Screenwriter's Compass

A distinction has been lost with the rise in popularity of screenwriting software.  They treat the abbreviation (CONT'D) and the character cue (continuing) as equivalent.  They aren't.

Why on the flip.

(CONT'D) is an abbreviation for "continued" — and should, technically, only be placed next to a character name when a speech is broken across a page.  That is, a speech begins at the bottom of page X and is continued at the top of page X+1.  The speech is continued across the page break;  it isn't a note that the character is continuing to speak after an interruption.

Example:

(continuing) should be used to mark instances where a character's speech is interrupted by a bit of action, and the same speech continues after the action description.

Example:

Most screenplay software formats such a section of interrupted dialog incorrectly:

It seems like a small thing. And a thing that most producers and studios have come to accept.  But I continue to object to the confusion of these two markers for several reasons.

• It's simply grammatically wrong.  In one instance the speech is continued; in the other the speaker is continuing to speak.
• The fact is, using the wrong method of marking an interrupted speech saves you a line.  And everything that saves you space in a screenplay is a good thing, right?  I believe that using this shortened way of marking an interruption tends to make the writer too comfortable with this device.  And it might be used where it is not needed.  So I would argue that using the old-fashioned way will put a pressure on you NOT to use interruptions except when they are worth the additional page real-estate.

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