# Parenthetical > A short note in parentheses inside a dialogue block — how a line is delivered or a small action during it, e.g. (whispering). Use sparingly. Also known as wryly, actor direction **On the page** ``` (quietly, not looking up) ``` ## In practice Actors and directors often ignore crowded parentheticals. If the delivery is obvious from the line, cut the note. If the action is large — crossing the room, pulling a gun — put it in action lines above or below instead of stuffing stage business into (beats), (then smiles), and similar metronome clutter. Parentheticals earn their keep when the line would otherwise be misread: sarcasm that looks sincere in plain text, or a quiet aside inside a loud scene. Used that way, they prevent wrong table-read choices; used as a metronome for every line, they train readers to skip the column entirely. A practical test before you keep one: remove it and re-read the cue and dialogue alone. If meaning and tone still land, delete it. If the line flips into the wrong emotion without the note, keep the shortest clear parenthetical you can write, then move on without stacking more notes. ## See it formatted - [V.O. vs O.S.: voice-over or off-screen dialogue?](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/screenplay-formatting/voice-over-versus-off-screen): O.S. means a speaker is in the scene but outside the frame; V.O. covers narration and voices outside its physical space. See screenplay examples of both. - [How to format foreign-language dialogue and subtitles](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/screenplay-formatting/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](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/screenplay-formatting/songs-and-lyrics): Set sung lines apart from speech — italics or all caps, one lyric line per line — and quote only the lyrics the scene actually needs. ## Common questions ### When is a parenthetical worth keeping? When the line would otherwise be misread — sarcasm that looks sincere on the page, or a quiet aside in a loud scene. If removing it does not change meaning, remove it. ### Should I write (beat) in parentheticals? Usually no. A pause the audience should feel often plays better as a short action line or as white space in the dialogue rhythm. Reserve parentheticals for clarity, not metronome marks. ### Can a parenthetical sit after dialogue? Standard craft puts the parenthetical under the cue and before the line it modifies. Trailing notes after a speech are easy to miss and look nonstandard to professional readers. ### How long can a parenthetical be? Aim for a few words. If you need a full sentence of business, that is action, not a parenthetical. Long notes inside the dialogue block choke the spoken line on the page. ## Related terms - [Dialogue](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/dialogue): 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. - [Character cue](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/character-cue): The speaker’s name above a dialogue block, conventionally in uppercase — the label that tells the reader who is talking. - [Action](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/action): The descriptive prose of a screenplay — what the audience sees and hears, written in present tense. Also called description. - [Subtext](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/subtext): What a moment means beneath the spoken words — the real negotiation happening while characters talk about dinner, the case, or the weather. --- Canonical page: