Format Question

CJLewis · Jan 3, 2006

I have a person reading a story to a child in my novel. What is the proper formatting for separating what the man is reading from the dialog and story of the present?

Does all of the read material fall under quotation marks if it lasts for several chapters? It seems like it would be a little confusing this way.

CJLewis

CJLewis · Jan 5, 2006

Does anyone know the answer to my question? Am I asking something too dumb? Or too difficult?

What is the proper formatting for a person reading a lengthy portion of the story followed by "real time" action/dialog? How do you properly separate the two?

CJ Lewis

Lauri B · Jan 6, 2006

CJLewis said:
Does anyone know the answer to my question? Am I asking something too dumb? Or too difficult?

What is the proper formatting for a person reading a lengthy portion of the story followed by "real time" action/dialog? How do you properly separate the two?

CJ Lewis

Hi CJ Lewis,
I didn't answer your question because I edit nonfiction books and am not sure what standard formatting is for novels. That said, here's a suggestion: why not separate the long internal story by either indenting the text and/or putting it in italics. That way it's very obvious that the story being told is separate from the "real time" action. I would also recommend reviewing novels you've read that use this technique to find out how other authors have done it.

Hope this helps!

CJLewis · Jan 6, 2006

Thanks for the response. I think that makes sense. I can see that what I need to do is hit the library and compare a few stories to see how they did it. I live out in the boonies, so that wasn't my first choice!

Thanks again!
CJ Lewis

Format Question

CJLewis

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Lauri B

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