Also known as spoken lines
Spoken lines under a character cue. In Plot, a dialogue pass proposes changes, mostly to the spoken lines, that you accept or reject one at a time.
On the page
Dialogue
We start here. Right where it ends.
Readers judge voice within a few pages. Lines that explain the plot out loud, repeat what action already showed, or sound identical across characters are the usual repair targets before a table read. Distinct diction and subtext do more selling than clever synonyms for "says the theme."
A dialogue pass in Plot proposes changes, mostly to the spoken lines, that you accept or reject one at a time; a suggestion that touches the surrounding action lands only if you accept it too. That matches how rooms actually revise: protect the staging you chose, pressure the spoken line until it earns its space on the page.
On the page, length is a pacing instrument. Long speeches need a reason — power, confession, comedy — or they stall a cold read. Interruptions, unfinished thoughts, and silence (as short action) often play truer than perfectly grammatical paragraphs that no person would finish in a fight.
How to format dual dialogue in a screenplay
Format two characters speaking at once, create dual dialogue in Inkwell Plot or Final Draft, and decide when an interruption works better as stacked dialogue.
How to format foreign-language dialogue and subtitles
Tell the reader what language is spoken and whether the audience understands it, then write the readable translation without repeating the instruction on every line.
How to format song lyrics in a screenplay
Set sung lines apart from speech — italics or all caps, one lyric line per line — and quote only the lyrics the scene actually needs.
Dialogue is what is said. A parenthetical is a brief delivery or action note inside the dialogue block — used sparingly so the page does not become a performance script for the actor.
A Dialogue pass can propose tighter lines as reviewable markup. Nothing lands until you accept it — you stay the author of every kept line in the draft.
Usually lightly or not at all. Heavy phonetic spelling slows readers and can tip into caricature. Suggest rhythm with word choice and occasional clipped grammar; trust actors with accent work.
End the interrupted line with a dash or cut mid-word when that is the beat, and let the next cue take over. Avoid stagey parentheticals like (interrupting) when the cut itself already shows the collision.
