All this is great if you're trying to write a screenplay, but once you finish a script you'll want to sell it. At websites such as the Hollywood Screenwriters Network, and Screenspec, writers can pitch their scripts online.

This is a relatively new way to get the attention of agents and producers, but does it work? That depends on who you ask. Some Hollywood dealmakers say the Internet just opens the floodgates wider, bombarding them with low-quality work from amateurs. But other outfits, such as Francis Ford Coppola's production company, American Zoetrope, are uncovering new talent through the Web. You can post your screenplay here, but first you'll have to read and critique four scripts submitted by other hopefuls. You get free feedback from other writers, and you help Zoetrope zero in on the most promising submissions.

If you're after commercial success, you might want to know which "properties" are already selling. Done Deal will tell you which scripts have sold recently, and for how much.

Finally, you might want to do some reading at Drew's Scripts-O-Rama, the premier clearinghouse for free screenplays on the Internet, with links to more than 600 scripts from TV sitcoms to feature films.

Writing a good script is not easy, and trying to sell it is an uphill battle. Fortunately, some promising Web resources can help you in the struggle. But in the end, remember what journalist Mary Heaton Vorse once said: "The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair."