Q&A for How to Format Dialogue in a Story

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How long does a dialogue have to be?

Community Answer

A dialogue can be any length, but avoid making it too long, as it could make the reader become bored or lost.

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Question

Do I start a new paragraph after dialogue, or do I just keep writing after it?

Donagan

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It's customary to start a new paragraph after dialogue.

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Question

Any tips for a story that contains a huge amount of dialogue? Apart from writing it as a play, I suppose.

Community Answer

I try to add an action or the name of a speaker every four or five replies when two people are speaking. This reminds the reader of who is talking, and adds more context. If you feel like a conversation has been going on for a while, you might want to take the time to describe a little more of what they're doing while talking. An example being (near the end of a fight): "'That's it! I can't do it anymore!' Jeremy's voice raised to the point where he was screaming and the fists he'd previously balled at his side were thrown up as he paced. Ron honestly felt like doing the same, but at least one of them should be calm."

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How would I write a character's dialogue when quoting a line from a poem to another character?

Donagan

Top Answerer

Put the poetry inside secondary quotes.

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Question

How should I write nonexistent book titles, with italicization or quotation marks?

Community Answer

The same way you would write real book titles - italicized.

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Question

As an 18-year-old girl without funds, how can I get someone to polish my writing and publish my book?

Community Answer

You could always use Grammarly. It won't tell you about some errors (word choice, complex sentences, etc.), but it will alert you about spelling, punctuation and tense errors. As a writer without funds for a proofreader, you'll need to learn how to polish your own writing - your library will have a lot of books on English grammar; begin checking them out and studying them so you can avoid common mistakes. Reputable publishers don't charge to consider at your manuscript; once it's polished to a professional level, simply submit it to appropriate markets (after reviewing proper manuscript format and proposal package guidelines).

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Question

I feel like I put "she said" or "I said" too much in my short story. How can I address this?

Donagan

Top Answerer

There are quite a few synonyms for "said." Use a few of them occasionally: remarked, commented, asked, interjected, blurted out, opined, whispered, shouted, yelled, declared, told, alleged, averred, spoke, stated, affirmed, mentioned, recited. These words don't necessarily mean exactly the same as "said," so be sure you know what they mean before you use them.

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Question

How many spaces should I use before the person speaks? Is it the same as when a new paragraph is made?

Community Answer

Dialogue is tricky. If you're changing speakers throughout the dialogue, you will need to start a new paragraph each time the speaker changes with an indent. If the dialogue is coming from one speaker in a larger chunk, you can break it up into small paragraphs with an indent in front of each beginning line. (In that case, do not put closing quotation marks until the end of the LAST paragraph, not each individual paragraph.)

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Question

I'd like to know the best way to space dialogue between two people. I've seen it both ways, skipping a space or just going to the next line. Which is right?

Donagan

Top Answerer

Skipping a space ordinarily implies a break in the narrative (similar to a fade-to-black in film). In writing, each successive comment from two or more characters should immediately follow the prior remark without skipping a space. One exception is script-writing, where successive lines are commonly separated by blank spaces for ease of reading.

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Question

In my novel, the character speaks into her cell phone. What punctuation do I use to tell the reader that the person on the other end of the line is speaking?

Community Answer

Maybe just say something like, "Jane paused, listening."

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Question

How do I format dialogue between paragraphs? Would there be a comma at the end of the first paragraph?

Donagan

Top Answerer

All paragraphs -- whether dialogue or not -- end with a period (full stop), question mark or exclamation mark (and quotation mark in the case of dialogue). If the next paragraph is dialogue, it begins with an indentation, a quotation mark and (in most cases) a capital letter.

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Question

How do I format someone saying, "Thank you for the help"?

Community Answer

"Thanks for the help," he said with a smile, "I really appreciate it." Something like that?

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Question

If a character hears someone speaking in another room, should that dialogue be italicized and put into quotes?

Donagan

Top Answerer

Use quotes, but don't italicize unless you're implying added importance for the words or indicating a raised voice (shouting).

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Question

After a piece of dialogue, I put the next speaker's reaction on the same line and make a new line starting with that speaker's dialogue. Should I put the speaker's action and words on the same line?

Donagan

Top Answerer

You can prevent reader confusion by devoting a new paragraph to the next speaker's reaction and yet another paragraph to that person's next comment.

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Question

If someone is thinking something rather than speaking out loud, is it punctuated the same?

Donagan

Top Answerer

There's no hard-and-fast rule about this. Some authors punctuate thoughts the same way they punctuate speech. Others omit the quotation marks, or they italicize thoughts (especially short ones). Do it the way that looks best to you. The main goal is to avoid confusing the reader.

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Question

Should lines of dialogue be like short paragraphs?

Donagan

Top Answerer

Yes, each succeeding comment in a conversation should be given its own paragraph (even short comments).

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Question

If I want to start my book off with a sentence, use a dialogue tag and then carry it on, would I make use of indentation if it is still the same person speaking?

Donagan

Top Answerer

Don't indent if it is a continuing monologue.

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Question

Do I indent every time there's a new speaker?

Donagan

Top Answerer

Yes, that's the usual practice.

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Question

In dialogue, do you follow with lowercase after a question? Example... "What's the time?" the man asked.

Donagan

Top Answerer

Yes. The question mark is replacing a comma, and capitalization remains the same.

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Question

How do you change from dialogue to narration? And my dialogue is already 23 lines long, is that too long?

Donagan

Top Answerer

Narration -- especially if it is more than just a few words in length -- should begin in a new paragraph. And 23 lines devoted exclusively to back-and-forth dialogue might be confusing or tiresome for some readers.

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Question

What about things like, "Gracen looked at Samuel. [Insert speech]" Would that part go in the paragraph with or before the dialogue?

Donagan

Top Answerer

It can be done either way. Assigning the dialogue to a new paragraph adds a little more importance to the action preceding the dialogue.

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