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Formatting Advice - a public service rant (from TT)

Sablesword

TMF Master
Joined
Jun 13, 2001
Messages
785
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An older essay-on-writing of mine, ported from Tickle Theater.

=================
There are a number of good stories here, or things the look like they'd be good stories if they weren't posted in a single tar-like blob. For the sake of those stories, I have the following advice on posting stories in an improved, easier-to-read format.

So at the risk of causing horrible flashbacks to English classes...


Free Advice on Formatting Stories

1. Mark paragraphs. In printed books and magazines, paragraphs are usually marked by indenting. For on-line reading (like here), it's best to put a blank line between each paragraph.

No matter how short the paragraph is.

Really.

2. When writing dialog, each person speaking gets their own paragraph. If you're writing a paragraph where someone says something and then someone else starts speaking, start a new paragraph.

If it's the same person continuing to speak, you can (and usually should) keep it in the same paragraph:

"We need to secure you here," Joe said, locking the fetter around Sally's left ankle. "And here," Joe locked her left wrist. "And also here," he locked her right wrist. "And finally here." He fastened the final lock on Sally's right ankle and stepped back with a smirk. Sally squirmed, barefoot and vulnerable in her bonds.

But if a second person chimes in, start a new paragraph like this:

"We need to secure you here," Joe said, locking the fetter around Sally's left ankle.

"Oh!" Sally said, shocked by the chill of the metal.

"And here," Joe locked her left wrist.

"Oh!"

"And also here," he locked her right wrist.

"Oh!"

"And finally here." He fastened the final lock on Sally's right ankle and stepped back with a smirk. Sally squirmed, barefoot and vulnerable in her bonds.

(Note that Sally squirming doesn't need a new paragraph. Just when she says something, with quote-marks.)

3. Along with getting paragraphs right, check to be sure that you're not messing up your word-wrapping. If your Favorite Text Editor (e.g. Notepad) is putting line breaks at the end of each line, then you will have problems when you transfer your text to a place with different line lengths. So dig into the menus and guts of your Favorite Text Editor and make sure it isn't doing that.

Also, before you post, use "Preview Post" to make sure there isn't a problem with your paragraphs and line-wrapping.

4. Run your post through a spell-checker before posting. It won't catch everything, and you may need to over-ride it when it fails to recognize a proper name or other unusual word. But it will catch many forehead-slapping stupid mistakes, and that helps a lot.

5. Capitalize properly. Sentences begin with a capital letter. Proper names like 'Joe' and 'Sally' begin with capital letters. The word 'I' is a capital letter. Using Capitalization For Special Emphasis is OK only if you know that you're being "incorrect" and you have a good reason to do it anyway.

[Yes, I know that in some circles it's the style to use lower-case for proper names and 'i' instead of 'I' when it's a sub, slave, or 'lee talking or being referred to. I don't like it, I think it's silly, and I want you to at least know that I don't like it if you insist on using that style anyway. (And the style of using 'Y/your' and the like when posting to a mixed group of masters/slaves, doms/subs, or 'lers/'lees is even uglier and worse. In My Arrogant Opinion.)]
 
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I remember this from the past. I definitely prefer stories that follow all these conventions.
 
Thanks for posting!

Have to say, I do not agree with 2). I think it becomes dis-jointed when it's done. I actually do think that you usually in fiction begin a new line of dialog in a new paragraph, BUT then paragraphs are seperated by blank lines, only indented.

Also I do believe Sally's squirming should have a new line, perhaps even a paragraph, because she is not the one who spoke the line ("He" did)

To me this conveys the flow of the dialog better:

"We need to secure you here," Joe said, locking the fetter around Sally's left ankle.
"Oh!" Sally said, shocked by the chill of the metal.
"And here," Joe locked her left wrist.
"Oh!"
"And also here," he locked her right wrist.
"Oh!"
"And finally here." He fastened the final lock on Sally's right ankle and stepped back with a smirk.
Sally squirmed, barefoot and vulnerable in her bonds.
 
I'm going to stick to my guns about this. As I noted in (1), indenting is prefered when the text is printed, as in a book. On-line is different, especially when you can't indent (or can't indent easily), as in your example. OTOH, a case can be made for it depending on the exact nature of the display (e-ink is more like paper) and on personal taste.

As for "Sally squirmed..." being in a new paragraph or not, I'll stick to my guns there even more strongly. To use an example from Lord of the Rings (which ought to be pretty authorative about the right way to do it):
"Our last meal at Bag End!" said Frodo, pushing back his chair. They left the washing up for Lobelia. Pippin and Sam strapped up their three packs and piled them in the porch. Pippin went out for a last stroll in the garden. Sam disappeared.

Note that this is all one paragraph.
 
Agree that the line break between dialog lines, on online media, is probably down to personal taste.

But about this passage from LOTR: this is a different situation, because "Our last meal..." is not part of a dialog. What has gone before is a descriptive passage, spiced up with some direct quotes. (unfortunately I am unable to copy the text). So I still think that in the vast majority of cases, in a running dialog, only the action of the person who has spoken the line is mentioned in the same line/paragraph. But I am sure there are lots of grey areas, for instance if the speaker does something to another person.
 
I'm with Sablesword -- conventionally, paragraph breaks are only required immediately before a new speaker speaks. (But, yes, in general it's also optionally fine to start a new paragraph at any point the author feels like there's a logical break between two thoughts; I wouldn't personally do that just to avoid including a character other than the speaker in the same paragraph.)

I also don't make a distinction between a line break and a paragraph break in fiction.
 
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