1. Put quotation marks around anything someone ACTUALLY SAYS. Ex. "Stop!" screamed Bob. Not "Bob told people to stop.” "Why should I stop?" asked Suzy. Not "Suzy wondered why she should stop.” 2. Change periods at the ends of quotes to commas IF THE QUOTE IS FOLLOWED BY A "HE SAID" PHRASE. (Except !!! Or ?????) "You're standing on my foot." becomes "You're standing on my foot," said Bob. "Get off my foot!" becomes "Get off my foot!" shrieked Bob. (Remember: exclamation marks don't change.) "Did you say something?" becomes "Did you say something?" asked Suzy. (Remember: question marks don't change.) 3. Make a new paragraph each time you switch speakers. Even if the "he said" phrase comes before the quote. Even if it means that your paragraph is one word long--that's okay in dialogue.

“Where are you going?” John cracked his knuckles while he looked at the floor. “To the racetrack.” Mary edged toward the door, keeping her eyes on John’s bent head. “Not again,” John stood up, flexing his fingers. “We are already maxed out on our credit cards.” The above paragraph is confusing, because it is not clear when one speech stops and the other starts. “Where are you going?” John asked nervously. “To the racetrack,” Mary said, trying to figure out whether John was too upset to let her get away with it this time. “Not again,” said John, wondering how they would make that month’s rent. “We are already maxed out on our credit cards.” The second example is mechanically correct, since it uses a separate paragraph to present each speaker’s turn advancing the conversation. But the narrative material between the direct quotes is mostly useless.

ASSIGNMENT: DIALOGUE EXERCISE Read the following AND COMPLETE (1-3) Joe was walking down the street one day. He reached in his pocket and pulled out ten one dollar bills. Determined to put a smile on the face of ten complete strangers, Joe began to look for the first person to give a dollar. He spotted a stranger and said, “ Have a dollar to get a treat for yourself.” The stranger smiled and replied, “Thank you.” Joe approached the next person he saw. Her name was Sue. 1. [ADD DIALOGUE FOR Joe & Sue.] Sue’s cousin, Betty walked up. 2. [Add Dialogue for Joe, Sue, and Betty.] Joe walked off to find other people to give money. 3. [Add dialogue for Sue & Betty]

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