K e v i n L e h a n e . c o m
movies, screenwriting and me

The ellipsis; it is so overused and misused in screenplays it’s become a bit of a joke. It seems that somewhere along the line some writer started misusing them and everyone else, without understanding grammar, just copied. An ellipsis is used to signal the omission of part of a sentence, or (in our case) to demonstrate a pause or trailing off of a thought. It is a fundamental tool of the screenwriter, so it’s important to understand why you are using it and how to use it properly.

There is always a space leading into an ellipsis, unless the ellipsis combines with another punctuation mark, like …! or …, et cetera.

It is NOT: He opens the door… it’s raining.
It is NOT: He opens the door. . .it’s raining.
It is NOT: He opens the door. . . . . it’s raining.
It is: He opens the door . . . it’s raining.

Aside from the fact the ellipsis could be used instead of “it’s” in those examples, it is worth remembering it’s almost always space dot dot dot space. If it ends your sentence, though, then it’s dot dot dot dot with no spaces leading in. However, in most cases, an ellipsis is not needed at all. So, instead of graffiting your page with hundreds of periods . . . just . . . go . . . easy!