Why This is Good

I dislike parentheticals for many reasons. First of all, writers tend to overuse them to direct emotion. In my post on Don’t do the actor’s job, I explain that, unless it’s very unclear, you don’t need to tell an actor how to read a line. They’ll get it, and don’t appreciate being told something obvious. Actors are skilled in what they do and will take direction from the director when needed, but don’t need the writer indicating the emotion they should put behind each and every line. I hate seeing a script where each and every line has some adverb or adjective trying to control the way the line will be said.

The other use for parentheticals is to put action description into the dialogue. There is some controversy here and some coaches and writers will tell you this is a good thing and you should do it. I personally do not like to see action description crammed into the dialogue. There is an entirely separate, defined place for action description, and to me, it belongs in the action description paragraphs, not hidden within the dialogue in excessive parentheticals.

For example, I constantly see this:

MARY
Where did you find this?
(picks up a bottle of perfume)
This was my mother’s, but we lost it.

Instead, put the action description where it belongs, like this:

MARY
Where did you find this?

She picks up a bottle of perfume.

MARY
This was my mother’s, but we lost it.

Again, it’s not a hard and fast rule, but it is a style preference that I am very particular about. To me, it clutters up the dialogue, rushes important action, and makes the script harder to read. Putting the action on its own line where it belongs makes for a smoother, clearer read.

There are two instances when I think parentheticals are warranted. First is when you have a large group, and a character is speaking to a specific person within the group.

Like this:

INT. HOUSE-NIGHT

Birthday party in full swing. Guests mingle. Joe approaches a circle where Dustin, George, Amy and Mike are talking.

JOE
(to George)
What are you drinking?

This makes it clear that he’s addressing George, since he could have been talking to any one of the people in the circle.

The other time I feel using parentheticals is okay, is when you truly need to indicate to the actor how to read the line because it is entirely unclear in the context of the story and the character. It’s very rare that this is necessary, because even when sarcasm is in use, it’s quite rare that an actor couldn’t figure out what the character would mean and what tone they would put behind a line. But occasionally, it’s necessary. As a rule, limit parentheticals to only a few per script. Like three, in the entire script. Not three per page.