Re: Layout of dialog

In message <67442792-116c-46e2-af55-e9362ba385a7@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, ShellyS <shelly.s@xxxxxxxxx> writes
On Jul 6, 11:02 am, David Friedman <d...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
As a general rule, I start dialog as a new paragraph--typically the last
sentence of the preceding paragraph signals who is speaking. Thus:

John looked up.

"I think I hear something."


I wouldn't necessarily think John said that.

I would also be inclined to think that another character said that. Personally I tend to treat "stage business" in the same way as a speech tag, ie it goes in the same paragraph as the speech. I'm sure the rule I internalised many years ago said that you start a new paragraph when a *new* person speaks. If the speech is interspersed with action by the character who is speaking, then it all goes together.

Usually, I think if the
dialogue is on a different line, the other character is speaking. I
sometimes have trouble following dialogue in scenes with 3 characters
because of constructions like this. I've had to go back and mentally
assign the dialogue even in 2-character scenes due to this sort of
construction. A new line indicates to me a character switch, in
general, unless other cues are offered.

*Nods in agreement*

One beta reader found that odd and, I think, a little confusing. Would
it be better to format it as:

John looked up. "I think I hear something."?

That's probably how I would write it.

Me too.

Helen
--
Helen, Gwynedd, Wales *** http://www.baradel.demon.co.uk
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Layout of dialog
    ... sentence of the preceding paragraph signals who is speaking. ... I wouldn't necessarily think John said that. ... dialogue is on a different line, the other character is speaking. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: Technical question re: dialog
    ... that I am finding annoying. ... And that's not being able to tell who's speaking. ... the lack of quotation marks at the end of a paragraph indicates the same ... moment in films and TV dramas - to fade in on a character who superficially looks the same and is in the same position as the previous character they were focussing on. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: Layout of dialog
    ... sentence of the preceding paragraph signals who is speaking. ... John looked up. ... Generalizing the example, it looks as though an implicit signal of who is speaking is ended by a period and followed by a new paragraph, an explicit signal is ended by a colon and followed by the speech on the same paragraph. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: Layout of dialog
    ... John looked up. ... Now the single paragraph approach looks right, along with the colon ... spoken by the same character. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: Keystroke counter
    ... Thanks for your thoughts, John. ... Word gives me a character count ... paragraph and repeat, then finally add up all the subtotals. ...
    (microsoft.public.mac.office.word)