FORMATTING MADE EASY Pt. 4 – Parentheticals vs. Scene Description
Yes, we know, eyes are glazing over at the thought of yet another missive about formatting. Look, guys, you don’t want to give the gatekeepers a reason to pass on your script before they’ve even read it. And if they open the PDF and it’s clear that the author doesn’t know the difference between sheeeit and Shinola (or more aptly, an action description and a parenthetical,) they may do just that.
Don’t ever give anyone an easy excuse to stop reading. Formatting and spelling are things within your control. And yet every day we see scripts come in for analysis that have not been spell-checked. Sigh.
So, without further ado, let’s get to the nitty-gritty.
PARENTHETICALS
“Parentheticals” (aka “wrylies”) are the line-reading cues. They go under the speaker’s name and above the dialogue. It should be used to indicate to whom a character is speaking, if it’s not already obvious, OR occasionally to add a new dimension to the line reading not clear from the line itself.
Sarcasm is a great example–often it doesn’t “read” as such, and the writer might want to point it out.
Parentheticals can also be used mid-dialogue to indicate a pause (beat) or to clarify who the character is now addressing. For example, when a character takes a moment to gather their thoughts or switches topics abruptly as well as when the character suddenly addresses themself to a different person. Don’t forget: a parenthetical should be on its own line, nothing else on it.
Now novice writers often overuse parenthetical direction like nobody’s business. Shocker: in general, actors will be able to figure out what you were getting at simply from the line. There’s seldom a reason to embellish further. Let the actors act. Trust us, they will add all the necessary arm gestures and head gyrations.
And remember, parens are for line-reading cues only, not actions. Actions go flush left in the scene description.
Direction (a.k.a. Scene Description)
When it comes to screenplay format, Direction, also known as scene description or action description, means anything the audience sees or hears. Scene description is placed at the far left border, and stretches all the way across the page. Like this:
The main thing to remember about your scene description: keep it lean and mean! Learning to polish your sentences to a crisp shine is key. In general, paragraphs should not exceed 5 lines. Break up big chunks of description to keep the script flowing smoothly and to add
WHITE
to the page.
Finally edit, edit, edit! Scrutinize every sentence carefully. Every word must fight for its inclusion. Practice trimming sentences down to the leanest and meanest you can. Screenwriting is not like novel writing. BREVITY is key.