Dual Dialogue

Two characters speaking simultaneously, formatted side by side in two columns.

Dual dialogue sets two speeches in parallel columns to show they overlap in time — arguments, crosstalk, a couple answering a question differently at once. In most screenwriting tools you mark the second speaker's cue with a caret or a toggle and the layout handles itself.

It's a spice, not a staple: a page of overlapping speech is unreadable, but one well-placed collision can carry a whole scene's chaos.