Description
Return pause duration relative to a chosen speaking-time base.
Story planning separates the order of telling from fictional chronology, continuity records and practical writing budgets. Explicit labels, counts and invented calendar rules can make a local convention consistent without deciding narrative quality or inferring facts from manuscript prose.
Return pause duration relative to a chosen speaking-time base.
When to use this tool
Use Dialogue Pause Density when checking a supplied story-continuity, chronology, calendar or drafting-budget convention.
How to use the tool and how it works
- Enter pauseDurations, speakingDuration, includePausesInDenominator. Use the units and conventions below.
- Run the tool. Correct any format, range, or cross-field input error before interpreting the output.
- Read pauseTotal, denominator, pauseFraction. Use the output convention below.
Return pause duration relative to a chosen speaking-time base. Require nonnegative speakingDuration/pauses; denominator is speaking time plus pauses only when requested and must be positive; fraction = pauseTotal/denominator.1
| Input field | Meaning and units | Accepted input |
|---|---|---|
| pauseDurations | Pause Durations | Required. Array of finite number; minimum 0; maximum items 256. |
| speakingDuration | Speaking Duration | Required. Finite number; minimum 0. |
| includePausesInDenominator | Include Pauses In Denominator | Required. Boolean. |
| Output field | Interpretation | Returned shape |
|---|---|---|
| pauseTotal | Pause Total | Required. Finite number. |
| denominator | Denominator | Required. Finite number. |
| pauseFraction | pauseTotal/denominator; may exceed one when pauses are excluded from the denominator. | Required. Finite number. |
{
"input": {
"pauseDurations": [
1,
2
],
"speakingDuration": 7,
"includePausesInDenominator": true
},
"output": {
"pauseTotal": 3,
"denominator": 10,
"pauseFraction": 0.3
}
}Limitations and assumptions
- When pauses are excluded from the denominator, the result can exceed one; this is not an inferred performance or pacing standard.
- Inputs must satisfy both the field types and the cross-field conditions above. Invalid input causes an error; a successful false flag or documented placeholder is a different result.
- Numeric calculations use binary floating point unless exact decimal-integer arithmetic is explicitly stated. No hidden measurement tolerance or decimal rounding is added; nonfinite or out-of-contract results are rejected. Numeric signed-zero results are exported as zero.
Alternative or Complementary methods
Use the manuscript, scene outline and the chosen style/calendar policy for a complete editorial review; interpret numerical budgets in their narrative context.
References
Similar or alternative tools
- Dialogue Attribution Distance
Return the signed distance from dialogue end to attribution start.
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