Plainchant: screenwriting without the formatting

Just type

Plainchant is for writing the scene and leaving the formatting to the software. Write your script as plain text in The Void (Write on a phone or portrait tablet) and The Canvas (Preview) shows it formatted as a screenplay, live. The structure comes intuitively from what you type.

Tell the editor what you are writing with Tab or the bar under the text (Scene, Action, Character…), and Enter moves on to whatever normally comes next.

Your work

Every change is saved automatically, and your last script reopens where you left it.
New starts a blank script. Library lists every script you have, and lets you search them, rename one (this rewrites its Title: line), duplicate it, or delete it.
A deleted script is not gone: it waits in Recently deleted for 30 days, and you can restore it from there.
Export downloads your script as a .fountain file, named after its title. It is plain text, so any text editor opens it, and screenwriting apps that understand Fountain open it as a script.
Import (in the Library, or drop a file anywhere on the page) adds a .fountain or .txt file as a new script. Nothing you already have is replaced.
Copy puts the whole script on the clipboard.

Scripts live only in this browser, on this device. Nothing saves to your filesystem without your consent, and your writing is never sent to a server. Clearing the browser’s site data deletes your scripts. Before you do that, be sure to export anything you cannot lose.

Plainchant is music with no ornament: a single line, sung unaccompanied. Plain text works the same way.

A screenplay is a handful of element types. Type them like this:

Element	You type	Notes
Scene heading	`INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT`	Starts with `INT.`, `EXT.`, `EST.` or `I/E`, after a blank line. Typed in lowercase it is capitalised for you.
Force a scene heading	`.SNIPER SCOPE POV`	A leading `.` makes any line a scene heading.
Action	`Rain hits the window. He does not look up. Thunder.`	Any plain text. A blank line starts a new paragraph.
Force action	`!SILENCE Nobody moves.`	A leading `!` stops an UPPERCASE line being read as a character.
Character and dialogue	`JOHN (quietly) I’m home.`	An UPPERCASE name on its own line after a blank line, with the speech directly under it. A line in parentheses is a parenthetical. Extensions: `JOHN (V.O.)`
Mixed-case name	`@McCLANE Yippee-ki-yay.`	A leading `@` makes any line a character.
Dual dialogue	`BRICK Screw you! STEEL ^ Screw you!`	`^` after the second name puts the two speeches side by side.
Transition	`CUT TO:`	An UPPERCASE line ending in `TO:`. For any other, start with `>`: `> FADE OUT.`
Centered	`> THE END <`	Wrap the text in `>` and `<`.
Title page	`Title: BIG FISH Credit: Written by Author: Jane Doe`	The first lines of the script. Also Source, Draft date and Contact.
Notes	`He waits. [[check the light]] /* cut this later */`	`[[ ]]` shows as a highlighted note. `/* */` hides text completely.
Emphasis	`italic bold _underline_`	Works inside any line.
Outline	`## ACT TWO = Hero loses everything.`	Sections and synopses organise the script; they are not part of the screenplay itself.
Page break	`===`
Lyrics	`~Willy Wonka! Willy Wonka!`

Keyboard

Keys	What they do
`Tab`	Cycles the current line through Action → Character → Scene heading → Transition. Inside dialogue it switches between dialogue and parenthetical. On a blank line it chooses what you are about to type: a character (typed text is capitalised) or a scene heading (`INT.` is filled in).
`Tab` while suggestions show	Completes the first suggestion instead. While you type a character name or a scene location, names already used in your script appear in the bar under the text; `Enter` never picks one, so what you typed stays what you typed. `Esc` hides them.
`Shift`+`Tab`	The same as `Tab` for cycling, backwards.
`Enter`	Moves on to what comes next. After a character or a parenthetical you go straight to the speech; after anything else you get a blank line, so an action line ends its paragraph.
`Shift`+`Enter`	A plain line break, to keep writing inside the same element.
`Esc`, then `Tab`	Moves focus out of the editor. (`Tab` alone is used for cycling.)
`Ctrl`/`Cmd`+`Z`	Undo, including anything `Tab` or `Enter` just changed.
`F1` or `Ctrl`/`Cmd`+`/`	Opens this help.

Touch

The bar under the text shows what the current line is. Tap Scene, Action, Character, Paren, Dialogue or Transition to change it, or to choose what a blank line will be. It never closes the on-screen keyboard.
While you type a character name (or a location after INT.), names you have already used take the place of those buttons. Tap one to finish the word.
On phones and portrait tablets, Write | Preview at the top switches between the text and the formatted script. Preview opens where you were writing.
On phones the … button holds New, Library, Save, Export, Copy and Help.

A character name shows up as ordinary action

A character needs three things: an UPPERCASE line, a blank line above it, and the speech directly below. Press Tab (or Character) on the blank line first and the editor takes care of the capitals for you.

An action line in capitals turned into a character

An UPPERCASE line with text right under it looks like a character to every screenplay program. Put ! in front of it, or leave a blank line below it.

My scene heading is not bold

It has to start with INT., EXT., EST. or I/E and have a blank line above it. Or start it with .

Text I pasted is in lowercase and is not formatted

Capitals are added as you type, not to pasted text. Select the line and press Tab to convert it.

Where did my script go?

Open Library, and check Recently deleted if you removed it. Scripts are stored in this browser only, so a different browser, device or a private window shows a different (possibly empty) library.

Blank lines

Extra blank lines are ignored in the formatted script. Use them freely to see your text more clearly.