NEXT TO NORMAL | WRITING TIPS

vi. if someone new is speaking

okay, so the one thing that i see a lot in stories is when a new person is speaking, they keep it in the same paragraph. usually, when the author does this, it confuses the heck out of me.

for example, don't do this;

"hey, maria!" jane shouted from the other side of the room. "hello, jane!" maria grinned back.

no

if there's one thing my english teachers have drilled into my brain is that this example is the devil.

here's a good example;

"how have you been, jane?" maria inquired, a warm smile on her soft lips.

jane replied with, "wonderful, what about you?"

or

"get the fluids, she's going into shock!" the doctor demanded, opening the wound even more.

"you got it, sir!" his assistant nurse replied, getting the fluids.

see?

way less confusing if you do that. especially if it's a really important and climactic scene and one person just said an entire paragraph and then another person speaks in the same paragraph. i think that would confuse anyone. it's even more confusing when they don't even address them by their name and it says

"*insert big dramatic paragraph*" she shouted, tears forming. she said back "*sentence*"

what.

i've actually seen this before. it confuses me so much. so, i suggest you don't do that and follow this law of grammar because you could really be doing your readers a favor. i hope this has helped you :)

-liz (wirtolt)