Fountain Syntax Skill

Invocation Triggers

Apply this skill when:

Writing or editing .fountain files
Validating screenplay format
Converting between formats
Teaching Fountain syntax

Complete Fountain Syntax Reference

Title Page

Key-value pairs at the start of the document:

Title:
    **Seoul Identity**
Credit: Written by
Author: Scott Graham
Draft date: December 27, 2025
Contact: scott@wordstofilmby.com

Standard keys: Title, Credit, Author, Source, Draft date, Contact, Copyright, Notes

Scene Headings

INT. COFFEE SHOP - DAY
EXT. MOUNTAIN ROAD - NIGHT
INT./EXT. CAR (MOVING) - CONTINUOUS

Must begin with: INT, EXT, EST, INT./EXT, INT/EXT, or I/E Force any line as scene heading with . prefix:

.FLASHBACK - TWENTY YEARS EARLIER

Optional scene numbers:

INT. HOUSE - DAY #1#
INT. HOUSE - DAY #1A#

Action (Description)

Plain paragraphs are action. Line breaks are preserved.

The room is dark. A FIGURE moves in the shadows.

Sarah enters, hesitant. She looks around.

Force uppercase lines as action with !:

!MONTAGE - SARAH'S MORNING ROUTINE

Character Names

All UPPERCASE on own line, blank line before:


SARAH
I don't understand.

With extensions:

MOM (V.O.)
When I was your age...

JOHN (O.S.)
I'm in the kitchen!

SARAH (CONT'D)
And another thing...

Force mixed-case with @:

@McCLANE
Yippee ki-yay.

Dialogue

Text following Character or Parenthetical:

JOHN
This is dialogue. It can span
multiple lines without a problem.

Parentheticals

Wrapped in parentheses, after Character or within Dialogue:

SARAH
(looking away)
I never said that.
(beat)
Not exactly.

Dual Dialogue (Simultaneous)

Add ^ after second character:

JACK
I love you!

JILL ^
I hate you!

Transitions

Uppercase ending in TO:, or forced with >:

CUT TO:

DISSOLVE TO:

>FADE TO BLACK.

Centered Text

Bracket with > and <:

>THE END<

>TITLE CARD: "THREE YEARS LATER"<

Emphasis (Formatting)

*italics*
**bold**
***bold italics***
_underline_

Escape with backslash: \*not italic\*

Lyrics

Prefix with ~:

~Somewhere over the rainbow
~Way up high

Page Breaks

Three or more = on own line:

===

Notes (Writer Comments)

Double brackets, won't appear in output:

[[This is a note to myself about the scene.]]

Boneyard (Archived Content)

Content between /* and */ is ignored:

/*
CUT SCENE - keeping for reference

INT. DINER - NIGHT
...
*/

Sections (Structural, Hidden)

Pound signs for outline hierarchy:

# Act One
## Sequence 1
### Scene Group

Synopses (Scene Summaries, Hidden)

Prefix with =:

= Sarah discovers the truth about her father.

INT. SARAH'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Validation Rules

Required Elements

Title page (for complete scripts)
Scene headings with location and time
Proper character/dialogue structure

Common Errors

Missing blank line before character names
Scene heading missing time of day
Parenthetical not on own line
Unescaped special characters triggering wrong format

Syntax Validation Checklist

Title page has required fields
Scene headings start with INT/EXT
Character names are UPPERCASE
Parentheticals are in (parentheses)
Dual dialogue uses ^ correctly
Notes use [[double brackets]]
Boneyard uses /* */ correctly

fountain-syntax