#writing help

• Start a new paragraph every time a new character speaks. • Put quotation marks around spoken words. • Dialogue tags usually follow the sentence with a comma.

Example: “I'm not going back,” she said.

Dialogue with a tag before the quote

Use a comma after the tag.

Example: She said, “I'm not going back.”

Dialogue with action instead of a tag

Use a period after the action.

Example: She crossed her arms. “I'm not going back.”

When dialogue continues after a tag

Use commas inside the quotation marks.

Example: “I'm not going back,” she said, “no matter what you tell me.”

Questions and exclamations

Keep the question mark or exclamation point inside the quotation marks.

Example: “Where are you going?” he asked.

“I can't believe this!” she shouted.

Interrupted dialogue

Use em dashes when dialogue is cut off.

Example: “But I thought you—” “You thought wrong.”

Trailing off

Use ellipses when a character fades out.

Example: “I just thought maybe…”

Dialogue with action in the middle

The sentence continues after the action.

Example: “I told you,” she said, rubbing her temples, “this would happen.”

Internal thoughts (optional style)

Some writers use italics instead of quotation marks.

Example: This is a terrible idea, he thought.

Long dialogue

If a character speaks for multiple paragraphs, keep quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph but only close them at the end of the final paragraph.

Common mistakes to avoid

I've a character who's most important relationships are his best friend and his younger sister.

He gets along well with both of them, but he's much more familiar with his best friend. They have their inside jokes, rib each other, and do a bit of friendly bullying. Classic "the only one allowed to bully my sibling is me" except they're not siblings at all. They're just inseparable.

I'm having much more difficulty with writing him and his sister. It's not as if they had a strained upbringing, but their relationship is, in a word, distant. The younger sister kind of lacked for a role model growing up. Her brother and father were off doing their own thing, her mother was busy taking care of the family inn, and she was left as an accessory to the family. It was a quiet negligence. She was loved, cared for, fed, and safe, but she was never really challenged. Her world was her family, and not much else. So when someone came and opened up her world, filled her head with ideals and beliefs to hold on to, she latched on hard. Even if the admiration she had for this person wasn't mutual. The brother meanwhile is a low-key person, and maybe has a bit too much faith in people. He doesn't feel the need to guide his sister, because she's plenty strong and smart to figure things out on her own! That and they're both adults now. He knows it's a bit late for him to be interfering as her older brother now. On paper, they both love each other, but the only way I've been able to communicate that without outright saying it is with the nicknames they use for each other. Which... isn't exactly special when lots of people use nicknames in this series--the older brother especially loves assigning nicknames to people. (He's a very familiar guy.)

⟡ Eats the most important ingredient of a shared dish first

⟡ Gives the correct answer in a tone that makes everyone think it's wrong

⟡ Takes the scenic route without telling anyone they're doing it

⟡ Finishes someone's sentence wrong and then defends their version

⟡ Reorganizes things in someone else's house. Doesn't mention it

⟡ Picks the worst possible time to share very interesting information

⟡ Solves a problem immediately but waits to see if anyone else figures it out

⟡ Makes extremely specific predictions that are always correct in a creepy way

⟡ Gives a gift that is perfectly chosen but wrapped like a crime scene

⟡ Remembers every embarrassing thing you've ever said. Brings them up casually

⟡ Fixes something without being asked then acts like it was always like that

⟡ Creates chaos and then watches it unfold from a safe and comfortable distance

⟡ Points out plot holes in movies during the emotional climax

⟡ Tells a secret but says 'don't tell anyone' after they've already told them

⟡ Starts a group project alone then hands in something unhinged that somehow gets an A

Instead of obsessing over making sure you're using them evenly, choose the pronoun base purely on clarity. Let me explain what I mean.

Say you have a character who uses They/He/She pronouns. Instead of switching constantly between all three of them, use whichever pronouns the other characters in the scene are not using.

If this character has a scene with a character who uses She/Her pronouns, you'll likely use They/He to make it clearer who's doing what.

If there's a character who uses She/Her, another that uses He/Him, and another that uses They/Them. You're probably going to use mainly She/Her for the character we're discussing.