I'm posting this interesting article about getting rid of orphan words in your screenplay. This process can help you be more concise with your narrative. Now I'm not sure these orphans jump off the page but then again, I never gave it too much thought until I read this piece.
What say you?
https://scriptcat.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/avoid-the-pesky-widow-words-i...
Get rid of them.
Tony S: I agree. I've been doing this recently.
Yeah, looks much better, cleaner and justified overall. I never have them. It's one frickin' word. Rewrite.
orphans are my pet peeve!!! kill em all!
Shall we prepare for the pro-Orphan camp?
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Ruthlessly hunt them down and kill 'em. They cost you valuable story showing space. One sneaky little trick I have up my sleeve (especially in dialog) is that if it's only a character or two that pushes the word to another line, I change the right margin for that line only to accommodate a couple of characters. While I'd never admit this to guys like Danny - I've never been called out for it. (Danny, now that you know, I can never let you read my stuff.)
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Dem poor
orphans.
I was recently reading somewhere that adverbs should be avoided or used “sparingly” as well in the narrative. The use of strong action words instead is better. Has anyone heard this?
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Chaun Lee Absolutely. Used sparingly, I'd suggest. Often writers show a lack of language skills by using passive adverbs too - those adverbs that hang on the end of sentences. Often (not always) feels lazy and sloppy. What screenwriters should be aiming for are more descriptive verb choices that negate the need for an adverb. This, then, will also lead to more succinct sentences (and so less chance of word orphans; the original point of this post.)
Understood Phil! Thank you.
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No worries. :)
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Terry Rossio had an article about widows and orphans. I'm assuming they are one-word-lines that bleed over from the previous line's sentence that is too long. As an author, I encounter this when I format my paperback books. Ebooks are easy because they use wrap-around-sentencing because an eReader can change font size easily. So I save my eBook's manuscript file in Word using the "web page, filtered" option.
However, when I write a manuscript in Word, typically, I do it 8X10. That's not a standard paperback size... like 5X8 or 6X9. So when I convert the "page layout" to the size of the book I select, I have to go back and visually look for those one-word orphans and widows. I kind of think of it like looking at the actual code in The Matrix." When I proofread for orphans and widows, it's a visual process, not a reading one. I scroll through the file numerous times and look to see those one-word-sentences.
Visually, they look bad... especially when I scroll through my digital file.
It's like coming out knots in order to get refined hair.
As an author, there's a trickedown effect to this. Say a one-word line ripples through the rest of the manuscript and adds an extra page to the paperback book's page tally. That causes my printer to charge me a penny more for added page/paper count and ink cost. That then affects the overall weight. If I buy 100 books, that weight adds up to a bigger box that weighs more... so my state taxes are tad bit more and so is shipping. In end it costs me. That's the trickledown of a word widow/orphan.
So if you have a chance to get rid of one word that costs you one line in a script, do so.
You can write it leaner. Brevity is elegance. Occam's Razor favors simplicity.
This is pure gold. So, should I avoid words like "smile", "frown" or "sigh"?
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Roberto: I'm not in total agreement with removing all those things. I think it's better when the writing is lean but the judicious use of emotions and gestures works for me. MAKE THE WRITING GOOD!
Pamela: Good idea.
Great Phillip E. Hardy, "The Pro From Dover" Thanks!