Re. writing in linux/unix:
Another thing worth checking out is LyX, which should greatly ease the
learning curve for LaTex, since it's basically a GUI front-end to LaTex.
Still in development but coming along nicely, LyX has a couple of
advantages for writers, over say MS Word (97 is most recent version I'm
familiar with):
1) In LaTeX, formatting is structural, rather than on a case-by-case
basis. In other words, you can select a chunk of text and define it as a
chapter heading, as main body text, as a section of verse, as an
extended quotation, etc etc... each of these gets their own style which
is applied globally to all sections of like style. So if you want to
change the style of, say, all the chapter headings, you just do it once;
you will never again have to go through your document and change the
font of 200 occurrences of the same structural element by hand. As far
as I know (not very far) MS Word does this kind of thing only in a
limited, predetermined, automatic way that's more of a pain in the ass
than a real tool. All I've seen in there is a bunch of letter styles and
some stuff for lists...
2) It can handle *very* large files quite well.
Now, does LyX currently come with any tools specific to stage scripts or
screenplays? No. But I think you can add to the list of defined
structural elements... not sure, I've only just gotten into it. And if
you mention the desire for screenplay tools to the developers of LyX,
they just might take notice!
HTH,
PW
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