Very quick question on English Short Stories

Dr.Evil

If I'm writing in a dialogue, do I skip to a new line every time a different character speaks? Will I lose marks in coherence if I don't? Thanks!

e.g. "No you don't", he said. "Are you sure", came the reply.

or does it have to be
"No you don't", he said.
"Are you sure", came the reply.

**Timbuk2**

I'm pretty sure it's a new line for a new person talking! If it's the same person talking it's the same line though.

"No, you don't", he barked sternly, "It's clearly written that it needs to be carried!".
"Are, you sure?", Rob asked timidly.
"Of course I'm sure!"

Something like that! I think

randylonghorn

I honestly don't know whether you would actually lose marks, it's been a while since I corrected, but I would advise skipping to a new line all right.

philip___

Yes! You may not lose marks but it will improve the layout of your essay and put the examiner in a better mood if you go to a new line when a NEW character speaks.

Example:
"What are you talking about" questioned Rob
I'm talking about....." replied John. "You know...." he continued

randylonghorn

Dr.Evil wrote: »

"Are you sure", came the reply.

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

"Are, you sure?", Rob asked timidly.

"Are you sure?" Rob asked timidly.

If you want to denote a timid pause in speech, it would be:

"Are ... you sure?" Rob asked timidly.


/pedantic

>_>

**Timbuk2**

This is why I was no good at English haha

So do you mean there's no comma after quotation marks. If not, I have been doing that wrong for years :eek:

randylonghorn

I was drawing your attention more to the the comma after are, tbh.



There is some variation re: the commas and quotation marks, but yes, they are normally used.

The style I was taught placed the comma inside the quotation mark, so:

"No, you don't," he barked sternly.

rather than

"No, you don't", he barked sternly.

but I think either is pretty acceptable these days (it's mainly a British vs. US standard, I think).



That style meant though that if you used another punctuation mark such as an exclamation or question mark you omitted the comma, so ...

"Are you sure?" Rob asked timidly.

rather than

"Are you sure?", Rob asked timidly.

and I have to say in this case that the first example seems much more logical to me, and certainly scans more easily.

**Timbuk2**

Ah yea that looks familiar! When I typed Are, (with the comma) it was actually a typo it was supposed to be just a continuous "Are you sure?" but the "Are... you sure?" idea is definitely better :P

I can't even remember what I wrote for my English short story. I think I wrote something daft about my granny going missing having wandered off in search of the remote control and everyone chasing around the town looking for her

randylonghorn

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

Ah yea that looks familiar! When I typed Are, (with the comma) it was actually a typo it was supposed to be just a continuous "Are you sure?" but the "Are... you sure?" idea is definitely better :P

Oops!

I though you were denoting a deliberate pause, especially when I saw "asked timidly".

People do that a lot, because they (rightly) associate the comma with a short pause, but it doesn't really work in that context.

Where it *can* work is if a monosyllable is deliberately inserted, such as:

"Are you, em, sure?" Rob asked timidly.

but I'd still prefer the other usage personally.

That said, I'm a bit addicted to using "..." anyway! And that is entirely the fault of this interweb thingumabob! :mad:

randylonghorn

/quietly locks tangential thread of pedantry