What Is Fountain? The Plain-Text Screenplay Format Explained

Fountain is a plain-text screenplay format: you write a script in any text editor using a few simple conventions — a line starting with INT. or EXT. is a scene heading, an all-caps line before a speech is a character cue — and any Fountain-aware app renders it as a correctly formatted screenplay. A .fountain file is just text, so it opens anywhere, syncs instantly and diffs cleanly.

Updated 2026-09-22 · About 8 sections · 5 answered questions

What is Fountain screenplay format?

Fountain is a markup language for screenplays, the way Markdown is a markup language for web text. A .fountain file is a plain text file. There is no proprietary container, no binary, no XML: open it in Notes, TextEdit, Notepad, a code editor or an email body and you see the script, readable as a script, because the syntax was designed so that a Fountain file already looks like a screenplay before anything renders it.

The format was created by screenwriter John August and developer Nima Yousefi, building on earlier work by Stu Maschwitz, and its specification is published openly for anyone to implement. That openness is the reason it is read by a long list of apps and why it has become the interchange format for writers who want to own their files. Compare that with an FDX file, which is also text but is XML meant for software, not for eyes.

The trade-off is that Fountain stores no layout. It says "this is dialogue"; the app decides where dialogue sits on the page, in what font, and where the pages break. That makes the format tiny, durable and portable, and it means two apps can paginate the same file slightly differently.

Fountain syntax cheat sheet

Almost everything is inferred from what you would type anyway. Blank lines separate elements; capitalisation and a few leading characters do the rest.

Element	How you write it	Example
Scene heading	A line starting with `INT`, `EXT`, `EST`, `INT./EXT`, `INT/EXT` or `I/E`, with a blank line before and after	`INT. HARBOUR OFFICE - NIGHT`
Forced scene heading	A leading period	`.MONTAGE - THE CROSSING`
Scene number	`#…#` at the end of the heading	`INT. OFFICE - DAY #12#`
Action	Any paragraph that is not something else	`Dev counts the cash twice.`
Forced action	A leading `!` (for an all-caps line that is not a cue)	`!BANG.`
Character	An all-caps line after a blank line, followed by a non-blank line; extensions in parentheses	`RUTH (V.O.)`
Forced character	A leading `@` (for names with lowercase letters)	`@McKENZIE`
Parenthetical	A line in parentheses directly under a cue or dialogue	`(not looking up)`
Dialogue	The lines after a cue or parenthetical, until a blank line	`You're late, and you're wet.`
Dual dialogue	A `^` after the second cue	`RUTH ^`
Transition	An all-caps line ending in `TO:`, blank lines either side	`CUT TO:`
Forced transition	A leading `>`	`> FADE TO BLACK.`
Centered text	Wrapped in `>` and `<`	`> THE END <`
Lyrics	A leading `~`	`~ Row, row, row your boat`
Emphasis	`italic`, `bold`, `_underline_`	`He is not joking.`
Page break	`===` on its own line	`===`
Note (not printed)	`[[ … ]]`	`[[Trim this speech]]`
Boneyard (not printed)	`/* … */` around any amount of text	`/* old ending */`
Section (outline, not printed)	Leading `#`, `##`, `###`	`# ACT TWO`
Synopsis (outline, not printed)	Leading `=`	`= Dev discovers the tin is light.`
Title page	`Key: value` lines at the very top, then a blank line	`Title: THE LAST FERRY`

Two rules cause most parsing surprises. A character cue must be preceded by a blank line and followed by a non-blank one, or it is read as action. And a scene heading must be entirely on its own, blank line above and below; a heading pasted directly under an action paragraph merges into it. The scene heading and transitions articles cover what those elements should contain; Fountain only cares about their shape.

A complete Fountain sample

Everything from the table, in one short file. Paste it into any text editor and save it as ferry.fountain:

Title: THE LAST FERRY
Credit: Written by
Author: A. Writer
Draft date: 22 September 2026
Contact:
    [email protected]

# ACT ONE

= Dev learns the ferry is gone and the money is short.

INT. HARBOUR OFFICE - NIGHT #1#

A single desk lamp. DEV, 40s, counts cash into a tin, twice. [[Make the tin a recurring image.]]

RUTH enters, soaked.

DEV
(not looking up)
You're late, and you're wet.

RUTH
Ferry's cancelled. Everything's cancelled.

DEV
Then we drive.

RUTH ^
Then we swim.

!BANG. The door slams in the wind.

@McKENZIE
(O.S.)
Anyone still in there?

~ The tide comes in, the tide goes out

/*
DEV
We could just keep the money.
*/

> CUT TO:

.FLASHBACK - THE PIER, TEN YEARS EARLIER

Two kids on a wall, feet over the water.

===

> THE END <

Rendered, the reader sees a title page, one numbered scene, a dual-dialogue exchange, an off-screen line from McKenzie, a lyric, a cut and a forced flashback heading on a new page. The note, the boneyard, the section and the synopsis do not print. That split — one file that holds both the script and the writer's scaffolding — is the feature Fountain writers refuse to give up.

Title page keys and forced elements

The title page is a block of Key: value pairs at the very top of the file, followed by a blank line. Recognised keys are Title, Credit, Author (or Authors), Source, Draft date, Contact, Copyright and Notes. A value can run over several lines if the continuation lines are indented with a tab or three or more spaces, which is how a multi-line contact block is written. Apps may ignore keys they do not know, so stick to that list for anything that must print. The title page guide covers what belongs on it and where.

Forced elements exist for the cases where inference guesses wrong:

! forces action. Use it for an all-caps line that would otherwise become a cue: !SIRENS.
@ forces a character cue. Use it for names with lowercase letters: @DeVERE, @McKENZIE.
. forces a scene heading. Use it for headings that do not start with INT. or EXT.: .BACK TO SCENE, .MONTAGE. (A line starting with two periods, such as an ellipsis, is not a heading.)
> forces a transition. Use it for anything that does not end in TO:, such as > FADE OUT. or > SMASH CUT:
~ marks lyrics, which most renderers set in italics.

The markers are stripped on output. A reader of the rendered PDF never sees them.

Notes, boneyard, sections and synopses: what the reader never sees

Four kinds of text live in a Fountain file without printing, and they are the reason writers keep the format even when a producer wants FDX:

Notes in [[double brackets]]: reminders to yourself, inline, next to the line they concern.
Boneyard between /* and */: whole scenes or alternate speeches you are not ready to delete. Comment them out and they vanish from the render but stay in the file.
Sections starting with #: outline headings. # ACT ONE, ## Sequence 2, ### The chase. Apps that understand them show a navigable outline.
Synopses starting with =: a one-line summary under a section or a scene heading.

None of this survives conversion to Final Draft, because FDX has no elements for it. Converting Fountain to FDX lists exactly what is dropped and how to check the result.

Which tools read Fountain?

Because the spec is open, support is wide. Dedicated Fountain editors exist on Mac and iOS (Highland, Slugline, Beat and others), and most full screenwriting apps import and export it, including Fade In, WriterDuet, Arc Studio and Zen Writer. Some recent versions of Final Draft can import a .fountain file; if yours cannot, convert to FDX first. Check each app's current platform and pricing, since they change.

You also do not need a dedicated app at all. The free Fountain converter takes a .fountain or .txt file in the browser and returns FDX or a formatted PDF, and the free script viewer renders one for reading. If your text is not quite Fountain, the plain text screenplay formatter will tidy it into Fountain, FDX or PDF.

For a roundup of apps that support it on each platform, see free screenwriting software.

Why Fountain is good for phones and version control

Phones. Plain text is the one format every phone handles perfectly. You can write Fountain in the built-in notes app, in an email draft, in a messaging app to yourself, and lose nothing. Zen Writer goes one better on iPhone, iPad and Android: it imports .fountain and .txt, formats the elements as you type, and exports Fountain back out, so the file stays plain text while you get automatic formatting. Try it in Zen Writer for iPhone, or read the full phone screenwriting workflow.

Version control. A Fountain file diffs line by line. Put a script in git and every commit shows exactly which speeches changed, in readable text; two writers can branch and merge without a proprietary collaboration service. An FDX diff is XML noise. A feature-length Fountain file is tens of kilobytes, so it syncs instantly and never turns into an unopenable binary.

Longevity. A text file written in 1990 opens today, and a Fountain file written today opens in 2050 in whatever replaces today's editors. That is the archival argument for keeping a Fountain copy of every draft, whichever format the working master is in — FDX vs Fountain weighs it against Final Draft's format in detail.

Common Fountain syntax mistakes

No blank line before a character cue. The cue joins the action above it and the speech becomes action. Always leave a blank line.
A cue with a lowercase letter. McKENZIE is not all-caps to a parser. Force it with @.
An all-caps action line read as a cue. BANG. on its own line followed by a non-blank line becomes a character. Force it with !.
Headings that do not start with INT. or EXT. LATER, MONTAGE, BACK TO SCENE need a leading period.
Title page not first. A Title: block anywhere but the top of the file prints as action.
Leaving notes in for a producer. They do not print, but they are visible in the raw file. Strip them or send a PDF.
Trusting one app's page count. Fountain has no layout, so check the count in the file you are sending.

The rest of the FDX and Fountain guide covers converting between the two formats and opening either on any device.

Frequently asked questions

Is a Fountain file just a .txt file?

Yes. A .fountain file is plain text with a different extension so apps recognise it; rename it to .txt and nothing inside changes. Any text editor opens it, and Fountain-aware apps and converters will also accept a .txt file written in Fountain syntax.

How do I make a character cue in Fountain?

Leave a blank line, type the name in ALL CAPS, then type the dialogue on the next line with no blank line between. Extensions go in parentheses on the same line, as in RUTH (V.O.). For a name with lowercase letters, put an @ in front of it.

Does Fountain support dual dialogue?

Yes. Write the two speeches one after the other and put a caret after the second character's name, as in RUTH ^. Fountain-aware renderers set the two speeches side by side; support in other apps after conversion varies, so check the result.

Can I convert Fountain to Final Draft?

Yes. The free Fountain converter turns a .fountain file into FDX or PDF in the browser, and Zen Writer imports Fountain and exports FDX. Notes, boneyard, sections and synopses have no FDX equivalent and are dropped.

What is the difference between Fountain and Markdown?

Both are plain-text markup, and Fountain borrows Markdown's idea of a file that reads well before rendering. Markdown marks up general documents with headings and lists; Fountain marks up screenplays, inferring scene headings, cues and dialogue from screenplay conventions instead.

Ready to turn this idea into a screenplay?

Zen Writer imports and exports Fountain on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android and formats every element as you type, so your plain-text script stays plain text without you typing the markup.

Write Fountain in Zen Writer

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FDX & Final Draft Files

What Is Fountain? The Plain-Text Screenplay Format Explained

What is Fountain screenplay format?

Fountain syntax cheat sheet

A complete Fountain sample

Title page keys and forced elements

Notes, boneyard, sections and synopses: what the reader never sees

Which tools read Fountain?

Why Fountain is good for phones and version control

Common Fountain syntax mistakes

Frequently asked questions

Ready to turn this idea into a screenplay?

Continue reading

FDX vs Fountain: Which Screenplay Format Should You Use?

How to Convert Fountain to FDX (Fountain to Final Draft)

What Is an FDX File?

How to Write a Screenplay on Your Phone (iPhone and Android)

Free Screenwriting Software:

Fountain to FDX / PDF Converter

Plain Text Screenplay Formatter

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