An issue I see a lot is that people don't know when to use paragraphs. They'll have whole chapters of just one continuous block of text. -_-
There really aren't strict rules about paragraphs, but they improve your work visually. Seeing a large block of text is discouraging. It makes me not want to read it.
When starting a new idea, move on to a new paragraph. I just did it twice. And no one is ever going to complain if you start a new line and you only write on sentence. I've done it. That's fine. It brings more attention what you're saying there.
And then she saw him.
Like that. See? Dramatic bomb drop. This isn't a five paragraph essay (In college, professors actually don't like the five paragraph essay format. They encourage as many paragraphs as needed).
Whenever your scene shifts, start a new line. Every time someone speaks, you MUST start a new line!!! Every single time. If it's in quotation marks, new paragraph. Every time someone responds, new paragraph (outside of Wattpad, you would also indent). For example.
"Hello," she said. "How are you?"
"Swell," Rob replied.
After each speaker has spoken, new line. If you add a line of dialogue, then some exposition or some thoughts and that's a paragraph in itself, continue the dialogue in another line (but if you're doing that, I would specify that it's the same speaker).
You really shouldn't have your dialogue like this: I was in school, then I saw my friend, Joe. "Hey," I said. "What's up?" He asked, taking his books from this locker.
I have more on dialogue in the Formatting chapter.
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Writing Tips and Techniques (Writing Help)
RandomWriting help from an English/Creative Writing major. This is practically a free writing class. It's full of useful writing tips and tricks that I've picked up in my writing career/common mistakes found while editing others' work. I hope you can find...
