Beat is not a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) application, but instead uses the Fountain screenplay markup.
Fountain is a simple markup syntax for writing, editing and sharing screenplays in plain, human-readable text. Fountain allows you to work on your screenplay anywhere, on any computer or tablet, using any software that edits text files. (Source: Fountain.io)
The principal idea of Fountain is that if it looks like a screenplay, it is screenplay. If you type in int. school room on a new line, it magically becomes a scene heading. There are some advanced rules, but you’ll get far with these. The main editor view in Beat shows raw Fountain content, and you can check the resulting document by pressing the preview icon (eye).
If you are new to Beat and Fountain, it’s recommended to first take a look at the Tutorial. You can find it under File → New Using Template on macOS or in the dialog you see when creating a new document on iOS. This guide will teach you the basics, and the Fountain website also has a comprehensive syntax manual.
Basics
- Scene Headings start with
INT.orEXT. - Character names are in UPPERCASE
- Dialogue comes right after Character
- Parentheticals are wrapped in
(parentheses) - Transitions end in
TO:
Formatting
Read more: Inline Formatting
*italic*— single apostrophes**bold**— dual apostrophes***bold italic***— triple apostrophes_underlined_— underscores
Omits
Read more: Notes And Omissions
/* Text inside stars and slashes is omitted */
You can omit larger, multi-line blocks using stars and slashes (slash, star —- star, slash)[[Brackets create a note]]
You can drop in notes for your script here and there, and find them in both sidebar outline and card views. Some notes have special uses, such as color names in scene headings. See the tutorial for an example.
Sections and Synopses
Read more: Sections And Synopses
Sections are useful when structuring your story. Note that sections won’t show in your export by default.
Synopsis lines can be used to give a brief description of stuff that happens in its parent scene, or they can act as placeholders for upcoming content. Note that synopses won’t show in your export by default.