Which is acceptable?

Shrukan · September 29, 2007 at 4:36 PM

Apparantly A teacher at my school (I don't go to her class, but Prince Zora says her way is more correct than mine), says that everytime a person talk, its a new paragraph. Examples:

Quote from My Way

?Weak?? The plague drew out his sword and stuck it in the ground, as blood came out of the dead body. ?So very weak?? He looked to the east as the sun soon began to rise. ?Time is sure fast. The sun rises? But soon. Even she will fall before the darkness.? He looked at the sun before the Shadow Sword exploded and the darkness slipped into his body. ?Ayumu lied though. I was sure he said here. Is he leading me in circles?? The plague bit his lip a bit in disgust and shrugged it off. ?Ah well? He knows I?ll keep killing until Balance comes. And when he does, I?ll finally win after these long months??

Quote from Teacher's Way

?Weak??

The plague drew out his sword and stuck it in the ground, as blood came out of the dead body.

?So very weak??

He looked to the east as the sun soon began to rise.

?Time is sure fast. The sun rises? But soon. Even she will fall before the darkness.?

He looked at the sun before the Shadow Sword exploded and the darkness slipped into his body.

?Ayumu lied though. I was sure he said here. Is he leading me in circles??

The plague bit his lip a bit in disgust and shrugged it off.

?Ah well? He knows I?ll keep killing until Balance comes. And when he does, I?ll finally win after these long months??

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Which is more correct? I think my way is more correct, since it just has The Plague talking, and no one else. The "Teacher" way makes you think its someone else speaking.

HGuardian · September 29, 2007 at 4:49 PM

I think your way is correct. Same paragraph until a new person talks.

But yours looks a little big, and you might want to separate it into paragraphs of your own.

Shrukan · September 29, 2007 at 4:52 PM

Quote from HGuardian

I think your way is correct. Same paragraph until a new person talks.

But yours looks a little big, and you might want to separate it into paragraphs of your own.

My paragraphs seperate with each new topics or so. Read here.

Tywar · September 29, 2007 at 5:09 PM

i Like Your Way Better, Shrukan. I Make A New Paragraph After A Different Person Speeks. But... I Could Be Wrong...

Shrukan · September 29, 2007 at 5:13 PM

Quote

“Come on! There must be more men to fight!” The plague cackled sickly.

“Mommy…” A small girl clutched onto her mother’s dress. “When will he go?”

“Not until his ‘hunger’ is gone…” The woman said, closely looking out her window.

“Come on! Fight me! I will not rest!” The Plague laughed evilly.

This is the only time I separate speech.

Tywar · September 29, 2007 at 5:15 PM

^ Yes, that is what I do. What your supposed to do, when you take on interest in writing, you need to look of your favorite author and and see what he/she does, but dont do it so much... But anyways, thats what it looks like to me what they do...

Shrukan · September 29, 2007 at 5:17 PM

I read Eragon and Eldest, and the author does the same thing I do.

Steelia · September 29, 2007 at 6:10 PM

Hmm... Your method is similar to what I may use. If I were having two+ characters, though, I would have it as separate paragraphs (kind of like how your teacher did it, except not double-spaced), but only if that's two+ characters. I'd have to go with your format in this situation.

Shrukan · September 29, 2007 at 6:14 PM

Quote from Steelia

Hmm... Your method is similar to what I may use. If I were having two+ characters, though, I would have it as separate paragraphs (kind of like how your teacher did it, except not double-spaced), but only if that's two+ characters. I'd have to go with your format in this situation.

If it was only one character, I would keep it in one paragraph, unless they completely changed subjects.

Which would be like:

"............................................................................................
..........................................................................
........................................
".................................
..........................
...................."

But if it was two character, I would always give one character one paragraph and the other character another paragraph.

Twistkill · September 30, 2007 at 6:43 PM

I do not particularly know which way is grammatically correct, but I believe that both methods are.

Shrukan · September 30, 2007 at 6:44 PM

Quote from Twistkill

I do not particularly know which way is grammatically correct, but I believe that both methods are.

The second set looks awkward and it makes it look like The Plague is speaking with someone else.

Twistkill · September 30, 2007 at 6:50 PM

After flipping through a few books that I have, the authors do in fact use the first format ("Your" way) that you posted...

Wild Cucco · September 30, 2007 at 8:19 PM

I believe the rule for that is every time a new person talks a new paragraph should be made. But if it's the same person that started the paragraph, then I would assume it's the same paragraph. Whatever you think, Shrukan.

However if you're turning it into a teacher, use their method. They might take off points for you not doing so.

Mythical · October 1, 2007 at 2:47 PM

Teacher's way I yearn for the most, but it's not really either. Having one empty line between every line of speech is kind of overusing it. BUT you will ALWAYS have to start a new line when a NEW person speaks, so like if there already was another person speaking in the same line.

It is also preferred to start a new line at every new beginning of speech after a part of description. But there doesn't need to be an empty space between it. In books this usually doesn't happen to save space.

Quote

“Weak…”
The plague drew out his sword and stuck it in the ground, as blood came out of the dead body.
“So very weak…”
He looked to the east as the sun soon began to rise. “Time is sure fast. The sun rises… But soon. Even she will fall before the darkness.” He looked at the sun before the Shadow Sword exploded and the darkness slipped into his body.
“Ayumu lied though. I was sure he said here. Is he leading me in circles?”
The plague bit his lip a bit in disgust and shrugged it off. “Ah well… He knows I’ll keep killing until Balance comes. And when he does, I’ll finally win after these long months…”

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This is how I would do it. It depends on how the descriptive sentences relate to the speech. They do a lot in the last passage, which is why I put them after eachother. The "weak" and "So very weak" passages gain a lot in power when put alone on a line.

Which is acceptable?

Which is more correct? 0

Kyde May 8, 2019 at 2:22 PM