Jump to content

Writers Etiquette


Guest Skykat

Recommended Posts

Sorry, I should have said. Your example is fine too, but usually when you write like that, you're supposed to have an indent on the first line of the paragraph.

->"I really don't get it, I'm sorry!" said Rocco...

->"Well, you see, if X equals 90875643, and Y equals F, and A equals 423156789..." Sally tried to explain

->"Ohhh...I'm confused" Rocco says.

Online, it's hard to get indents to work (if it's even an option - I haven't really looked into it) and I imagine coding would be a hassle.

Without indents, the paragraphs can run together depending on how long the sentences are, which is why I personally leave a space between paragraphs.

What I mean is (this will take some editing to work, so bear with me), say you have these two paragraphs:

Rocco felt stupid. He didn't like wasting Sally's time either. He wished he could just get it.

Sally felt sorry for Rocco. He was trying his hardest. There had to be a better way to help him.

Online, they run into each other and look like the one paragraph:

Rocco felt stupid. He didn't like wasting Sally's time either. He wished he could just get it.

Sally felt sorry for Rocco. He was trying his hardest. There had to be a better way to help him.

So that's why I leave the spaces between.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 54
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Im yet to make a fan fic, I just came in to this thread to see what it was about and I have to say I am VERY impressed. I think it's fantastic the way you guys all help and support each other in everything, it's one of the best things about this forum, and this thread just goes to show how great a forum it is. Ok i think im going to stop as it sounds like Im rambling :unsure: but im sure y'all get my drift! (I hope)

lol can't wait when you make a fan fic!! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have been reading through this thread, I've just been too lazy to post in it till now!

SfanS, each person's conversation should ALWAYS have a new paragraph. Bunching together sentences just makes things more awkward to read and can often confuse people as to who's saying what. If you're ever uncertain about whether to start a new paragraph or not, start one anyway. It's better to have too many paragraphs than too few.

My problem is I don't write a fanfic. I write a bloody book. Seriously! :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My problem is I don't write a fanfic. I write a bloody book. Seriously! :rolleyes:

Ah yes, I've had that problem myself *cough-After-the-Crash-is-up-to-about-60-something-pages-cough* :unsure:. But that's not a bad thing. Some fics just want to be told that way.

What I've done in the past is given myself a page limit on chapters. For one of my fics, I said that each chapter could only be one page long, and everything I wanted to happen in that chapter had to be confined to that one page. You'd be surprised at how much information you can cram into such a short space.

If the problem is that you have too many chapters, or don't know where to end a fic... well, when I work out how to end things, I'll let you know :P, but as far as organising chapters, I find that having a story outine helps a lot. I actually have this little notebook where I write out the chapters and the things I want to happen in them. For example, say I wanted to write about a fic about Sally losing Flynn:

Chapter one - Flynn's dead

- Sally scatters Flynn's ashes on the beach

- Sally tells the kids everything will be okay

- Sally cries herself to sleep because she doesn't think that things will be okay at all

Chapter two - Sally at the diner

- Sally goes to the Diner with Pippa, and everyone's acting weird around her

- Sally snaps at them all and tells them to stop treating her like a freak

- Alf follows Sally home and tries to get her to open up, but she sends him away

Chapter three - the kids with their friends

Chapter four - Sally and the kids at school

etc.

...I don't know, something like that. These are just things that work for me. I find it helps to write out a plan and try to stick to it to avoid going off on a tangent. It's not fool-proof by any means (as anyone who's read my fics will know :P) but it's a guideline to show you how to get back on track if you get lost.

Hope that helped.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have another question sorry ....

If you're writing about characters thoughts is it better to do this:

'This dress looks horrible on me.' She thought to herself.

OR

This dress looks horrible on me. She thought to herself.

:unsure: Or is there another way altogether?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Personally I'd never do either of those options because it's not my style of writing. I'd be more likely to change it around:

Looking at herself in the mirror she curled her lip up in distaste, the dress really did look horrible on her.

But thats me, I'd have thought that either of your suggestions would be okay. I was always taught though that a thought should go in inverted commas ' ' but I'd think that for on here italics would work just as well, as long as you're differentiating the thought from the text, I'd think you'd be okay. Like I say though, I very rarely use that style of writing so I can't really help much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I generally use itallics for thoughts, but I've seen people use single quotation marks, like you have there, as opposed to double quotation marks.

One thing I can tell you is that the "she thought" part should be seperated by a comma, not a full stop :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kat: I see your point and I generally wouldn't use that myself but I couldn't think of a better example - I'm too tired :rolleyes:

emmasi: Thanks, my grammar is terrible :P . About the last bit you said do you mean a comma after the she said part? Or where the dialogue ends?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think emmasi means:

'This dress looks horrible on me,' she thought.

The thought is actually related to the statement, therefore a full stop separation is not needed *I think* :unsure: .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.