Fountain is a new markup language for writing screenplays

Fountain is a simple markup syntax for writing, editing and sharing screenplays in plain, human-readable text. The language is flexible enough to work on any computer or tablet, and can be written in any software that edits text files.

But why in the word would a screenplay writer ever need a markup language? It’s not like theatrical and film writers are known for getting particularly cozy with code.

The thing is, Fountain isn’t code, but a solution for writers to turn to. It provides a consistent experience in comparison to working with most wordprocessors. It lets writers avoid locking their work up in proprietary file types from specialized writing software, and it makes a fluid writing workflow possible across all platforms and devices.

Because the Fountain synax is built around a few cues, spacing and letter case, it never feels like writing code, and it’s easy to learn quickly. All you have to do is play with it for a second, and you’ll see what I mean.

From the creators:

Fountain supports everything a screenwriter is likely to need in the early, creative phases of writing. Not included are production features such as MOREs, CONTINUEDs, revision marks, locked pages, or colored pages.

Fountain is free and open-source, with libraries that make it easy to add support in your apps.

So how can developers take advantage of Fountain? Check out the current apps and developer resources to see what kind of apps are possible. At the moment, a lot of the potential for the language has yet to be tapped. Right now, writers can use the language with the Scrippets WordPress plugin, as well as Screenplain and Marked.

➤  Fountain