Fountain Syntax — Write Screenplays in Plain Text / Scripta Docs

Fountain format cheat sheet: scene headings, character cues, dialogue, parentheticals, transitions with >, emphasis, notes, title pages, and page breaks in plain text.

Fountain is a plain-text syntax for screenwriting. Write a script in any text editor — Notepad, Notes, Vim, a chat window — and software can turn it into perfectly formatted pages. It's how writers draft on planes, in terminals, and in whatever app is open. This page is the complete cheat sheet.

The Core Idea

Fountain files (.fountain) look like a screenplay that lost its formatting but kept its structure. A parser reads your lines and infers the elements:

INT. COFFEE SHOP — DAY

Rain streaks the windows. MARA VOSS (30)
slides into a corner booth.

MARA
(to the waiter)
Coffee. Black. And keep it coming.

> CUT TO:

EXT. PARKING LOT — DAY

No syntax to learn beyond a handful of rules — most elements are inferred.

Scene Headings

A line is a scene heading if it starts with INT., EXT., EST., I/E., or is forced with a leading .:

INT. VAULT — NIGHT
EXT. FARMHOUSE — DAY

.FOREST CLEARING — MAGIC HOUR   (forced)

Transitions and times of day: anything after the location is yours — — DAY, — CONTINUOUS, — LATER.

Action (Scene Description)

Anything that isn't another element is action. Force action (when a line would parse as something else) with a leading !:

Mara runs.

!MARA RUNS.   (forced action, keeps caps)

Character Cues and Dialogue

A character cue is an uppercase line followed by a non-blank line:

MARA
You're late.

Force any name as a cue with a leading @ — essential for lowercase-looking names or names with periods:

@Mr. Hendricks
We're closed.

Parentheticals

A line in parentheses between cue and dialogue — exactly as on the page:

MARA
(under her breath)
Unbelievable.

Transitions

A line ending in TO: is a transition. Force any transition with a leading >:

CUT TO:

> SMASH CUT TO:

> FADE OUT.

Centered Text

Wrap text with > on both sides:

> THE END <

Emphasis

Screenplays barely use emphasis, but Fountain supports Markdown-style:

*italics*   **bold**   ***both***

(Many screenplay apps strip or render emphasis as caps — see font rules.)

Page Breaks

A line of three or more = signs:

===

Notes, Sections, and Synopses

Structured extras that don't print on the page:

[[Check continuity with scene 12 — is the cup full?]]

# Act Two            (section heading, outline level 1)
## Sequence: The Heist    (level 2)

= Mara realizes Jake set her up.   (synopsis for outline view)

The Boneyard and Forced Spacing

/* This block is ignored entirely. */

Two blank lines = forced blank-line spacing.

Title Page

Key-value pairs at the top of the file, separated from the script by a blank line:

Title:
    THE LAST WITNESS
Credit: Written by
Author: Dana Reyes
Draft date: January 2026
Contact:
    danareyes@email.com
    Los Angeles, CA

Indented values group onto multiple lines. Full conventions: Title Page Format.

Dual Dialogue

Fountain's de-facto convention (used by most apps) is a ^ on its own line before the second block — see Dual Dialogue:

MARA
I never said that.

^
JAKE
You said it the night you left.

Why Writers Bother

Future-proof — plain text outlives every app; your scripts are never locked in
Draft anywhere — phone, terminal, email draft
Diff-friendly — version control, collaboration, and backups work cleanly
Free — the spec is open (fountain.io)

Scripta speaks Fountain natively — open a .fountain file and it becomes a fully formatted script, with clean Fountain export when you leave. Start writing free →

Spec Script vs Shooting Script — the drafts you'll write
Screenplay Margins — what the parser renders for you
Screenplay Format — the full format hub

Fountain Syntax — Write Screenplays in Plain Text