Ummm, have you been to Writer's Block? You might get more help there.
"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - Fighteer
Whoa! Ahoge!
Is there a way to move this, then?
Gay elephant noise?
doot
You can holler for a mod and ask them to move it.
As for your question... I can't even tell the difference between the two. o_o
I couldn't conceive a dream so wet; your bongos make me congo.
Shadowed Philosopher
The latter version has open quotes at the beginning of all the new paragraphs. As far as I know, that's the correct way to do it; anything else looks wrong to me.
Telling the story all in dialogue would get clumsy; might instead do a flashback scene told in the first person.
Shinigan (Naruto fanfic)
Whoa! Ahoge!
Okay! Thanks! And thanks to the mod who moved this :3
The story is mainly a flashback... so that's why I wanted it in dialogue...
Gay elephant noise?
Quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph is the correct way of doing it.
X-Men X-Pert, my blog where I talk about X-Men comics.
Also known as Katz
Quotes at the beginning of each paragraph are indeed the grammatically correct way to do that; however, if a large preponderance of the story is narrated and it's pretty long, breaking the narrated part into its own chapter(s) without quotes (or, equivalently, setting off the non-narrated part into a prologue and an epilogue) might be cleaner, as an entire novel of paragraphs beginning with quotes (and in-story dialogue in single quotes) would get grating.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Amen!
Not to mention the problem of the narrator quoting someone who was quoting someone else. I don't even know how that would work.
turning and turning
If you have direct speech within direct speech, you use whichever style of quote marks (double/single) you weren't using in the original speech. Like so:
'We were walking down the street,' I said, 'and he said, "She told me she needed 'space'," and then I think he started crying.'
Scepticism and doubt lead to study and investigation, and investigation is the beginning of wisdom. - Clarence Darrow
Whoa! Ahoge!
I once saw a story with a quote within a quote within a quote within a quote. It was sort of confusing, actually.(quote-ception!)
I plan to have the actual story be narrated by Ianto, so could I just put quotes at the beginning and end of the chapter?
Gay elephant noise?
turning and turning
If you have the dialogue bits in separate chapters, quote marks aren't really needed at all. I'm currently reading The Tiger's Wife, which has some chapters narrated by the narrator's grandfather, and doesn't use quote marks for them, and I've seen a lot of other books where that happened.
edited 12th Feb '12 10:25:25 AM by cityofmist
Scepticism and doubt lead to study and investigation, and investigation is the beginning of wisdom. - Clarence Darrow
Pronounced YAK-you-luss
I personally don't use paragraphs within my speech. Instead, I break it up with interjections from other people and details of what's happening in the speaker's vicinity to make the speech seem more like a part of the story instead of 'THIS IS JOHN GALT SPEAKING'.
An example from a fanfic (yes, a fanfic - you are permitted to mock):
He did not raise his voice. He did not need to. Everyone on board the moon-sized starship heard him as easily as if he had been standing next to them.
“The freedom to live our lives as we saw fit. To decide our own safety, our own security. To no longer cower in fear beneath the heavens’ wrath.”
The chamber’s ceiling folded outward as the conduit retreated back into the wall, revealing a long, dark tunnel with a green light at the end.
“And so we grew. We prospered. We reclaimed our heritage, slowly but surely setting our old, warlike ways behind us.”
The edges of the floor fell away, leaving a raised platform the size of a city block in the middle of the room. Without turning around, Simon beckoned Yoko and the escort detail forwards.
“But we did not forget the lessons we had learned.”
Yoko stepped onto the platform, her legs almost moving of their own accord. There was no complexity any more, no indecision. For the first time in three decades, she had a job to do, a clear, certain purpose, and it felt wonderful.
“The ends do not justify the means. Even to save your world, your universe, there are lines that should not be crossed. The false gods of Chaos claimed to be working to save their people from some alien, nebulous threat – and we would have helped them, if they had only asked. Instead, they enslaved millions, slaughtered billions – and one word from us, one tentative agreement to curtail their ambitions, was enough for them to do it to us too.”
The platform rose, floating through lairs of armour-plating like geological strata. The green light above them was growing brighter, and faint details of the room it was emanating from were coming into view. Not that Yoko was paying much attention to it – her head was filled with combat manoeuvres, weapon profiles, and the other, endless military trivia of her old life. Frolov chakra – handy for getting behind the enemy in a close-quarters dogfight... AT-690 Ganmen assault rifle – good weapon, Spiral-compatible, somewhat inaccurate and prone to jamming...
“This cannot stand. This will not stand.”
Their destination was clearly visible now – a red-and-grey titan, five kilometres tall, suspended amidst a forest of interlocking drills. The heart of the Chouginga. The Arc Gurren-Lagann.
“They think they have crippled us. More, they think us softened, decadent, unable to oppose them. They think that we will allow them to run roughshod over the innocent, to turn entire universes into living nightmares in the name of panicked self-preservation.”
He spun to face them, his cloak billowing out behind him. There was a flash of red light as he tugged a set of sunglasses shaped like a five-pointed star out of thin air, putting them on with a grin that was positively devilish.
“Who the hell do they think we are?”
Okay, so if you were writing dialogue for a story, and you wanted a character to relate a long experience that would take several paragraphs in dialogue, how would you do it?
For example:
"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aliquam lacinia, nisl vel volutpat lobortis, est sapien dignissim enim, in convallis tortor tellus sed odio. Morbi porttitor aliquam commodo. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Nulla facilisi. Vestibulum non semper turpis. Donec a consectetur massa. Mauris in quam eu purus semper rutrum. Maecenas iaculis tincidunt nulla eget luctus. Nam mattis enim mi. Nam dictum vehicula sapien nec fermentum. Nam in tellus nec leo vestibulum hendrerit vitae ac lorem. Praesent pharetra diam sem. Nunc ullamcorper fringilla mattis. Aliquam nec tellus eu sem placerat faucibus quis id erat. Fusce venenatis sagittis sem, nec posuere erat vulputate a. Sed mattis iaculis sodales.
In nec mauris at metus porta ornare vitae non odio. Proin accumsan molestie metus vitae iaculis. Pellentesque venenatis eleifend diam malesuada aliquam. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. In ornare adipiscing lacus, sed aliquam purus semper in. Donec tempor, metus eu commodo ultricies, dui lorem pharetra sem, sed euismod tellus erat et urna. Donec varius pharetra dui, dictum tristique eros congue ut. Ut metus libero, gravida eu viverra vel, iaculis vitae diam. Sed hendrerit fermentum diam vel elementum. Suspendisse auctor semper nunc. Quisque eget ipsum est. Suspendisse enim ligula, convallis non sagittis eget, tincidunt mollis purus. Donec purus risus, scelerisque eu mattis et, ornare sed ligula. Suspendisse euismod tempus urna, eu ornare erat ultrices id. Cras a tempus nulla. Sed tortor arcu, ornare ac egestas non, fringilla eu libero.
Quisque lobortis quam sed orci tristique adipiscing. Suspendisse potenti. Nullam risus nisi, mollis eget laoreet sit amet, sollicitudin ac odio. Nunc mauris ipsum, pulvinar id gravida euismod, condimentum ac turpis. Suspendisse accumsan aliquam scelerisque. Phasellus eget justo eros. Pellentesque a fermentum risus. Duis condimentum sem at nulla vestibulum imperdiet. Etiam ut nulla ac ligula tempus sodales. Nulla pharetra rutrum eros non facilisis. Nam odio lacus, hendrerit quis sollicitudin nec, dapibus sit amet ipsum. Etiam egestas varius nisi, sit amet eleifend risus commodo in.
Vivamus massa nisi, tempus quis condimentum id, dapibus eu mi. Mauris ultrices pretium tellus quis sollicitudin. Donec pharetra ornare tortor, sit amet fermentum eros cursus quis. Curabitur quis diam mi. Fusce sem quam, sagittis sed blandit sit amet, tristique vel nunc. Mauris eleifend ultrices magna, non sagittis mauris pulvinar quis. Etiam id faucibus tellus. Ut ultricies interdum porttitor. Etiam sit amet dolor felis. Nam et elit arcu, quis euismod purus. Quisque lectus metus, ultricies non commodo quis, ornare eu urna. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Nullam imperdiet felis ut ante accumsan non interdum ligula aliquam. Maecenas sit amet nisi sem, non pharetra nisi. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Cras eu sapien nulla, nec commodo felis.
Maecenas luctus, odio non sagittis luctus, risus nibh aliquam nunc, non imperdiet augue magna et elit. Donec at nisi eget est condimentum eleifend id vitae odio. Proin facilisis turpis sit amet erat mollis faucibus volutpat id sapien. Etiam a erat vitae est ultrices blandit. Duis luctus dignissim facilisis. Maecenas suscipit massa sapien. Nunc volutpat tellus at lacus fringilla at viverra risus faucibus. Sed pharetra lacinia pharetra. Mauris porttitor pellentesque lorem, tincidunt ornare leo euismod at." Ianto said.
Or would it be different? In books it seems to appear like this:
"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aliquam lacinia, nisl vel volutpat lobortis, est sapien dignissim enim, in convallis tortor tellus sed odio. Morbi porttitor aliquam commodo. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Nulla facilisi. Vestibulum non semper turpis. Donec a consectetur massa. Mauris in quam eu purus semper rutrum. Maecenas iaculis tincidunt nulla eget luctus. Nam mattis enim mi. Nam dictum vehicula sapien nec fermentum. Nam in tellus nec leo vestibulum hendrerit vitae ac lorem. Praesent pharetra diam sem. Nunc ullamcorper fringilla mattis. Aliquam nec tellus eu sem placerat faucibus quis id erat. Fusce venenatis sagittis sem, nec posuere erat vulputate a. Sed mattis iaculis sodales.
"In nec mauris at metus porta ornare vitae non odio. Proin accumsan molestie metus vitae iaculis. Pellentesque venenatis eleifend diam malesuada aliquam. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. In ornare adipiscing lacus, sed aliquam purus semper in. Donec tempor, metus eu commodo ultricies, dui lorem pharetra sem, sed euismod tellus erat et urna. Donec varius pharetra dui, dictum tristique eros congue ut. Ut metus libero, gravida eu viverra vel, iaculis vitae diam. Sed hendrerit fermentum diam vel elementum. Suspendisse auctor semper nunc. Quisque eget ipsum est. Suspendisse enim ligula, convallis non sagittis eget, tincidunt mollis purus. Donec purus risus, scelerisque eu mattis et, ornare sed ligula. Suspendisse euismod tempus urna, eu ornare erat ultrices id. Cras a tempus nulla. Sed tortor arcu, ornare ac egestas non, fringilla eu libero.
"Quisque lobortis quam sed orci tristique adipiscing. Suspendisse potenti. Nullam risus nisi, mollis eget laoreet sit amet, sollicitudin ac odio. Nunc mauris ipsum, pulvinar id gravida euismod, condimentum ac turpis. Suspendisse accumsan aliquam scelerisque. Phasellus eget justo eros. Pellentesque a fermentum risus. Duis condimentum sem at nulla vestibulum imperdiet. Etiam ut nulla ac ligula tempus sodales. Nulla pharetra rutrum eros non facilisis. Nam odio lacus, hendrerit quis sollicitudin nec, dapibus sit amet ipsum. Etiam egestas varius nisi, sit amet eleifend risus commodo in.
"Vivamus massa nisi, tempus quis condimentum id, dapibus eu mi. Mauris ultrices pretium tellus quis sollicitudin. Donec pharetra ornare tortor, sit amet fermentum eros cursus quis. Curabitur quis diam mi. Fusce sem quam, sagittis sed blandit sit amet, tristique vel nunc. Mauris eleifend ultrices magna, non sagittis mauris pulvinar quis. Etiam id faucibus tellus. Ut ultricies interdum porttitor. Etiam sit amet dolor felis. Nam et elit arcu, quis euismod purus. Quisque lectus metus, ultricies non commodo quis, ornare eu urna. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Nullam imperdiet felis ut ante accumsan non interdum ligula aliquam. Maecenas sit amet nisi sem, non pharetra nisi. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Cras eu sapien nulla, nec commodo felis.
"Maecenas luctus, odio non sagittis luctus, risus nibh aliquam nunc, non imperdiet augue magna et elit. Donec at nisi eget est condimentum eleifend id vitae odio. Proin facilisis turpis sit amet erat mollis faucibus volutpat id sapien. Etiam a erat vitae est ultrices blandit. Duis luctus dignissim facilisis. Maecenas suscipit massa sapien. Nunc volutpat tellus at lacus fringilla at viverra risus faucibus. Sed pharetra lacinia pharetra. Mauris porttitor pellentesque lorem, tincidunt ornare leo euismod at." Ianto said
Which one of those would be correct? Or neither? And if I wanted to tell about 80% of the story in somebody's dialogue would that be just a bad idea? If not, how should I punctuate it?
Gay elephant noise?