Also known as MORE · CONT'D · continued
CONT'D means continued dialogue from the same character, after an action break or across a page break. MORE marks a speech that carries onto the next page.
On the page
CONT'D
MAYA (CONT'D)
(MORE)
CONT'D has two common uses: a character resumes speaking after intervening action, or a speech continues onto the next page. In the page-break case, MORE appears below the unfinished dialogue and CONT'D follows the repeated character cue on the next page. The same-page character continued does not need a MORE marker.
Let the editor or exporter generate page-break markers rather than typing them into action or inventing extra character cues. In Plot, Automatic character continueds adds CONT'D when the same character speaks again after action. It is on unless you turn it off under Document settings, and the choice is saved for the project; page-break MORE and CONT'D stay automatic. Final Draft controls character continueds separately from dialogue page breaks under Document > Mores and Continueds.
In locked production drafts, these markers still matter because sides and table PDFs break in awkward places. Your job is clean speeches and correct cues; the production office cares that a continued speech is labeled so nobody skips a mid-sentence pickup when the scene finally shoots.
CONT'D is short for continued. After a character's name, it tells the reader that character is speaking again after an action break or continuing a speech from the previous page. It is not dialogue to read aloud.
No. Plot inserts the MORE/CONT'D pair when a speech crosses a page break, and adds CONT'D when the same character speaks again after action. If your draft's house style leaves those out, turn off Automatic character continueds in Document settings. Avoid typing duplicate page-break labels into action.
It signals the same speech is continuing after a page break (or after an interruption block, in some house styles). It is a continuity mark for readers, not a new performance instruction.
House styles differ. Many modern specs omit CONT'D after a short action break in the same speech block. Follow one consistent rule inside a draft rather than mixing styles.
Page-break MORE/CONT'D are pagination markers, so let the PDF layer generate them. Plot's Fountain and Final Draft exports include the CONT'D it adds after action, and importing that file keeps it as part of the character cue.
