Screenwriting : Semicolons by Johnny Cinematic

Yes when a comma is too little and a period too much.

Well put! Thanks...

To a certain extent I view it as the amount of pause the actor would take in delivering the line. Comma = short pause; semi a bit longer pause and period even longer pause. I realize we're talking milliseconds here, but that's how I think of it. Not that I'm claiming to be Orson Welles or anything.

Makes a lot of sense to me. Thx

It's your voice, so use them if you feel you should. They are unusual, so use them sparingly, but enough so that your voice tells your story. That's all any of us can do.

Ideally in a screenplay, you should aim for short, sharp sentences. You should go through and eliminate at least 60% of your 'ands' as well as any other conjunctions. Semicolons have their place, provided they are used correctly and sparingly.

Thanks everybody for the low-down on semi-colons. Bottom line is that I should only use in rare situations. Otherwise I will hone my staccato-style sentence building.

I see these comments are not within the grammar context, is there a book you recommend on screenwriting punctuation?

I concur with Dan

In dialogue, Dan. That doesn't cover exposition.

I wouldn't bother. It's up to the actor and/or director to decide on the delivery of the lines and length of pauses.

I did not know semicolons were frowned upon. That's good to know; though it seems a bit odd. They were good enough for Shakespeare. Also, people tend not to speak in sentences and often don't use conjunctions, so the semi always seemed a useful punctuation mark. Alas, the sacrifices one must make in order to not appear amateurish..