Quoted from Mr. Blonde Crazy thing is that I've had people tell me this on dialogue. If you have an orphan in your dialogue, don't mess with it, unless you have a better line of dialogue to replace it.

IMO - it doesn't apply to dialogue

Some people out there think it does. I don't know how nor why.

Quoted from Mr. Blonde Some people out there think it does. I don't know how nor why.

Yeah - I know. I have seen the critiques. Always thought what a moron.

I avoid them in dialogue too lol

Quoted from stevie I avoid them in dialogue too lol

DAVE
I take it back. Not everyone that has
a problem with them in dialogue is a
moron.

See that orphan there

As noted above, they're an inefficient use of space, and you can usually tighten up the action block to get that line back. Sometimes the correct fix is to add a short sentence and just make better use of that line.

The term "orphan" technically applies to dialog blocks as well, but given the narrow margins of a dialog block, it's much less of a "sin" and trying to fix it will usually do more harm than good.

Note that screenwriting software like Final Draft prefers to put page breaks between whole sentences, so it can create or avoid orphans differently than Word.

Here's a link to some examples

Lol Dave it’s more my OCD. I just can’t leave that lonely word there  

Quoted from stevie Lol Dave it’s more my OCD. I just can’t leave that lonely word there

Totally understood

Thanks everyone, that’s been made clearer for me.

One thing I’d like to add is that if you’re worrying about this stuff you’re probably more concerned about what other writers think than the people who actually count. And if that is the case then you’re writing for the wrong audience. After all writers don’t make films.

I honestly think nobody cares (except some other writers).

So with that in mind I think it’s always better to write for producers, directors and actors.

Quoted from Pleb One thing I’d like to add is that if you’re worrying about this stuff you’re probably more concerned about what other writers think than the people who actually count. And if that is the case then you’re writing for the wrong audience. After all writers don’t make films. I honestly think nobody cares (except some other writers). So with that in mind I think it’s always better to write for producers, directors and actors.

Well, let's throw out an example again and see if no one would care about this.

If you have 5 orphans on every page, in a 100 page feature, you have 500 orphans in your script.  Divide that by 50, and you have 10 extra pages of complete waste, meaning, actually you have a 90 page script that's been artificially bloated to 100 pages.

It matters.  Orphans matter.  Get rid of them and send them home to hang out with all the other orphans.

I think 5 orphans per page throughout an entire script is incredibly unlikely.

And again, I don’t think orphans matter unless the people who actually make films think they matter, and judging from the amount I’ve seen in screenplays by professional writers, I don’t see any evidence for them being an issue.

Quoted from Pleb I think 5 orphans per page throughout an entire script is incredibly unlikely. And again, I don’t think orphans matter unless the people who actually make films think they matter, and judging from the amount I’ve seen in screenplays by professional writers, I don’t see any evidence for them being an issue.

What Jeff is saying is simply that page lengths set expectations. Readers and executives would prefer to see shorter page lengths. Artificial inflation, in that case, is bad. In practice, it actually means nothing.

You're both right, but discussing different elements.

Quoted from Dreamscale Well, let's throw out an example again and see if no one would care about this. If you have 5 orphans on every page, in a 100 page feature, you have 500 orphans in your script.  Divide that by 50, and you have 10 extra pages of complete waste, meaning, actually you have a 90 page script that's been artificially bloated to 100 pages. It matters.  Orphans matter.  Get rid of them and send them home to hang out with all the other orphans.

I read the script for "Annie". There were at least five orphans on every page.

Quoted from eldave1 I read the script for "Annie". There were at least five orphans on every page.

Oh, Dave... Dave, Dave, Dave... Lol.