0399 – Pauses As Script Divisions

2022.02.03 – 0399 – Pauses As Script Divisions

As script divisions to aid understanding

Pauses divide a script into ‘sense groups’ for the ‘heard word’, the same way that a comma or full stop/period does for the written word. A dash or ellipses (…), comma, full stop/period, paragraph, page or chapter – they all indicate in text or when translated into speech, different kinds of pause to help marshal thoughts and aid understanding.

In these situations, the length of the pause may differ. Say micro-beats at a comma, one beat between bullet points, and double that between different paragraphs.

They allow the reader to ‘refresh and reset’ a tone between one story or topic and the next. For example, going from one story which ends “and appears in court tomorrow charged with his grandmother’s murder” to the next one which starts “The town’s lido re-opens today after a refit that’s taken two years…”.

Pauses provide punctuation, the verbal equivalent of a full stop or period.

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