Ask Dr. Format: LOOK WHO'S PRAYING

DAVE TROTTIER has sold or optioned ten screenplays (three produced) and helped hundreds of writers break into the writing business.  He is an award-winning teacher and script consultant, author of The Screenwriter’s Bible, and friendly host of keepwriting.com.  Read more tips on the Ask Dr. Format page.

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LOOK WHO'S PRAYING

QUESTION

How do I write one dialogue speech for three characters to say at the same time? For example, I have a scene where three characters say the same prayer at the same time.

ANSWER

I can best answer this with an example:

                              LARRY, MOE & CURLY
                          (together)
                    Now I lay me down to sleep/ Pray
                    the Lord my soul to keep.

Naturally, in the above example, I could have written “at the same time" as my parenthetical, or "in unison." You may not need the parenthetical at all. Now if someone starts saying something, and the other begins before the first has finished, then that overlapping dialogue is written as follows:

                              CURLY
                    Now I roll down my covers --

                              MOE
                          (overlapping)
                    -- Not until you say your prayers,
                    ya knucklehead.

POETIC LICENSE

QUESTION

How do I separate lines in a stanza of a poem?

ANSWER

Use a slash. See the example above of the Three Stooges praying in unison. And keep writing!