I've seen it done both ways, and I'm confused. Action of the character before Dialogue or the other way around. Or does it matter?
Dialogue Question
- Thread starter Annayna
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Variety is the spice of life. If you've seen it done both ways in published novels, then that's because it can be done both ways. Just mind your grammar.
From my readings:
If the action clearly comes first chronologically, put it before the spoken part. If the action clearly comes later, put it after.
If they are simultaneous or the order doesn't matter, either one is fine, but you should probably mix it up a little bit, not use the same order every time.
If the action clearly comes first chronologically, put it before the spoken part. If the action clearly comes later, put it after.
If they are simultaneous or the order doesn't matter, either one is fine, but you should probably mix it up a little bit, not use the same order every time.
What Mara said. I put the primary segment first. If the dialogue is more important, that goes first. If the action is primary, then the action goes first. If they're equal weight, I use the dialogue first; that's my preference.
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I do it based on rhythm as well. Occasionally an action is moved to one side or the other because it's relevant, but mostly it's based on rhythm. Sometimes I feel like there should be a beat between lines, a breather I suppose. Most of my dialogue is actually figuring out where the beats should go.
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Chronologically, unless there's some good reason not to. It's unbelievably easy to confuse a reader who's moving along at a smart pace. Mostly, things should be in the order that they happen to the POV character. (Which means that, "Jilly screamed. I looked over and saw an arrow sticking out of her shoulder," is okay, but "I screamed. An arrow had pierced my shoulder," isn't.)
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Yeah. I tend to write stuff in the order that they happen.
If action comes before words, then action is described before words, and vice versa.
If action comes before words, then action is described before words, and vice versa.
Ah okay that makes sense. I wasnt sure, I had written action before Dialogue and got yelled at.
Example:
Garrett moved to Jade's side, "You wont hurt her again." he said.
I was told Dialogue should have come first..
Example:
Garrett moved to Jade's side, "You wont hurt her again." he said.
I was told Dialogue should have come first..
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Whatever makes sense, preferably in chronological order.
This would make sense:
But this would make no sense at all:
But when the action and dialogue are not dependent on each other, you can do it either way for rhythm, clarity, whatever.
This would make sense:
But this would make no sense at all:
But when the action and dialogue are not dependent on each other, you can do it either way for rhythm, clarity, whatever.
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interesting, I figured so. I tried arguing with a teacher about that, and they said I didnt know what I was talking about... So thats why I posted it here
I'm not a professional tutor or writer or whatever, but I see both ways are good. But I guess the second way is more effective.
I'm gonna have to switch a lot of things around in my novel now that I know its okay and not just done by some. I thought you could do either way, but I wasnt sure and now I am
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I haven't really seen any discussion of Swain's MRU:s here, but you might want to google it. It's a very handy tool, and once you get it, you'll never have writer's block again.
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I'll do a seperate post about it I think. I haven't seen any discussion about it, and I did search.
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Well, it does bear on your question, which is why i answered. An MRU-pattern would tell you where to put dialogue, and action. In the natural physiological order of human reaction/thought/response-patterns.
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