Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Should I start a new paragraph after a dialogue if the action is being taken by a new person?

+0
−0

I am currently editing an original work of fiction, and one of the things I'm having the most trouble with is dialogue and paragraphs after certain character's actions. I know it sounds a little confusing, but I'll try my best to explain.

In this example paragraph, there are three characters: Nat (the narrator), Oddie, and Arden.


Would it be written:

“We can just call her Rose,” Arden suggests, leaning back on his hands, any leftover semblances of sleep wiped clear from his face.

“I thought you said that name was already taken?”

He shrugs, toeing the remnants of his cloak over his lap. I throw my arms in the air, exasperated.

or,

“We can just call her Rose,” Arden suggests, leaning back on his hands, any leftover semblances of sleep wiped clear from his face.

“I thought you said that name was already taken?” He shrugs, toeing the remnants of his cloak over his lap. I throw my arms in the air, exasperated.


Basically, I'm wondering if I should start a new paragraph after the dialogue if the action is being taken by a person other than the one who just finished talking.

I know it sounds a bit confusing. I'm very sorry if I don't explain myself well. Still, I hope someone will be able to help me, as I'm having some trouble with this. The second option seems right to me, but in writing it like that, I'm afraid the reader might get confused about who's doing what.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.
Why should this post be closed?

This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/41261. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

0 comment threads

2 answers

+1
−0

I would say it is definitely a new paragraph if only to indicate 'he' didn't say 'I thought ...'.

I teach that you start a new paragraph when you change speaker, place, time or character. Here the change is character.

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.

This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/41263. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

0 comment threads

+1
−0

Yes. Not only should you start a new paragraph for every character, but you need to be clear about who is saying or doing what.

You mention the excerpt involves 3 characters. We know the first person part is Nat, the narrator. And of course the parts you label as being from Arden are from that character. But where is Oddie? Is he the speaker in the middle? If so, try this:

“We can just call her Rose,” Arden suggests, leaning back on his hands, any leftover semblances of sleep wiped clear from his face.

Oddie looks up. “I thought you said that name was already taken?”

Arden shrugs, toeing the remnants of his cloak over his lap.

I throw my arms in the air, exasperated.

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.

0 comment threads

Sign up to answer this question »