#two characters speaking dialogue in the same paragraph 😭😭😭

[evansbby]

nothing takes me out of a fic faster than…

[bi-dykes]

MAAAARIIIIII

I need your help.

Ok so, How to write?

I told you that I write, right? Well actually I didn't write them properly. I wrote them in screenplay format.. Now I want to write them properly but I don't know how 😭😭 my mind is blank.. Even when I manage to think up on how to write, it's so shit.. I have so many ideas but I have no clue on how the heck am I supposes to put them out.. Do you have any advice? How do you usually write? Please help.

*casually implodes* alright. Okay. Excellent.

This just might be the best ask I’ve ever received. I’ve always wanted to teach others how to write, I’m really passionate about writing stuff, and I’m majoring in education in university rn, so I sure hope I can answer this well lmao

But, nevertheless, I finally have the opportunity:

✨ Mari’s Writing Crash Course that I may or may not have composed while tipsy: a short guide to novel formatting ✨

There’s only, truly, three factors that are the most noticeably important: Formatting, Dialogue and Writing Voice.

You said you’ve been writing in screenplay format? Immaculate. You’re already halfway there. If you know how to write ANYTHING (short stories, novels, screenplays) you already- hopefully- understand the basis of composing stories. Character arcs, plot lines, worldbuilding, etc. I’m not getting into ANY of that, bc your ask referred to formatting and formatting only. I gotcha luv.

The Step One: The Key to Novel Formatting

You’ve already written in screenplay format before. That’s great. You’re already, like, more than halfway there. I’ve tried screenplaying before, but I never got that far in. Not my best medium.

I’m assuming what you’ve worked on before looks like this (format wise, not content wise lmao)

Caps lock indication, space down, and dialogue.

Well here’s the neat thing: novel writing, while very different from screenplays, is much closer to screenplays with more detail:

Caps lock indication, italicized setup, space down, and dialogue.

OTHER THAN describing the camera angles, this has very similar content to a novel: describing portions (sometimes equal portions, usually not) of both dialogue and descriptions.

So! Remove the caps lock indication on who’s speaking, make that italicized setup into the flow of a paragraph, remove all the stuff on camera angles, and put that dialogue under quotation marks.

Now it looks like this:

OH WOW! IT LOOKS LIKE A NOVEL NOW!!

Don’t overthink it: you just take your same thoughts from your screenplay format, and then… transfer it. Piece of cake 🍰

The sub-category of Part One; Part One Extended I guess: Present or Past Tense

What tense do you want your novel to be written in? Present tense? Past tense?

I used to say, “ ALL books are written in past tense. Because as the reader, we’re looking into a story that has already been written. If a book is in present tense, that means the story is unfolding, that means the author is writing it while we’re reading it, and that’s impossible since we’re holding the copy of the book in our hands. NO books should be written in present tense 😡👎”

And then I opened up The Hunger Games and saw it was in present tense.

So it looks like I’m just wildly wrong about that.

I will say tho, most books are written in past tense. And that might, or might not, be more comfortable for the reader and writer. However, it is up you. Contrary to my former opinion, there is no right or wrong tense for your book to be in.

Here is a visual guide:

Once you pick one, though, stick with it. Jumping between past and present these, UNLESS it’s for any stylistic choice (character’s flashbacks, time travelling, etc.) will most likely be awkward to read.

The Step Two: The Importance of properly formatting dialogue

Quotation marks go THROUGHOUT a sentence.

“Why don’t you guys go look at my taco salad post” and “she said” is all ONE BIG SENTENCE.

“Why don’t you guys go look at my taco salad post.” She said. ❌

“Why don’t you guys go look at my taco salad post,” she said. ✅

Each dialogue before the end of the sentence completes with a comma instead of a period. Exclamation marks and question marks can be used in whatever dialogue format, since they’re tone indicators. There aren’t strict rules for tone indicators.

Commas and periods aren’t really tone indicators, so there’s a quick key on how to write that stuff:

Remember, if dialogue ends with a “she said” “she exclaimed” “she spoke” etc. etc. etc. it’ll be part of the same sentence. But, if dialogue ends with an action “she walked to the door” “she took a forkful of that taco salad” etc. etc. etc. it’ll be an entirely new sentence.

THIS is what it looks like:

Also, not every set of dialogue needs to have an end quote to it. This is what that looks like:

I mean, you could but brackets in dialogue. But I just want to warn you: I read a book like that, can’t recall the author’s name, and it distracted me greatly from the characters, plot, atmosphere, etc. I’d stay away from that.

The Step Three: The Writing Voice

So what is narrative voice, anyways?

This is essentially how you form your entire story. The tone, emotion, and descriptions of your story.

I know, I know, the idea that every single word you use reveals your writing style might sound daunting, but trust me, writing voice comes naturally. As long as you let it come naturally.

Essentially: people who know you really well, your closest friends and family, who recognize your quirks, your colloquialisms, and your speech patterns, will most likely recognize your writing style. Because it will sound like you.

And that’s all writing voice is. Your own style. Even this answer I typed out for your ask, it’s in my writing style. It’s in my voice. It’s a blend of eloquent words, long sentences, and a dash of humour here and there. My novel, albeit sounding obviously much different than me making a post on tumblr, also sounds like this. To an extent.

You write like how you speak, even if you’re writing from a specific character’s perspective.

An example is Rick Riordan’s writing sounds wildly different from Becky Chamber’s writing. Even though they’re both talented and hard working, excellent writers. Every book looks different Every book sounds different. Every book feels different.

So, how do you find your own writing style?

Of course, a published novel of yours will sound different than your personal diary. But, those differences aside, they both have your voice. So let yourself speak, let yourself write.

Your story is going directly from your brain, to your laptop screen, or pen and paper, or whatever. Let yourself get into it. Sometimes I read what I’m writing out loud. Sometimes I don’t. Do not overthink your writing voice, or try to force your novel to sound more formal, or more casual, or more poetic, or more or less descriptive, or more wordy. Just let it be.

The more you write, and the more drafts you create, you’ll find your writing voice without even needing to search around for it.

There is a website called, I Write Like This. You can copy and paste passages of your writing, a few hundred words at a time if you want, and it’ll analyze your flow of descriptions, dialogue, punctuation, and match it up with whatever famous author your voice sounds similar to.

I copy and pasted my entire second chapter, a few thousand words, and this is my badge:

My writing voice is similar to our beloved @neil-gaiman . Of course, our writing voice is not identical, as no two authors ever are, but the flow of the writing, the mood, the tone, the energy… it’s a little bit on the same page.

The bonus step four: write shit 💩

You said you write shit?

Good.

Write shit.

This is odd advice to give, I know. But when I say write shit, I mean as a start.

If you had sent an ask saying, “I’ve NEVER touched a pen, paper, or laptop in my life, I don’t know how to write!!” I’d be… daunted. Not an impossible task, but a daunting one. Just slightly harder to get into, slightly harder to give advice for.

I’d much rather you write like shit than not write at all. The hierarchy goes like this:

Good writing >>> shit writing >>> not writing at all.

I can’t remember where I heard this from, but to quote, “you can edit a poorly written page, but you can’t edit a blank page”.

So go, my lovely Sana. Be free. Write all the shit in the world. Fill up your pages. Get writers cramp. Get writers block. Recover from writers block. Make typos. Make messes. Write glorious, delicious, silly, stupid, and beautiful things. Your first draft is not supposed to be perfect. The time will come for pristine, polished, ready-to-be-published writing, and you do not need to rush into there. At all.

Write shit 💩 New-writing is the most necessary shit in this world.

[hoonvrs]

do you have any writing tips? like for dialogue and detail.

ofcc

dialogue -

alw remember new speaker = new paragraph, my biggest writing ick and complaint is when multiple people speak within the same paragraph cause it confuses me so much😭 i see this a lot with headcannons probs cause they wanna keep the structure short but idk it’s the quickest way to make me not wanna read something

something a lot of writers struggle with ive realised is making the dialogue sound real?? using words or phrases that wouldn’t be said irl like when was the last time you’ve heard someone say ‘scold’ in real life. also less is more most times, if the character is giving a quick response it shouldn’t be more than two lines imo.

only other thing i can think of for dialogue is structure and grammar, grammar is important to make sure it’s portrayed the way u intent for the reader, missing a comma can mess the whole flow or fula stops. in terms of structure if the dialogue is longgg try and add details in between so you can space out the speech and make it look more cohesive

detail —

this one’s a bit harder to advise on cause i sometimes struggle with this too😭 but id say unnecessary detail shouldn’t be added unless there’s context behind it. if the time of day is relevant to the story add it in but if it’s not there’s no reason the reader needs to know its 2:30pm if it’s not important

^ this can also be applied to appearance, clothes etc unless it gives context like maybe it’s raining to foreshadow something later or the weather is cold to justify something the reader will say

overall i hope this helped anonie! in some way writing is all trial and error as you’ll start noticing things yourself and improving alw having an honest beta reader is v helpful for some to improve their writing also!

[rp-for-dc]

*Read first for info!*

Warnings, writing style, ship preferences, etc...

°`~—______________–_____________—~`°

Hello! I'm Aypril, I'm ~20, and I'm looking for DC RP partners! This has no time limit, this offer applies whenever you see it!

★ Warnings:

I am proship, my motto is usually idc what people want to ship, but sometimes I may not personally vibe with certain pairings for personal reasons, so just ask if unsure!

I am okay with some batcest pairings so if you do NOT agree with that please simply block and move on! I will do the same for anyone who feels this way, a mutual blacklist. This is purely RP and fiction only. (Further info down below ↓↓)

NSFW! I am very on board with 18+ RP and things like that, this can pertain to violence, sexual themes, explicit or not, kinks or fetishes (I'm pretty open minded I think), etc. For anything not listed explicitly, just ask beforehand! ^^

↑ I can do either Plot based RP or purely smut. Either is fine!

✓ Ship Preferences

I do MxM, FxM, FxF, and basically any dynamic, so long as you specify!

Batcest ✓ However, this does NOT include Damian. He is the exception. I am willing to play with the other dynamics.

★ Jaydick / Dickjay -- Nighthood. Very interested in doing this ship!!

★ Roydick / Dickroy. My favourite :)

Dickkory

Donnakory

Mostly any Dick based ship

Other ships you can ask for but I cannot guarantee they're gonna be accurately played.

Note: I do MxM most because I used to write a lot of very bad gay fanfic in my notes so there's that

× Ships I don't do:

Dickdami

Brudami

Jaydami

Timdami

Jayroy

Sladick (ask first, there CAN be exceptions sometimes)

Dick Grayson × Raven/Rachel Roth

BBRae/Garfield Logan × Raven

Supersons/Jondami (definitely will Not do it underage)

Conner Hawke × Eddie Fyers

Oliver Queen × Connor Hawke

Oliver Queen × Roy Harper

Other, not listed ships may depend on the situation. Ask first! I won't be aggressive

★ Rules & Writing Preferences:

ENG only! Very sorry but I only speak and read one language 😔🙏 (if english is not your native language don't worry, I'm totally understanding)

Literate to semi-literate please! At least make a paragraph or so, but I'm not the most picky. Anything will work!

↑ if you write a sentence, at least give me something to work with, even dialogue that incites the next action will do. Something descriptive, yk?

OOC Moments during roleplay are fine, just input it in brackets

CONSENT. PLEASE ASK, INCLUDING IMMEDIATELY BEFORE IT HAPPENS, BEFORE ADDING ANYTHING NSFW!

↑ This includes fetishes especially

Timezone is UTC +10:00, but I wake up pretty early sometimes so it's not a strict time limit every day.

★ Characters I can write for:

★ Dick Grayson/Nightwing (DC) – Most comfortable playing him ↑

Helena Bertinelli/Huntress (DC)**

Damian Wayne/Robin V (DC) – NO NSFW 🚫

Buddy Baker/Animal Man (DC)

Eddie Fyers (DC)

Connor Hawke/Green Arrow II (DC)

**Helena is ONLY her Bertinelli version. Not Wayne. I haven't read about Helena Wayne yet.

↓ Characters I don't like to see:

Garfield Logan/Beast Boy/Changeling (DC)

Slade Wilson/Deathstroke (DC)**

Miriam Delgado/Mirage (DC)

Catalina Flores/Tarantula (DC)

Daniel Chase (DC)

**Slade can be used as an antagonist, but be warned I don't ship him with anyone and am not fond of him. I love seeing him fail tho so there are exceptions.

If there are any other enthusiastic NW fans out there who like RP just let me know! Always willing to chat and even make friends, too! If I think of anything else tho I'll add it to this post with an edit at the bottom ;)

Edit: Also to note, it's also in the description, but I am incredibly rusty. I haven't roleplayed with someone in about uhhh let's say two years? Since amino honestly? And I've never RPed on Tumblr before, so PLEASE have mercy on my soul 😭 Idk what standards are like here, so if I do something wrong, just tell me! I am very open to criticism :)