Pause vs. beat
How long is a pause compared to a beat? Or is it just preference?
– Kurt Yaeger
San Francisco
They mean the same thing, though I almost always use beat.1 The term is probably taken from music, because it refers to the natural rhythm of dialogue. A beat is the pause a speaker takes to separate thoughts. Calling one out can help clarify a joke, a point of information, or a shift in the scene.
That said, it’s very easy to overuse them. Most times, dialogue reads fine without any special indicators, so save them for when they’re truly needed.
- PERSEUS
- So how long have you been studying with Sacriticides?
- ABBAS
- Since my dad died.
- PERSEUS
- Oh. Sorry.
- ABBAS
- Yeah, well. Philosophy is sort of the family business. My dad invented logic.
- PERSEUS
- That’s pretty major.
- ABBAS
- He gotten eaten by a lion. He was trying to teach it ethics.
- (beat)
- So, after class, a bunch of us are going down to the beach. New school of mermaids are coming through.
In the example above, there are a lot of implied pauses, but the punctuation (”Oh. Sorry.”) does the job. The only time I call out a beat in the parenthetical is at the end, when Abbas abruptly changes topics.
You should know that some screenwriters (and some readers) really despise the term “beat.” If you fall into that camp, it’s not hard to avoid using it. Scripting an action — “(cracking his knuckles)” — is handy, but almost anything in a parenthetical would do the trick.
- I tend to reserve “pause” for deliberate actions: “Mary pauses at the door, listening to the melody.” ↩
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February 9th, 2007 at 10:10 am
what about the trusty ellipsis?
February 9th, 2007 at 10:25 am
M. Night Shyamalan’s scripts are teeming with BEATs - in dialogue and in the action. I could never decide whether it’s an overuse or a sign of him knowing the rhythm of a scene so perfectly well. My guess is the latter.
February 9th, 2007 at 10:40 am
When I’ve worked with students or novice writers, I encourage them to avoid the word “beat” in order to get them to flex their writing muscles. Instead of just writing “beat” or “pause,” think about what you want this break to communicate to the reader, and see if you can get this story idea across in a snazzier way. For first-time writers and in spec screenplays, every bit of real estate matters. Established writers have a lot more leeway.
February 9th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
I read somewhere that “beat” has a specific meaning for stage actors — that it’s the smallest unit of time in which a thought or emotion or meaning can be expressed visually. (I.e., if the actor wants to look frightened, and then confused, that’s two beats.) In that context it doesn’t mean a pause at all.
Not that that meaning should control in screenplays. But it could explain the anti-”beat” hostility in some quarters.
February 9th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Is it still an abrupt change if it takes a beat?
I wonder if Stuart Little was smeared with beats too.
February 9th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
I read once that a “beat” is an actors term from the Method that really doesn’t belong in a screenplay. It’s used to drive an actor from one emotion to the next, but isn’t a pause.
Obviously that is either outdated or incorrect, but it’s interesting to note that that is how Mr. August used it in his example.
Could these just be overlapping of terms?
February 9th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
J. Christopher (#6):
I think that’s an overlap of terms. “Beat” has a lot of uses in acting and writing. For instance, there’s a form of outlining called a “beat sheet,” which is essentially bullet points outlining the key scenes/sequences of a story.
February 9th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
People don’t usually comment on it, so I will. I love the little fake script extracts used to illustrate the points. Mini-movies, and very funny in this case.
February 9th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
Those aren’t fake Oli. Didn’t you see Go? This came right off of page 2 when Abbas is in the grocery store.
February 9th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
have any of you read david benioff’s script for troy? it contained that word so much that by the end i wanted to (beat) him with a goddam script.
glad i saw the movie before reading the script, cause now when i try to watch it, all i can hear in my head is (beat) (beat) (beat)
February 9th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
This reminds me of one of John’s famous quotes:
“I can beat myself with the best of them”
LOL!
February 10th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
I discovered directing and editing shorts improved my writing especially pacing, dramatic tension and story arc. Editing also helped with learning what I can leave out. Directing helped with dialogue (because you see the actors performing and interpreting your work). I look at my writing from two years ago before making a short, and I compare it to now, and its like night and day.
February 10th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
By the way- thank you for this site. It encourages me to work.
February 10th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
craig: i’ve often thought that every writer should direct at least once. and every director should write (but not direct) at least once. and that everyone should try to edit. and so forth.
i honestly believe that’s it’s these people who will understand the most what they eventually end up doing full time.
none of this stuff is brain surgery. and the stakes are nowhere near as high. so yeah, people who do one thing should be mixing it up more in order to more fully understand what it is they contribute to the process.
and, if in the course of this swapping around, they find they can do more than one thing, or are better at something else than they thought, then what’s the harm.
this stuff can even be done with a home camcorder. it doesn’t all have to be union minimums and “proper” productions to find these things out.
mix it up and see what works.
February 10th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
I do think people are over-analyzing this. A movie, like a piece of music, has both duration and rhythm. Individual scenes have their own rhythm within the larger context of the movie, and the beat is a unit of rhythm. Think of it as a caesura. Would you rather a composer used a rest note, or do you think it’s important that he writes (conductor scratches his nose)?
It’s not necessary for the screenwriter to plot out every caesura in a script, but it’s extremely useful for suggesting the mental switch in gears that goes with moving from one subject to another in dialogue.
February 10th, 2007 at 10:09 pm
John,
When do you put an action in the action line versus as a parenthetical in the dialog?
Is action in the action line only for things the character does when he isn’t speaking?
Hmm…
February 11th, 2007 at 6:59 am
Not being a screenwriter, maybe I’m undervaluing this line of discussion, but this strikes me as the kind of thing we (writers) concentrate on in order to avoid thinking about the hard stuff.
February 11th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
tony:
i understand (i think) what you’re saying, but your comment in and of itself makes me think that you haven’t done various things on a set in the way i’ve talked about above.
it’s not a matter of avoiding thinking about the hard stuff.
it’s a matter of acknowledging that what goes down on the page may be hugely misrepresented by what ends up in the final cut. ok?
making a script actor proof and such.
i am also fascinated by your comment that you are not a screenwriter but then go on to say “we(writers)”
so . . . what? you’re a novelist telling screenwriters how to write in their oeuvre?
or a columnist saying what oeuvre a screenwriter should use?
or you’re just a stuck up?
or you just haven’t had the life experiences of others and so therefore put the smack down on those who have?
i’ve read your site, dude, and there are things there that are very . . . telling.
john is too polite to let me say my honest thoughts and would probably ban me for posting what i think . . .
so before he does, take a LONG and HARD look at the difference between you and your writing compadres.
what is now, is not forever.
but you need to understand now in order to advance.
ok?
February 11th, 2007 at 7:58 pm
This is an issue that has bugged me for some time now. Thanks, John, for addressing it. It seems like it falls under the ever-popular “less is more” category. I too had heard that you should NEVER use the parenthetical “beat”, but it sounds like you’re advising to use it only when absolutely necessary. Lose it if you CAN lose it or if you can make it work some other way.
I have found, though, that these sorts of things become easier to find/fix during a second pass at the script. When the dialogue is flowing and I’m “feelin’ it”, I just put in “(beat)” and keep writing. Later, I can come back and figure out if it’s actually necessary or not.
Funny how so many things about screenwriting (and editing, for that matter) fall into these same categories: (1) LESS IS MORE! & (2) Don’t slow down the first pass. The script is really crafted during later drafts.
ps- Tim Woods, I see what you’re saying, but geez that was pretty harsh, don’t you think? And there’s more than a little arrogance in your response, so I’d hardly fault HIM for the same.
February 12th, 2007 at 6:49 am
Tim, I wasn’t being arrogant, just making an observation. Nor was I telling anyone how to write scripts. We are all writers, whether we approach it as a craft (or not) — we all write everyday. And, we all have little things we focus in on as a kind of procrastination. Sometimes it’s form, sometimes it’s syntax, sometimes it’s something else. My post was not a criticism and was not a put-down. As for my web site, it is what it is. I tend to spend more time on the behind-the-scenes portions, and it shows in the lack of content — and your opinion of the quality of that content is of no concern to me at this point. It seems to be the biggest “offense” I committed was making any kind of comment on a screenwriting blog without being a member of the screenwriting club. If that is the case, your reaction far outweighed my initial “crime.” I made no personal attacks on you or anyone you know, and you responded with insults. Perhaps you need to turn your critical gaze inward?
February 12th, 2007 at 8:05 am
I found Tim’s comments “making a script actor proof and such.” to be fairly interesting. I think that might be an interesting topic for John to chime in on…I guess I fall on the naivve end of the spectrum that feels like actors will generally add to not detract from the content.
February 14th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
actors can add and detract- it depends. that’s the thing you learn by being on a set. sometimes you got to let go of the story the way you thought it would happen in your head- or at least I did. sometimes for the story to work it has to happen as close to whats in your head as possible. it’s a mix of the two. again, at least for me.
February 15th, 2007 at 11:52 pm
– And I thought I was asking a simple question.
May 6th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
I reckon it’s better to put the sting of a joke at the end of a phrase / sentence; eg;
ABBAS He gotten eaten by a lion. He was trying to teach it ethics.
would be better something like:
He was teaching ethics to a lion, but it ate him.
November 23rd, 2007 at 11:54 am
(just an amateur chiming in) I dont know, I think the joke was better the origional way. Whilst the “sting” is better at the end, I think the fact that he was teaching the lion ethics, and not the fact that it ate him was the sting.
The reader already knows that the father is dead, so that doesent come as a surprise, especially when dealing with the lion. It seems that the fact that he was (with most futility) trying to teach it eithics that was the sting of the joke, which is set up by telling the man invented logic.
Everyone correct me if Im wrong.
Oh, and as per the origional purpose of this thread… I have found that directors will often analyze a scene or paragraph and decide where pauses are apparent. I have acted in only one play, and there must have been all of four “(pause)”s in the entire script. The director will make it sound natural, so pauses or beats need only be used where the line COULD be said a different way and still make sense, but you INTEND for it to be a more specific way.
JOE: I wanted to go with John you know.
or
JOE: I wanted to go (pause) with John you know.