Writing Tips

Writing Tips

Punctuating Dialogue

➸ “This is a sentence.”

➸ “This is a sentence with a dialogue tag at the end,” she said.

➸ “This,” he said, “is a sentence split by a dialogue tag.”

➸ “This is a sentence,” she said. “This is a new sentence. New sentences are capitalized.”

➸ “This is a sentence followed by an action.” He stood. “They are separate sentences because he did not speak by standing.”

➸ She said, “Use a comma to introduce dialogue. The quote is capitalized when the dialogue tag is at the beginning.”

➸ “Use a comma when a dialogue tag follows a quote,” he said.

“Unless there is a question mark?” she asked.

“Or an exclamation point!” he answered. “The dialogue tag still remains uncapitalized because it’s not truly the end of the sentence.”

➸ “Periods and commas should be inside closing quotations.”

➸ “Hey!” she shouted, “Sometimes exclamation points are inside quotations.”

However, if it’s not dialogue exclamation points can also be “outside”!

➸ “Does this apply to question marks too?” he asked.

If it’s not dialogue, can question marks be “outside”? (Yes, they can.)

➸ “This applies to dashes too. Inside quotations dashes typically express—“

“Interruption” — but there are situations dashes may be outside.

➸ “You’ll notice that exclamation marks, question marks, and dashes do not have a comma after them. Ellipses don’t have a comma after them either…” she said.

➸ “My teacher said, ‘Use single quotation marks when quoting within dialogue.’”

➸ “Use paragraph breaks to indicate a new speaker,” he said.

“The readers will know it’s someone else speaking.”

➸ “If it’s the same speaker but different paragraph, keep the closing quotation off.

“This shows it’s the same character continuing to speak.”

More Posts from Knkbr1020 and Others

6 months ago

A desperate kingdom attempts to summon a hero, but their limited magical resources only allow them to summon a “miner” a man named Steve carrying only a wooden pickaxe. But when he starts punching trees , everyone wonder what miner he is.


Tags
7 months ago

#RPG

The players start with a checklist of every number from 1 to 20. Whenever they would make a roll, they instead cross off a number and use that number. Their list does not refresh until they've used every number.

­

6 months ago

If you guys are like me, and you struggle a little with describing locations, can I suggest…

If You Guys Are Like Me, And You Struggle A Little With Describing Locations, Can I Suggest…

as a lifesaver.


Tags
9 months ago
a cropped screenshot of the soul master boss fight from hollow knight. soul master is stunned and deflated, and he's been edited to look like a sad, pathetic cat.
a looping gif of the stun animation, showing the sad cat soul master with pathetic eyes, a droopy frown, and a tail curled in front of his body

you HIT soul master? you pop his body like the balloon?? oh! oh! jail for knight! jail for knight for One Thousand Years!!!!

7 months ago

finally finished this, holy shit. (Turn the sound on)

4 months ago

sometimes you need dialogue tags and don't want to use the same four

A colour wheel divided into sections with dialogue tags fitting the categories 'complains', 'agrees', 'cries', 'whines', 'shouts', and 'cheers'
A colour wheel divided into sections with dialogue tags fitting the categories 'asks', 'responds', 'states', 'whispers', 'argues', and 'thinks'

Tags
4 months ago

some weird writing advice that i would give to new writers (that i still use).

(part two of ?/part one)

✩ being stuck

being stuck is another thing a lot of writers struggle with, and this problem has a tendency to pop out in the most random times. you could've written the most amazing scene you had ever written in your life but when you reread it to edit it, you realize that it's actually as flat as a burnt pancake. it's frustrating as hell, makes me want to punch the words then myself if i'm being honest, but then i started using this techniques and it actually helped me a lot:

forget you're writing a scene. imagine it in your head as a movie scene playing. jot down everything you can imagine; what expression does the character have? where are they standing? what sounds can be heard in the background? you're not writing a scene, you're watching a movie.

summarize. what happens next in the story? summarize it in brackets, like this:

' (they both started running and skidded under the closing door.) ’

‘ ( she pulled out a gun and pointed at them. blood was flowing from the side of her forehead.) ’

‘ (they fought. BAM BAM BAM BAM. then silence. someone screamed. the walls started closing.) ’

summarize p.2. this is the same thing as the above one, but in reverse. instead of summarising the situations in brackets, we're gonna be writing just dialogues. sometimes it happens that when you're writing, you can actually hear the characters speak in your mind but don't know how to describe the scene.

change perspectives. if your story is written in first person pov, change it to third person pov. if it's in third, change it to first. or, to spice things up, write from a side character's pov and how they see the mc (main character) deal with the situation.

being random. now, you'll see a lot of people saying to ‘kill one of your characters if you‘re stuck’ and it might work, but not every time and definitely not when it's not needed. throwing a plot twist in your book is one thing and breaking your reader's trust is another and there's a thin line between it. however, you can be random in some other aspects, like switching the narrator. or changing the weather (this one is so helpful!!). or adding in a small but fun and interesting side quest.

try something different. this could be something just for timepass but it would be fun. write a character sketch. build up backstories for your side characters. take buzzfed quizzes as your characters (this is honestly so fun). make a satire AITAH post inspired by something unhinged your character did, let the other characters decide if they're TAH or NTA.

read some fanfics. trust me on this, reading some poorly written fanfics is the best way to get out of a writing slump! the worse it is, the better chance you have of writing.


Tags
6 months ago

Therefore, However, Meanwhile.

An important characteristics of plot is that events must be connect to the next one seamlessly and logically. The three types of relationships between events must be either:

Therefore (a cause-effect relationship)

However (something that the readers don't expect)

Meanwhile (meaningful connection between two different scenes/subplots)

It should never be:

And.

While having multiple episodes to show character and build atmosphere is great, a story must be weaved in a way that the readers are introduced to a chain of plot-driven episodes. That way, your narrative will both flow better and capture the attention of the reader.

Happy writing!

─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* . ───

💎If you like my blog, buy me a coffee☕ and find me on instagram! Also, join my Tumblr writing community for some more fun.

💎Before you ask, check out my masterpost part 1 and part 2 


Tags
Loading...
End of content
No more pages to load
  • magrowette
    magrowette reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • queenoflanguage
    queenoflanguage reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • missriddlepotter
    missriddlepotter liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • chrishansenfromdatelinenbc
    chrishansenfromdatelinenbc liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • starstack
    starstack liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • tired-0f-everything
    tired-0f-everything liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • olive-pokeirl
    olive-pokeirl reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • pastelparsec
    pastelparsec reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • pastelparsec
    pastelparsec liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • mollywog
    mollywog reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • zenzenzence
    zenzenzence liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • bonk4
    bonk4 liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • crazy-grrrl-on-the-computer
    crazy-grrrl-on-the-computer reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • mely66489
    mely66489 liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • brokennailwound
    brokennailwound liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • variaandroise
    variaandroise reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • hhomeformisfits
    hhomeformisfits liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • hazelsprout
    hazelsprout reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • mstrsgoodsub
    mstrsgoodsub liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • missanthropicprinciple
    missanthropicprinciple liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • safetytree
    safetytree reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • checkerstheboard
    checkerstheboard liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • swordofthedawn
    swordofthedawn liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • mindyo-stuff
    mindyo-stuff liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • uncomfortabledeja-vu
    uncomfortabledeja-vu liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • music-in-my-veins14
    music-in-my-veins14 reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • 2lazy4chaos
    2lazy4chaos liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • cat-o-nine-spells
    cat-o-nine-spells liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • rebelspykatie
    rebelspykatie liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • saintaliaaoftheknife
    saintaliaaoftheknife reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • saintaliaaoftheknife
    saintaliaaoftheknife liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • thereforeiamfine
    thereforeiamfine reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • gumballgod
    gumballgod liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • nadelmaus
    nadelmaus liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • pocketcrimes
    pocketcrimes reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • pocketcrimes
    pocketcrimes liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • glanderyuk
    glanderyuk reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • glanderyuk
    glanderyuk liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • halcyonnightmare
    halcyonnightmare liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • rosieinterrupted
    rosieinterrupted liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • laurexlawnn
    laurexlawnn reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • stellatitania
    stellatitania liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • shadow-man-daisuki
    shadow-man-daisuki liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • allyricas
    allyricas reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • spellmonger
    spellmonger reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • norwes
    norwes reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • norwes
    norwes liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • paranormiepastasalad
    paranormiepastasalad liked this · 2 weeks ago
knkbr1020 - Com Título
Com Título

25 posts

Explore Tumblr Blog
Search Through Tumblr Tags