Q. What should I do when a speaking character changes subject without interruption?I use a double dash.ACCOUNTANT . . . So you can't claim the donation as a write off. Now about distributing the W-2's . . .
I also like to use the double dash to indicate an interruption:ACCOUNTANT . . . So you can't claim the donation as a write off. --Say, are you going to Pride this year?
ACCOUNTANT Say, are you going to Pride this-- MAX -- No! I just like show tunes, okay? ACCOUNTANT Be that way.
Yeah, I use a double dash bumped right up against the word when someone is being interrupted.
ReplyDeleteThen there is the double dash with a space before and after a word, which indicate pause, or a degree of fluidity in speech. (e.g. the quick back and forth banter on Gilmore Girls.)
And then there is "...", which is similar to dashes with a space, but also different. It's more of a pause, without indicating fluidity. It indicates fluidity within a single character's lines of dialogue instead of linking that of two characters.
It's kind of hard to explain, now that I think about it, and is more or less something I intuited simply by reading a bunch of scripts.
Or maybe I could be entirely wrong. Am I, Alex?
There's no right or wrong punctuation, there's only what seems to work.
ReplyDeleteBut that's more or less what I do.
I like using (then). Is this wrong?
ReplyDeleteRead the State Of Play script. It's dash-lerious! I like to use the double dash but sometimes I get all dashed out. Plus too many dashes can distract. Contact me if you want State of Play. Anyone.
ReplyDeleteI ran into this problem 5 minutes ago, came to this site and now have an answer. thank you.
ReplyDelete