NOTICE: The two examples I used in this chapter are LGBT influenced. It was a coincidence, I swear. I wrote the first half two years ago and the second half of this chapter two years after posting so I could flesh this topic out more.
Part 1: Formatting your dialogue
The thing I hate most in online writing—other than finding a story that doesn't have paragraph breaks—is poor dialogue. This varies from conversation between characters that don't make sense, a choppy flow, and poor punctuation or use of quotations. This chapter will first cover how to properly format dialogue, and then discuss how to make it feel more real as your characters talk about literally anything.
For starters, commas are your best friend. You should always use commas at the end of a spoken sentence within quotations if an action of dialogue tag follows.
Ex: "You're very cheerful this morning," Emma said with a bubbly grin.
However, if the action that follows the piece of dialogue is NOT an action tag, you must punctuate it appropriately. This would be when you don't use any form of "said" or "asked" but instead explain a character physically doing something.
Ex: "I'm not cheerful, I'm angry." Iisan sighed as he sat down on the slightly moldy sofa.
If there is an action in the middle of the sentence, you still have to use a comma. This is not an interruption of the sentence, but rather for something the character is doing WHILE they are talking.
Ex: "Iisan," Emma rolled her eyes, "it's obvious something happened between you and Terry yesterday."
(Note the comma placed after the action and the lowercase at the beginning of the second set of quotations. This is because it is one sentence that "Emma" is saying.)
If there is an action between two separate sentences, you would use periods. The character is not talking while doing this action. Think of it like a brief pause, or break between sentences. Its also a great opportunity to explain what the character is feeling in that moment.
Ex: "Nothing happened." Iisan found himself unable to look in her direction, for fear she could see straight through his lies. "We just talked."
(Note the period at the end of the action statement and the capitalized letter at the beginning of the second set of quotations.)
If you are interrupting a statement with an action, use an en-dash. This IS an interruption of the dialogue made BY the character speaking. If another character is interrupting, you cut the first character off with an end dash and add nothing else.
Ex: "And-" Emma threw her hands up in the air dramatically- "you totally didn't kiss him."
Other notes on dialogue:
-There's a double space after each sentence both within and outside of quotations. (Except at the end of the sentence in quotations where the dialogue should end.)
-If you're not using a name, the first letter of the word after a spoken dialogue should not be capitalized UNLESS the dialogue had a period when it ended.
-You do not always have to use "he said" or follow dialogue with some form of action. You can leave it blank if you want, so long as a reader is able to know who is talking. (Character slang, pattern, only one character has been talking throughout the scene, etc.)
-You don't have to follow all of this, however it'll be easier to read and get published if you do.
-You should seriously follow these guidelines for proper English and grammar unless you are John Green.
YOU ARE READING
How to write a story that doesn't suck
RandomSo you have been blessed with an idea of a story that you know just HAS to be shared to the world. It's such a good idea, there's a chance you could make it into a best seller! But the problem is, you don't know how to write it. That what this "h...
