Plainchant is for writing the scene and leaving the formatting to the software. Write your script as plain text in The Void and The Canvas shows it formatted as a screenplay, in real time. The formatting 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.
# Part one), timed by the words read aloud before it, ready to paste
into a YouTube description.
NARRATOR) and what is shown as action.
.fountain, .md or .txt file as a new script. Nothing
you already have is replaced.
.fountain file and
keeps it linked, and Sync with a file… in Export keeps the open script
in a .fountain file wherever you choose. Unlike a downloaded copy,
the file stays in sync: every save writes it, and changes made to it in another program are
loaded when you come back to Plainchant (what you had is kept in Versions). If
both changed, a bar above the editor asks which should win the merge.
# Act One), scenes and
synopses (= ...), with the page each scene starts on. Choose one to
jump there; type to find one.
Scripts live in this browser, on this device (and in a file of your own, if you link one). 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 afford to lose.
Plainchant is music with no ornament: a single line, sung unaccompanied. Plain text works the same way.
With thanks to Space Quest Historian, whose videos about adventure games inspired the read-aloud time, the video chapters, the narration example and the retro theme. (Long Live the Pain Train).
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 organize the script; they are not part of the screenplay itself. |
| Page break | === |
|
| Lyrics | ~Willy Wonka! Willy Wonka! |
| 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 capitalized) 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; after a location and a
dash (INT. KITCHEN - ) the times of day you use appear, then DAY
and NIGHT. Enter never picks one, so what you typed stays what you typed. Esc
hides them. With Character chosen on an empty line, the names you use most appear too: tap or click one (there Tab still moves on to the next element).
|
| Shift+Tab | The same as Tab for cycling, but 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. A
name on its own line after a blank line (one your script already uses, or a new one with
capitals, like Detective Ruiz) becomes a character, capitalized,
with the speech next; Ctrl/Cmd+Z undoes it.
|
| 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. |
| Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+1, 2, 3 | Void only, Void and Canvas, Canvas only (the three small buttons above the Canvas do the same). On a phone or tablet, 1 and 3 switch between the Void and the Canvas. |
| Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+F | Focus mode on or off (the Focus button at the end of the bar under the text does the same): everything but the block you are writing is dimmed, and the line you are on stays in the middle of the screen. Scrolling still works. |
| Ctrl/Cmd+P | Prints the screenplay pages on the paper chosen last in Export. |
INT.), names you have already used take the place of those buttons.
Tap one to finish the word.
A character needs three things upon introduction to be remembered:
an UPPERCASE line, a blank line above it, and the speech directly
below. Type the name with capitals (MARA) and press Enter, or
press Tab on the blank line first. A name in lowercase is only taken for a character once the script has used it before.
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.
A scene heading shows in capitals, and the bar under the text says Scene while the
cursor is on it. It has to start with INT., EXT., EST. or I/E and have a blank line above it. Or start it with .
Capitals are added as you type, not to pasted text. Select the line and press Tab to convert it.
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. If not there... You may have accidentally deleted your browser cache and indexedDB. Be sure to make frequent backups of important work.
Straight away, Ctrl/Cmd+Z undoes it. Later, open Library and choose Versions on the script: Plainchant keeps earlier versions by itself as you write. Compare shows what changed since a version, scene by scene, and can take one scene back (Use the version’s scene, or Put back scene for one you deleted). Go back takes the whole version; Copy makes it a new script.
That is the browser’s own header and footer. In its print window, open More settings (or Show details) and turn off Headers and footers.
Every screenwriting program breaks pages a little differently. A page or two either way on a feature is normal.
Extra blank lines are ignored in the formatted script. Use them freely to see your text more clearly.
A snapshot of the script, named after the title. .fountain is plain text: any text editor opens it, and so does any screenwriting app that reads Fountain. .fdx is Final Draft’s own format, for sending to someone who uses Final Draft (most screenwriting apps open it too).
Your browser’s print window opens next. To make a PDF, choose Save as PDF as the printer. If the pages show a date or a web address, turn off Headers and footers there.
Timestamps for a YouTube description, one for each top-level section (# Part one), timed by the words read aloud before it.
| Character | Speeches | Words | Share |
|---|
| Location | Scenes | Length |
|---|
| Scene | Page | Length |
|---|
A page is about a minute of screen time; a scene’s length is in eighths of a page. Pages are counted as they print, on US Letter (the paper chosen in Export). Read aloud is the dialogue at 150 words a minute (change it in Settings).
For narrated videos and voice-over: the read-aloud time in Script stats, and the video chapters in Export.
Focus mode is the Focus button (or Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+F); the paper size is in Export. Settings are kept in this browser. The preview is always white paper, like the printed page.
Write your script as plain text. It appears beside your writing as a properly formatted screenplay, live: margins, capitals and spacing are taken care of.
Your text is in the Void on the left; the Canvas on the right is the formatted script. If the window is narrow, use Void | Canvas at the top to switch.
Your text is in the Void; tap Canvas at the top to see it as a formatted script, and back to keep writing.
Press Tab to cycle the current line: Action, Character, Scene heading, Transition. Enter then moves on to whatever normally comes next.
Tap Scene, Action, Character… on the bar under your text. Enter then moves on to whatever normally comes next. (With a keyboard attached, Tab does the same.)
INT. COFFEE SHOP - DAY The cafe is empty. JOHN (nervous) Is anyone here?
Scripts are stored in this browser, on this device. Clearing site data deletes them, so Export anything you cannot lose.
Start with a blank page, or open a short example script that shows every element at work. You can edit it freely.
The ? button (or F1the Help item in the menu) opens the cheat sheet of screenplay elements and shortcuts any time, and can replay this tour.