Paragrahing dialogue

[amberowl]

Hi Everyone:kitty:

I was wondering what the rules are for paragraphing dialogue? Can anyone help me? I have a piece i'm writing that has quite a bit of speech between two people.

Yours Amberowl

[q_sharon]

Hi Everyone:kitty:

I was wondering what the rules are for paragraphing dialogue? Can anyone help me? I have a piece i'm writing that has quite a bit of speech between two people.

Yours Amberowl

Hi there, amberowl. There are certain simple rules to follow in a written conversation. Here's an example taken from Practice and Practice book by L.G. Alexander:

1. Speech marks ( " ..." or '...') are written above the line. They go outside all other marks like commas (,), full stops (.), and question marks (?).
2. The speaker's first word always begin with a capital letter.

3. Words like said and asked are followed by a comma. We put a full stop after them only when they come at the end of the sentence.

4. When words like said or asked interrupt the speaker, the second half of the sentence begins with a small letter.

5. We begin a new paragraph each time a new speaker is introduced.


...My sister is only seven, but she always tells me whether my pictures are good or not. She came into my room yesterday.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm hanging this picture on the wall," I answered. "It's a new one. Do you like it?"

She looked at it critically for a moment, "It's alright," she said, "but isn't it upside-down?"

I looked at it again. She was right! It was!

I hope this helps.:for_you::for_you:

SOS, Ms. Ctivnan , how can I effect an indention here? This post might confuse amberowl a little because of the rules I posted on indention. :thanks:

[amberowl]

Thanks, you've been really helpful. I knew I knew most of it but I wanted to make absolutely sure I got it right.

[q_sharon]

Thanks, you've been really helpful. I knew I knew most of it but I wanted to make absolutely sure I got it right.

You are welcome, amberowl. I hope the indention of this example paragraph didn't confuse you. I can't move the indention that far.

I am glad it helped you. :Cat Smiley 6117: