Narrative Basics Lesson 4: Speech and Dialogue

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Ways of writing speech and dialogue

Ways of writing speech and dialogue

So far we’ve explored the kinds of things characters do with their speech

Now let’s look at some of the mechanics of how we write speech on the page or screen, and blend it with action and tags.

Before we go on, let's check your punctuation

This is a Proofing exercise - please correct the mistakes in this snippet.

"What's hardest about punctuating speech?" said Sal.

"Knowing where to put commas," said Mac.

"That is hard."

"Yes," said Mac, "especially when the speaker's name breaks it up."

Writelike

This is a Proofing exercise - please correct the mistakes in this snippet.

Sal shouted, "That's so helpful, Mac!" and gave him a hug.

"One more thing!" said Mac, urgently. "New paragraph for each speaker."

"Okay."

Writelike

Dialogue punctuation can be super finicky!

Hopefully, that was good practice. If you really don't want to do those exercises, you can skip this page using the table of contents.

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