Prose checks › Stage directions Pro
Prose check: stage directionsHe nodded. She shrugged. He sighed.
Characters who nod, shrug, sigh, smile and glance between every line start to feel like actors following directions. Falcontext counts these stage directions in your narration.
What it counts
Nods, shrugs, sighs, smiles and glances in the narration, in all their forms.
A few help a reader see the scene. Every line, and they become filler.
How many is normal?
The middle book of the 38 I measured had 1.2 per 1,000 words; today’s fiction about 1.5. The most: 5.4.
Where these numbers come from.
How Falcontext checks stage directions
Guidelines, not rules. A nod can say a lot. Ten nods say less. You decide where the line is.
- Finds
- Nods, shrugs, sighs, smiles and glances in the narration, each marked in your text. Dialogue isn’t counted.
- Traffic light
- Up to 2 per 1,000 words
- Up to 3.5
- More than 3.5
Browne and King give these “easy beats” a chapter of their own, and the second pass of the self-editing guide is where you trim them, scene by scene.
Are your characters nodders or shruggers?
Questions about stage directions.
What are stage directions in fiction writing?
Small bits of body language, like nodding, shrugging and sighing, used between lines of dialogue. A few help; too many feel like filler.
How many nods and shrugs is too many?
Published fiction has about 1.5 per 1,000 words. Falcontext is green up to 2, orange up to 3.5, red above.
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