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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/34764
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I have a technical question.

In my story, I've several chunks of dialog where one character's response is a grunt or a groan or rude sound or a swear word, or whatever, but is not in quotes. As a fake example:

> William said, “Sweetie, raising greyhounds is not easy. But it is the family business.” Elisabeth groaned at the turn in conversation. She rubbed the back of her neck. William said, “Of course, you don’t need to take over the family business.”

Is this better as is, ^^^ shown above, a single paragraph, or should it be broken into three, as below?

> William said, “Sweetie, raising greyhounds is not easy. But it is the family business.”
> 
> Elisabeth groaned at the turn in conversation. She rubbed the back of her neck.
> 
> William said, “Of course, you don’t need to take over the family business.”

I assume either is OK (but don't really know) and am curious if one is better than the other. Thanks in advance.

Original score: 5