Using the word “beat” for pauses in screenplays

Reader’s question:

Lately, there has been an on going discussion about using “beat” in screenwriting.  I think that “beat” has a different meaning for a screenwriter than it does for a director or actor.  The way “beat” is used by some(young) screenwriters is to “pause.”  For directors and actors, a “beat” is often a change in the dramatic action.

Reading scripts as a director, would “beat” bother you when the screenwriter is using it for a “pause”?

My answer:

No, the use of the word “beat” would not annoy me, and most directors know what it means in a screenplay. James Cameron uses it in his screenplays, if I remember correctly.

That said, it DOES annoy some professional screenplay readers who work for studios, so using “pause” is safer and also grammatically more correct.

I recommend you use “pause.”

For an exceedingly useful list of what NOT to do when writing screenplays,  I strongly recommend you read Denny Martin Flinn’s book “How NOT to write a screenplay,” which is in my list of filmmaking books. The author used to be a professional screenplay reader and the book is also unbelievably entertaining.

I hope this helps!