Use, or not, of (CONT'D)

Randall_Oelerich

Randall_Oelerich

Veteran
I was just told by my paid mentor that the use of (CONT'D), as it relates to character dialog, is no longer used. She red-lined all of my uses of (CONT'D). This was news to me. Anybody else hear of this? Can anybody confirm or deny this allegedly new formatting standard?
 
That spec was probably written/sold 3+ years ago though, and the writers are well known, meaning they could get away with things a new spec writer trying to break in might not. Just saying, we need to find out what is the formatting rule on this issue if it has changed, that I need to know as a yet unsold spec writer. It does seem risky to against a longstanding formatting standard until one sees more confirmation on this.

David Jimerson said:
I recently read The Descendants. It was in there.
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Well, ask HER where she gets this information. It's not like there's a rulemaking body which determines these things.
 
I and most of my writer friends do not use it anymore... a lot of people don't use beat anymore also... lol.. I and others use... three periods in a role... as you can see its become a habit... most readers realize its a pause... just makes it a faster, leaner read...
 
I don't know if that kind of 'advice' is more sad or funny to me. Is your story good? How's the dialogue? Is everything clear and concise? Does it lag anywhere? Are there any lines that require a second pass when reading in order to understand what's going on? Are your scene headings and character names consistent? Is it a page turner?

I'd just worry about that.

For clarity's sake, use (CONT'D). Or don't.
 
Randall_Oelerich said:
I was just told by my paid mentor that the use of (CONT'D), as it relates to character dialog, is no longer used. She red-lined all of my uses of (CONT'D). This was news to me. Anybody else hear of this? Can anybody confirm or deny this allegedly new formatting standard?
Click to expand...

If you have dialog that spans a page break... it's too long...
 
Okay I just heard back from another highly credible source (a writer who has sold for seven figures and who does highly paid script doctoring) , and he confirms that the use of (CONT'D) is outdated, as it pertains to dialog (not page breaks).
Learned something new today!
 
GaryinCalifornia said:
I and most of my writer friends do not use it anymore... a lot of people don't use beat anymore also... lol.. I and others use... three periods in a role... as you can see its become a habit... most readers realize its a pause... just makes it a faster, leaner read...
Click to expand...

I don't use (CONT'D) either, haven't in many years. And I frequently use a suspension point (aka three dots or ellipsis) all the time. This was considered a 'no-no' by most readers years ago, but I like it.
 
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kylekmd said:
... I frequently use a suspension point (aka three dots or ellipsis) all the time. This was considered a 'no-no' to most readers years ago, but I like it.
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Ditto. A screenwriter friend of mine chastised me for using what he perceived to be too many ... and --
So I thought maybe he was right. I asked him to choose two sets of ten random numbers between 1 and 100. I have a science background, :-/
Then I printed out those two sets of random pages from SALT and also THE FUGITIVE and tallied the number of ... and -- in those pages, averaged them. I usage was almost identical to SALT/FUGITIVE, just slightly lower. What can i say, like Kyle i like ... and --
:)
 
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