Most Recommended

The Resources and Tools You Need to Succeed at Every Level

Welcome to the MusicalWriters.com Recommended Resources section, a curated list of the tools and websites we strongly recommend for helping you reach new goals both for your musical and for you professionally. Many of the resources listed here are considered crucial by our MusicalWriters.com community.

Before digging into the awesome resources I know and trust, an important disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. Please understand that I have experience with all of these companies, and I recommend them because they are helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something. Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel you need them or that they will help you achieve your goals.

Writing Tools

Final Draft

Final Draft

Script Writing Software

All of the scripts I have written have been on Final Draft. Why? I love how easy it is to format a script according to industry standards.

Trust me, having your script formatted correctly matters significantly to producers, artistic directors, and contest and award judges.

Having the templates built in is a huge time-saver, and the scene inspector, beat board, story map and tagging capabilities make it easy for writers to track particular story elements. Final Draft’s improved collaboration tools also allow writing teams to work remotely in real time and able to edit drafts simultaneously.

Try Final Draft

The Ultimate Musical Writer's Planner

The Ultimate Musical Writer's Planner

Idea to page to stage workbook

The Ultimate Musical Writers’ Planner is a central location to brainstorm, develop, plan and calendar all of the exciting things that go into creating a new musical!

You’ll find guides on outlining story structure and character development, charts for determining vocal ranges and rhyme patterns, checklists for readings and marketing, goal planning sheets, a 12-month planning calendar, and much, much more. It’s the ULTIMATE planner and workbook to take you from concept to stage.

Explore the Ultimate Musical Writer’s Planner

Rhymezone

Rhymezone

Online Rhyming Dictionary

Find rhymes, synonyms, adjectives, and more!

Rhymezone is a completely free online rhyming dictionary that I use every time I write a song. It’s simple, powerful, and comprehensive. They also have a great iPhone app they’ve developed to keep rhymes (and thesaurus) at your fingertips.

Check out Rhymezone

Also recommended by our writers: Crossword Solver Word Lists

Composing Tools

Finale

Finale

Music Notation Software

Finale Music Notation software is another industry standard that we love. It is the favorite of most veteran Broadway composers, arrangers, and orchestrators, including the brilliant Alex Lacamoire (musical director and orchestrator of Hamilton) and composer Matthew Sklar (Prom, Elf, The Wedding Singer).

We love the Finale’s shortcuts, plugin options, hyperscribe abilities, and the ease of seamlessly sharing files with other music professionals using the same software.

Finale offers a 30-day free trial, as well as an incredible academic ($350) and student discount ($99!!).

Try Finale

Marketing Tools

Reed Creative Group

Reed Creative Group

#1 for WEB and GRAPHIC DESIGN

Founded by MusicalWriters.com CEO Holly Reed, Reed Creative Group is a one-stop shop for web and graphic design and any marketing or advertising needs you might have. They provide excellent show art,  websites, custom event invitations, program design, social media campaigns, and general marketing strategies and consultations.

Check out Reed Creative Group

Kinsta

Kinsta

#1 for WEB HOSTING

Thinking about building a website for your show? My preferred hosting provider is Kinsta for my musical clients, my professional design clients, and MusicalWriters.com!

Yes, they are a little pricier than your discount-store type hosting companies (bluehost, godaddy, etc.), but trust me—you’re going to either spend a little money to PREVENT the problems, or alot of money to FIX the problems (read: hackers, security, server downtime, lack of service).  And all of their sites include an SSL certificate (yes, you need that).

Click here to check out KINSTA.

Brown Paper Tickets

Brown Paper Tickets

Online and Paper Ticketing

Brown Paper Tickets is my number one recommendation for ticket sales, both for online and printed tickets.

Their system is super easy to use. You can create unique discount codes and custom pricing for different groups as well as order high-quality paper tickets for your event. And your ticket-buyers have the option of downloading paper tickets, using a digital ticket, or free ticket printing and shipping direct to their door.

Visit BrownPaperTickets.com