#Dual dialogue final draft how to#
#Dual dialogue final draft pdf#

Scott exasperatedly throws down the card on the table and picks up the phone, hitting speed dial #1.

A simple little number inside of which is hand written:

Tabs and spaces are retained in Action elements, allowing writers to indent a line. More on the line break logic can be found here. This is helpful when Action is in uppercase and directly followed by another line of Action, preventing the two from being interpreted as Character and Dialogue elements. Power User: You can force an Action element can by preceding it with an exclamation point !. Fountain respects your line-by-line decision to single or double-space, taking every carriage return as intentional. Scene Heading, Character, Dialogue, etc.). HOUSE - DAY - FLASHBACK (1944) #110A#Īction, or scene description, is any paragraph that doesn't meet criteria for another element (e.g.

All of the following are valid scene numbers: INT. Scene numbers are any alphanumerics (plus dashes and periods), wrapped in #. Power user: Scene Headings can optionally be appended with Scene Numbers. brick's pool - dayĪ line beginning with any of the following, followed by either a dot or a space, is considered a Scene Heading (unless the line is preceded by an exclamation point !). This will still be recognized as a Scene Heading: ext. where the second-rate carnival is parked for the moment in an Alabama field.Īlthough uppercase is recommended for Scene Headings to increase readability, it is not required. This allows the writer to begin Action and Dialogue elements with ellipses without worry that they'll be interpreted as Scene Headings. Note that only a single leading period followed by an alphanumeric character will force a Scene Heading. The period is removed from the formatted output. BRICK'S POOL - DAY becomes a Scene Heading because of the EXT, but SNIPER SCOPE POV requires the period before it to force a Scene Heading element. _Steel's face FILLS the *Leupold Mark 4* scope_.ĮXT. Steel, in the middle of a heated phone call:įrom what seems like only INCHES AWAY. Here's a regular Scene Heading followed by a forced Scene Heading. Power user: You can 'force' a Scene Heading by starting the line with a single period. A Scene Heading always has at least one blank line preceding it. Scene HeadingsĪ Scene Heading is any line that has a blank line following it, and either begins with INT or EXT or similar (full list below). To better understand the details of Fountain's syntax and power user features, read on.

#Dual dialogue final draft how to#

You'll also find ideas there about how to transform Fountain text into something you can print, share, or edit in traditional screenwriting software.

#Dual dialogue final draft pdf#

If you'd like to keep a handy reference of these rules, there's a printable PDF on the How To page. For example, ***bold italics,*** or _an *italicized* word within an underlined phrase_.

Bold text is surrounded by **double asterisks**.

Italicize by bracketing with *asterisks*.

Underline by bracketing with _underscrores_.

To make any line a Transition, start it with a greater-than symbol.

Anything can be a Scene Heading, just start it with a period.

If you want to get a little more advanced:

Parentheticals are wrapped in (parentheses).

Scene Headings start with INT, EXT, and the like.

But if you'd like a little more guidance than that, here are some very simple syntax rules to remember: The golden rule of Fountain is simple: make it look like a screenplay.