Can I move a formatted screenplay in Word to Final Draft?

DrDoc

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In my last writing class I had to take my movie treatment and make it into a script. I did that, using MSWord. So now, I have this screenplay (version 1) which in my way of doing things will go through five additional revisions. I'd like to use Final Draft, but I don't want to encounter a lot of importing problems Would it just be better to wait and start my next screen play in Final Draft.

Ideas?

Thanks,

DrDoc
 
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dpaterso

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I haven't done this lately, but a dim memory tells me I've had more success with exporting to plain text and importing this, than I have with exporting to rtf and importing that. Direct copy/paste from Word into Final Draft is a no-no, too many hidden control codes.

If you do decide to export from Word and import to Final Draft, you could revise (work on a better draft) while fixing whatever needs reformatted, using the activity to your advantage.

-Derek
 

Centos

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In my last writing class I had to take my movie treatment and make it into a script. I did that, using MSWord. So now, I have this screenplay (version 1) which in my way of doing things will go through five additional revisions. I'd like to use Final Draft, but I don't want to encounter a lot of importing problems Would it just be better to wait and start my next screen play in Final Draft.

Ideas?

I can't guarantee that it would work -- I don't use Microsoft Word -- but you should/might be able to go to https://youmescript.com/ and just copy and paste your script into their editor (you don't even have to log in), do any cleanup necessary, and then export to Final Draft (.fdx) format and read into Final Draft. The YouMe editor seems pretty good at recognizing screenplay elements.