MobileRead Forums - View Single Post

Quoth · 03-16-2021, 01:23 PM

@robintes: You don't need to.
I'm sure almost every fiction with dialogue of books you have uses the same rules.

A new/different speaker is always a new paragraph. That is indicated either by extra vertical space or an indent only on the first line.
The dialogue can be prefaced or followed by a speech tag, or an action, that can name the person. He or she might be used when it is obvious.
The spoken dialogue is enclosed in ‘single quotes’ in most but not all UK books. Otherwise the “double quotes” are used. The vertical ' and " are only for typewriters, or text not entirely proofed. The ' symbol might also be used to mark syllables or in words transliterated from a different alphabet. The symbols for feet and inches are different. They are prime ′ and double prime ″

If there are only two people talking then identification by action/beats or speech tags may not be needed each time. Sometimes the next person is obvious because the current dialogue has used a name or title, then their dialogue doesn't need identified.

If there are three or more people talking, then every piece of dialogue needs identified. Not always a speech tag:

Jack slammed down the phone; “Well, that's it then, Jill.”
“What did the well owner say?”

Here there are no speech tags. But it's obvious which bits Jack and Jill said. You might put a ‘.’ and not ‘;’, but if it was:
Jack said, “Well, that's it then, Jill.”
Or
“Well, that's it then, Jill,” said Jack.
That's a speech tag, so there is a comma. Though ‘said Jack’ is thought to be obsolete. Most would have:
“Well, that's it then, Jill,” Jack said.

Dialogue should be short and interspersed with actions (beats) at times. The right margin should be ragged.
If a character is making a speech over several paragraphs then the intermediate ending ones don't have closing quotes.

Readers may not consciously know dialogue rules or how to write, but most will be dislocated when they are broken. Also no system will make poor dialogue better. Good dialogue and giving different characters their own voice is really hard. Pratchett does it so well that Magrat, Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax hardly need speech tags.

There are a few little difference between USA and British English (as by English writers particularly) in how dashes and ellipses are used. How lists are managed. But the basic way dialogue works in text is almost unchanged in 200 years on both sides of the Atlantic.
Note that other languages using Roman, Cyrillic or Greek alphabets use differing quote or punctuation mark schemes but are similar. Then as you move South and East they do it differently. Some Asian languages have adopted English systems for dialogue.

There are loads of other details.

How to download?
Is that a serious question? Do you really only use the Kobo Store via WiFi? You've never downloaded an ebook?
If you are on Windows, Linux or Mac, make sure your Browser application settings either only offer download or choose but never open automatically. Then it's easier to download. Separately the Browser will have a setting that is a fixed download location or choose each time.

Explore https://www.mobileread.com/forums/fo...play.php?f=132
and www.gutenberg.org for free legal public domain ebooks.
I have a directory (folder) called ebooks and one called ebooks_bought
You can transfer via USB, or install Calibre to manage ebooks. But it's a joke, you are kidding me?

Also you need to use Download for https://www.smashwords.com Loads of people actually use download with Kobo or Amazon store so as to have a backup. Other reasons too.

The ONLY differences between paper and an ereader (or app) for dialogue are:
1) On an ereader you can make the text bigger or smaller
2) On an ereader you might be able to change the margins
3) On an ereader you might be able to switch to left justified or fully justified
4) On an ereader you might be able to change the font. By default the Kindle does this.
5) If it's an App or Koreader on some ereaders, you can change how the paragraphing formatting works. Big vertical white space is poorer than a first line indent on a 6 inch screen.

Paper has a bigger range of fonts, but if it's smudged 9 pt on coarse paper, it's sad. Many fonts are trickier or more expensive for ereaders, or publishers don't embed them. Some apps and older kindles ignore publisher fonts anyway.

You can do fancier formatting than is easy on ebooks. Drop Caps, Small caps, text around images, tables, boxed text and footnotes on the same page either won't work or will only work on some apps and some ereaders. But no need for a detailed index at the back because search works. Mostly links within a book and sometimes to the internet work. The only way I know to do that on paper is a QR code and hope the reader has a smart camera phone.

03-16-2021, 01:23 PM	#20
Quoth Still reading Posts: 14,516 Karma: 108666825 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	@robintes: You don't need to. I'm sure almost every fiction with dialogue of books you have uses the same rules. A new/different speaker is always a new paragraph. That is indicated either by extra vertical space or an indent only on the first line. The dialogue can be prefaced or followed by a speech tag, or an action, that can name the person. He or she might be used when it is obvious. The spoken dialogue is enclosed in ‘single quotes’ in most but not all UK books. Otherwise the “double quotes” are used. The vertical ' and " are only for typewriters, or text not entirely proofed. The ' symbol might also be used to mark syllables or in words transliterated from a different alphabet. The symbols for feet and inches are different. They are prime ′ and double prime ″ If there are only two people talking then identification by action/beats or speech tags may not be needed each time. Sometimes the next person is obvious because the current dialogue has used a name or title, then their dialogue doesn't need identified. If there are three or more people talking, then every piece of dialogue needs identified. Not always a speech tag: Jack slammed down the phone; “Well, that's it then, Jill.” “What did the well owner say?” Here there are no speech tags. But it's obvious which bits Jack and Jill said. You might put a ‘.’ and not ‘;’, but if it was: Jack said, “Well, that's it then, Jill.” Or “Well, that's it then, Jill,” said Jack. That's a speech tag, so there is a comma. Though ‘said Jack’ is thought to be obsolete. Most would have: “Well, that's it then, Jill,” Jack said. Dialogue should be short and interspersed with actions (beats) at times. The right margin should be ragged. If a character is making a speech over several paragraphs then the intermediate ending ones don't have closing quotes. Readers may not consciously know dialogue rules or how to write, but most will be dislocated when they are broken. Also no system will make poor dialogue better. Good dialogue and giving different characters their own voice is really hard. Pratchett does it so well that Magrat, Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax hardly need speech tags. There are a few little difference between USA and British English (as by English writers particularly) in how dashes and ellipses are used. How lists are managed. But the basic way dialogue works in text is almost unchanged in 200 years on both sides of the Atlantic. Note that other languages using Roman, Cyrillic or Greek alphabets use differing quote or punctuation mark schemes but are similar. Then as you move South and East they do it differently. Some Asian languages have adopted English systems for dialogue. There are loads of other details. How to download? Is that a serious question? Do you really only use the Kobo Store via WiFi? You've never downloaded an ebook? If you are on Windows, Linux or Mac, make sure your Browser application settings either only offer download or choose but never open automatically. Then it's easier to download. Separately the Browser will have a setting that is a fixed download location or choose each time. Explore https://www.mobileread.com/forums/fo...play.php?f=132 and www.gutenberg.org for free legal public domain ebooks. I have a directory (folder) called ebooks and one called ebooks_bought You can transfer via USB, or install Calibre to manage ebooks. But it's a joke, you are kidding me? Also you need to use Download for https://www.smashwords.com Loads of people actually use download with Kobo or Amazon store so as to have a backup. Other reasons too. The ONLY differences between paper and an ereader (or app) for dialogue are: 1) On an ereader you can make the text bigger or smaller 2) On an ereader you might be able to change the margins 3) On an ereader you might be able to switch to left justified or fully justified 4) On an ereader you might be able to change the font. By default the Kindle does this. 5) If it's an App or Koreader on some ereaders, you can change how the paragraphing formatting works. Big vertical white space is poorer than a first line indent on a 6 inch screen. Paper has a bigger range of fonts, but if it's smudged 9 pt on coarse paper, it's sad. Many fonts are trickier or more expensive for ereaders, or publishers don't embed them. Some apps and older kindles ignore publisher fonts anyway. You can do fancier formatting than is easy on ebooks. Drop Caps, Small caps, text around images, tables, boxed text and footnotes on the same page either won't work or will only work on some apps and some ereaders. But no need for a detailed index at the back because search works. Mostly links within a book and sometimes to the internet work. The only way I know to do that on paper is a QR code and hope the reader has a smart camera phone. Last edited by Quoth; 03-16-2021 at 01:25 PM.