Editing Idea 1--Dialogue

Dialogue, the conversation between your characters, is important to making your story entertaining for your readers. There are a couple of rules that will help you to do this well.

First, each time you change speakers, begin a new paragraph.

Example:
“Where did you hide my teddy bear?” whined Winfield.

“You don’t need that teddy anymore,” answered his brother James. “You are a big boy now.”

Winfield’s face screwed up, ready to cry. “But I can’t go to sleep without my teddy,” he managed to say.

The story is much easier to follow when you obey this rule. You do not want your reader to be confused.

Second, use quotation marks around the exact words the characters say to each other.

Wrong: “Winfield asked for his teddy.”

Right: “Where did you hide my teddy bear?” whined Winfield.

Notice: Winfield did not say whined Winfield; the narrator said that, so we do not use quotation marks there. We do use them around “Where did you hide my teddy bear?” because those are the exact words Winfield said to his brother.

Your Challenge:
Go over your story now and try to set up the dialogue following these rules.
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