be a great as you think? Take your script from tragic to magic with "Your Screenplay Sucks!: 100 Ways to Make It Great" (2008) by William M Akers.
If you'd rather have a program that does your formatting for you, you're in luck. For a bare bones computer application that will format your writing without taking up a lot of hard drive space, try Cinergy by Mindstar Productions. It's an older program that's not compatible with most Macintosh operating systems, but it only takes up 20 Mb of space and it's free. If you want a more advanced script writing program, but you aren't ready to shell out the big bucks, check out Celtx. Celtx is a fully functional multimedia production program, which means you can use it for your scripts and screen writing, as well as for producing comics, music videos and podcasts. Celtx is open-source software compatible with Macs and PCs and available in 33 different languages. Ready for the big time? Final Draft is the industry standard in script writing tools. It's a hefty word processing and script formatting program with a hefty $249 price tag. It's the program used by the pros.
Sometimes the best tool is the camaraderie of a fellow script writer. Script Frenzy is an off-shoot of the annual National Writing A Novel Month team. Each year you can join up with fellow writers for one full month of script writing madness. Connect with writers for relationships that last throughout the rest of the year. Sometimes what you really need is a chance to see a script for yourself. Simply Scripts provides hundreds of scripts for your reading pleasure as well as a discussion board where you can communicate with other script writers. Script Writing Goldmine has a free screenwriting forum where you can chat with fellow newbies and connect with seasoned pros. Check out your local craigslist.org and you might find script writing communities in your area.