They can also be used to manage the pace of a dialogue-heavy scene. They’re included in the same paragraph as the dialogue, to indicate that the person acting is also the person speaking.Īction beats can keep your writing varied, avoiding the need for a long list of lines ending in ‘he said’ or ‘she said’. These are descriptions of the expressions, movements, or even internal thoughts that accompany the speaker’s words. While we’re on the topic of beats, let’s take a look at another kind - action beats. Readers also lose their attention and interest easily in the face of long speeches, so the Three-Beat Rule is definitely one to follow! Nowadays, a lengthy and unbroken monologue (unless it’s been effectively built up to be an impassioned outburst or revelation) tends to feel dated and awkward. Now, you may point out that classic books often don’t follow this rule - that’s because dialogue conventions have changed over time. Here’s an example from Jane Gardam’s short story, “Dangers”, in which the boy Jake is shooting an imaginary gun at his grandmother: Sometimes they correlate with actual sentences, sometimes they don’t. Dialogue “beats” can be understood as the short phrases in speech that you can say without pausing for breath. Outlined by screenwriter Cynthia Whitcomb, the Three-Beat Rule advises writers to have a maximum of three dialogue beats at a time, after which you should insert a dialogue tag, action beat, or another character’s speech.
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