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pjfdbh | writing_train | 0.94 | How do you keep track of your notes for what you’re writing (plot points, character notes, etc.)? I have only started to become an aspiring writer within the last year or so, despite always enjoying it. This being said, I am still trying to figure out how to organize and fit it into my daily life. I am an organized person, but every time I try to keep notes of major plot points, character traits, relationship progressions/statuses, etc. I find it gets very messy very quickly. I am drawn more to pen and paper for note taking, although I see great value in the search functions of many electronic documents. I also have found that I will become so entrenched in the writing process that I forget to look back on the notes I’ve previously made and may sometimes go against something I previously outlined in the story. I know that this is all part of the learning curve and writing/editing process but I often get so nervous about consistency that it stops me from writing or being able to fully be indulged in the writing and story. So, to all of you beautiful people further established in this than I am, how do you keep your notes clean, organized, or in a way that you can easily look back at them even after a few days, weeks, or months of not writing your story? Are there apps, notebooks, literally anything that you have found that works for you? | hbx7wc0 | hbz5091 | 1,631,016,851 | 1,631,046,876 | 2 | 3 | Write it fast enough as to not forget. | I literally make a Microsoft Word 2003 Document called Story Notes and put most of everything in there. Started making individual character profiles and othe documents describing different story idea notes in it as well as one with just story Ideas, everytime I get a new idea I put it in there, and I organize everything in a series of folders, that's what I usually do. :D | 0 | 30,025 | 1.5 | ||
pjfdbh | writing_train | 0.94 | How do you keep track of your notes for what you’re writing (plot points, character notes, etc.)? I have only started to become an aspiring writer within the last year or so, despite always enjoying it. This being said, I am still trying to figure out how to organize and fit it into my daily life. I am an organized person, but every time I try to keep notes of major plot points, character traits, relationship progressions/statuses, etc. I find it gets very messy very quickly. I am drawn more to pen and paper for note taking, although I see great value in the search functions of many electronic documents. I also have found that I will become so entrenched in the writing process that I forget to look back on the notes I’ve previously made and may sometimes go against something I previously outlined in the story. I know that this is all part of the learning curve and writing/editing process but I often get so nervous about consistency that it stops me from writing or being able to fully be indulged in the writing and story. So, to all of you beautiful people further established in this than I am, how do you keep your notes clean, organized, or in a way that you can easily look back at them even after a few days, weeks, or months of not writing your story? Are there apps, notebooks, literally anything that you have found that works for you? | hbxte44 | hbz5091 | 1,631,027,298 | 1,631,046,876 | 2 | 3 | Coming from a programming background, I keep a short to do list at the bottom of my draft. I add bullet points when I foreshadow something (do this later), or just need something to happen in the next few chapters (don't forget to do this soon!), and I try to sort this handful of writing tasks in order. When I'm sitting down for a writing session, I read through the first few bullets before I begin, and they're sitting right there in the document so it's easy. When I'm done writing, I check off and remove tasks, re-sort, and add new bullets as necessary. Sometimes I go off-script, and I think that flexibility is important. Rather than referring back to my full outline for the plot, I try to keep the floating to do list motivated by character behavior and pacing. If things are slow, go back to the plot outline, but more often than not it's nice to have a short list for the little details you forget between sessions. | I literally make a Microsoft Word 2003 Document called Story Notes and put most of everything in there. Started making individual character profiles and othe documents describing different story idea notes in it as well as one with just story Ideas, everytime I get a new idea I put it in there, and I organize everything in a series of folders, that's what I usually do. :D | 0 | 19,578 | 1.5 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijp5zp2 | ijp4j3c | 1,660,125,081 | 1,660,123,929 | 41 | 1 | It can be either: John asked, “What time is it?” “What time is it?” John asked. However, the first seems very off without some action before it. Pointing at Tiffany’s watch, John asked, “What time is it?” John asked what time it was before opening a can of beer. It depends on what you’re trying to do / portray in your writing. | Yes, comma if it's a speech tag like 'says', 'asks', 'shouts', but not if it's an action. "Look over here." John pointed to the the object in question. There is punctuation there, but it's a full stop, because the speech is treated as a complete statement. In the case of a speech tag, it's a comma because the speech tag itself affects the context of the previous statement. | 1 | 1,152 | 41 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijp40te | ijp5zp2 | 1,660,123,522 | 1,660,125,081 | -1 | 41 | John asked, “What time is it?” Elizabeth answered, “It’s time for lunch.” “Not lunch already!” responded Cathleen. “Yes, it’s lunchtime. I’m hungry,” said Henry. Edit: Thanks for the correction, sometimes autocorrect isn’t right with capitalization :) | It can be either: John asked, “What time is it?” “What time is it?” John asked. However, the first seems very off without some action before it. Pointing at Tiffany’s watch, John asked, “What time is it?” John asked what time it was before opening a can of beer. It depends on what you’re trying to do / portray in your writing. | 0 | 1,559 | -41 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijqvlc2 | ijq5vuw | 1,660,153,360 | 1,660,143,741 | 8 | 6 | The first one is correct. Unless you were to format it in the case where you out the tag afterwards, of course. John asked, "What time is it?" "What time is it?" John asked. | Generally speaking, any dialogue that starts or ends with a dialogue tag (said, exclaimed, yelled, etc) should use a comma. | 1 | 9,619 | 1.333333 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijq3mqm | ijqvlc2 | 1,660,142,854 | 1,660,153,360 | 4 | 8 | Go with the comma. | The first one is correct. Unless you were to format it in the case where you out the tag afterwards, of course. John asked, "What time is it?" "What time is it?" John asked. | 0 | 10,506 | 2 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijq5qzg | ijqvlc2 | 1,660,143,687 | 1,660,153,360 | 4 | 8 | John took a bite out of his apple and said, "This is a trope." "I don't mind it," Joel said. "You wouldn't." "Watch it, bucko." John smiled. "I'm just saying the whole apple thing is overused." "Whatever," Joel said, tightening his bootstraps. "You whatever," John said, doing the same, "And lets not forget who went to film school here." Edit: Punctuation. | The first one is correct. Unless you were to format it in the case where you out the tag afterwards, of course. John asked, "What time is it?" "What time is it?" John asked. | 0 | 9,673 | 2 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijpiv4f | ijqvlc2 | 1,660,133,565 | 1,660,153,360 | 3 | 8 | I have read books with "John Asked:" though not often. | The first one is correct. Unless you were to format it in the case where you out the tag afterwards, of course. John asked, "What time is it?" "What time is it?" John asked. | 0 | 19,795 | 2.666667 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijqvlc2 | ijp4j3c | 1,660,153,360 | 1,660,123,929 | 8 | 1 | The first one is correct. Unless you were to format it in the case where you out the tag afterwards, of course. John asked, "What time is it?" "What time is it?" John asked. | Yes, comma if it's a speech tag like 'says', 'asks', 'shouts', but not if it's an action. "Look over here." John pointed to the the object in question. There is punctuation there, but it's a full stop, because the speech is treated as a complete statement. In the case of a speech tag, it's a comma because the speech tag itself affects the context of the previous statement. | 1 | 29,431 | 8 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijppyxs | ijqvlc2 | 1,660,137,094 | 1,660,153,360 | 1 | 8 | Usually if I’m writing dialogue where I put the speaker before what they are saying, I don’t directly quote them. So as opposed to saying (“What time is it?” John asked.) I’d phrase the question he’s asking as an action instead. (John asked what time it is.) I just do that to simplify it, I find it makes the writing easier to follow along as well. | The first one is correct. Unless you were to format it in the case where you out the tag afterwards, of course. John asked, "What time is it?" "What time is it?" John asked. | 0 | 16,266 | 8 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijpzdw4 | ijqvlc2 | 1,660,141,140 | 1,660,153,360 | 1 | 8 | I would put the tag at the end of the line, and then use a comma. | The first one is correct. Unless you were to format it in the case where you out the tag afterwards, of course. John asked, "What time is it?" "What time is it?" John asked. | 0 | 12,220 | 8 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijqvlc2 | ijqivw0 | 1,660,153,360 | 1,660,148,683 | 8 | 1 | The first one is correct. Unless you were to format it in the case where you out the tag afterwards, of course. John asked, "What time is it?" "What time is it?" John asked. | So confused by this irrelevant rule. Like why? | 1 | 4,677 | 8 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijqvlc2 | ijp40te | 1,660,153,360 | 1,660,123,522 | 8 | -1 | The first one is correct. Unless you were to format it in the case where you out the tag afterwards, of course. John asked, "What time is it?" "What time is it?" John asked. | John asked, “What time is it?” Elizabeth answered, “It’s time for lunch.” “Not lunch already!” responded Cathleen. “Yes, it’s lunchtime. I’m hungry,” said Henry. Edit: Thanks for the correction, sometimes autocorrect isn’t right with capitalization :) | 1 | 29,838 | -8 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijqvlc2 | ijpivul | 1,660,153,360 | 1,660,133,576 | 8 | 1 | The first one is correct. Unless you were to format it in the case where you out the tag afterwards, of course. John asked, "What time is it?" "What time is it?" John asked. | There are no rules, and what you write should be whatever makes the most sense to you/ flows best. I see a lot of people advocating for and against using a colon— it is NOT a typical practice to use a colon in dialogue writing outside screenwriting, but it’s also not something you ~can’t~ do (John couldn’t help but wonder out loud: “what time is it?” Although I wouldn’t personally use this structure, it depends on your style!) Some authors even italicize dialogue rather than use quotes, others don’t even distinguish dialogue from the text (this requires a skilled hand, though, as it has the potential to be super confusing). Overall, there are no rules only conventions. I think we should understand conventions but not let them dictate our style! Even when it comes to the minutiae:) (A previous comment may have said it best, read a bunch of dialogue to learn conventions/see what you like!) | 1 | 19,784 | 8 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijqvlc2 | ijqqlkz | 1,660,153,360 | 1,660,151,531 | 8 | 1 | The first one is correct. Unless you were to format it in the case where you out the tag afterwards, of course. John asked, "What time is it?" "What time is it?" John asked. | put a comma before | 1 | 1,829 | 8 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijq3mqm | ijq5vuw | 1,660,142,854 | 1,660,143,741 | 4 | 6 | Go with the comma. | Generally speaking, any dialogue that starts or ends with a dialogue tag (said, exclaimed, yelled, etc) should use a comma. | 0 | 887 | 1.5 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijq5qzg | ijq5vuw | 1,660,143,687 | 1,660,143,741 | 4 | 6 | John took a bite out of his apple and said, "This is a trope." "I don't mind it," Joel said. "You wouldn't." "Watch it, bucko." John smiled. "I'm just saying the whole apple thing is overused." "Whatever," Joel said, tightening his bootstraps. "You whatever," John said, doing the same, "And lets not forget who went to film school here." Edit: Punctuation. | Generally speaking, any dialogue that starts or ends with a dialogue tag (said, exclaimed, yelled, etc) should use a comma. | 0 | 54 | 1.5 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijpiv4f | ijq5vuw | 1,660,133,565 | 1,660,143,741 | 3 | 6 | I have read books with "John Asked:" though not often. | Generally speaking, any dialogue that starts or ends with a dialogue tag (said, exclaimed, yelled, etc) should use a comma. | 0 | 10,176 | 2 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijp4j3c | ijq5vuw | 1,660,123,929 | 1,660,143,741 | 1 | 6 | Yes, comma if it's a speech tag like 'says', 'asks', 'shouts', but not if it's an action. "Look over here." John pointed to the the object in question. There is punctuation there, but it's a full stop, because the speech is treated as a complete statement. In the case of a speech tag, it's a comma because the speech tag itself affects the context of the previous statement. | Generally speaking, any dialogue that starts or ends with a dialogue tag (said, exclaimed, yelled, etc) should use a comma. | 0 | 19,812 | 6 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijq5vuw | ijppyxs | 1,660,143,741 | 1,660,137,094 | 6 | 1 | Generally speaking, any dialogue that starts or ends with a dialogue tag (said, exclaimed, yelled, etc) should use a comma. | Usually if I’m writing dialogue where I put the speaker before what they are saying, I don’t directly quote them. So as opposed to saying (“What time is it?” John asked.) I’d phrase the question he’s asking as an action instead. (John asked what time it is.) I just do that to simplify it, I find it makes the writing easier to follow along as well. | 1 | 6,647 | 6 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijq5vuw | ijpzdw4 | 1,660,143,741 | 1,660,141,140 | 6 | 1 | Generally speaking, any dialogue that starts or ends with a dialogue tag (said, exclaimed, yelled, etc) should use a comma. | I would put the tag at the end of the line, and then use a comma. | 1 | 2,601 | 6 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijq5vuw | ijp40te | 1,660,143,741 | 1,660,123,522 | 6 | -1 | Generally speaking, any dialogue that starts or ends with a dialogue tag (said, exclaimed, yelled, etc) should use a comma. | John asked, “What time is it?” Elizabeth answered, “It’s time for lunch.” “Not lunch already!” responded Cathleen. “Yes, it’s lunchtime. I’m hungry,” said Henry. Edit: Thanks for the correction, sometimes autocorrect isn’t right with capitalization :) | 1 | 20,219 | -6 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijq5vuw | ijpivul | 1,660,143,741 | 1,660,133,576 | 6 | 1 | Generally speaking, any dialogue that starts or ends with a dialogue tag (said, exclaimed, yelled, etc) should use a comma. | There are no rules, and what you write should be whatever makes the most sense to you/ flows best. I see a lot of people advocating for and against using a colon— it is NOT a typical practice to use a colon in dialogue writing outside screenwriting, but it’s also not something you ~can’t~ do (John couldn’t help but wonder out loud: “what time is it?” Although I wouldn’t personally use this structure, it depends on your style!) Some authors even italicize dialogue rather than use quotes, others don’t even distinguish dialogue from the text (this requires a skilled hand, though, as it has the potential to be super confusing). Overall, there are no rules only conventions. I think we should understand conventions but not let them dictate our style! Even when it comes to the minutiae:) (A previous comment may have said it best, read a bunch of dialogue to learn conventions/see what you like!) | 1 | 10,165 | 6 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijpiv4f | ijq3mqm | 1,660,133,565 | 1,660,142,854 | 3 | 4 | I have read books with "John Asked:" though not often. | Go with the comma. | 0 | 9,289 | 1.333333 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijq3mqm | ijp4j3c | 1,660,142,854 | 1,660,123,929 | 4 | 1 | Go with the comma. | Yes, comma if it's a speech tag like 'says', 'asks', 'shouts', but not if it's an action. "Look over here." John pointed to the the object in question. There is punctuation there, but it's a full stop, because the speech is treated as a complete statement. In the case of a speech tag, it's a comma because the speech tag itself affects the context of the previous statement. | 1 | 18,925 | 4 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijq3mqm | ijppyxs | 1,660,142,854 | 1,660,137,094 | 4 | 1 | Go with the comma. | Usually if I’m writing dialogue where I put the speaker before what they are saying, I don’t directly quote them. So as opposed to saying (“What time is it?” John asked.) I’d phrase the question he’s asking as an action instead. (John asked what time it is.) I just do that to simplify it, I find it makes the writing easier to follow along as well. | 1 | 5,760 | 4 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijq3mqm | ijpzdw4 | 1,660,142,854 | 1,660,141,140 | 4 | 1 | Go with the comma. | I would put the tag at the end of the line, and then use a comma. | 1 | 1,714 | 4 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijp40te | ijq3mqm | 1,660,123,522 | 1,660,142,854 | -1 | 4 | John asked, “What time is it?” Elizabeth answered, “It’s time for lunch.” “Not lunch already!” responded Cathleen. “Yes, it’s lunchtime. I’m hungry,” said Henry. Edit: Thanks for the correction, sometimes autocorrect isn’t right with capitalization :) | Go with the comma. | 0 | 19,332 | -4 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijpivul | ijq3mqm | 1,660,133,576 | 1,660,142,854 | 1 | 4 | There are no rules, and what you write should be whatever makes the most sense to you/ flows best. I see a lot of people advocating for and against using a colon— it is NOT a typical practice to use a colon in dialogue writing outside screenwriting, but it’s also not something you ~can’t~ do (John couldn’t help but wonder out loud: “what time is it?” Although I wouldn’t personally use this structure, it depends on your style!) Some authors even italicize dialogue rather than use quotes, others don’t even distinguish dialogue from the text (this requires a skilled hand, though, as it has the potential to be super confusing). Overall, there are no rules only conventions. I think we should understand conventions but not let them dictate our style! Even when it comes to the minutiae:) (A previous comment may have said it best, read a bunch of dialogue to learn conventions/see what you like!) | Go with the comma. | 0 | 9,278 | 4 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijq5qzg | ijpiv4f | 1,660,143,687 | 1,660,133,565 | 4 | 3 | John took a bite out of his apple and said, "This is a trope." "I don't mind it," Joel said. "You wouldn't." "Watch it, bucko." John smiled. "I'm just saying the whole apple thing is overused." "Whatever," Joel said, tightening his bootstraps. "You whatever," John said, doing the same, "And lets not forget who went to film school here." Edit: Punctuation. | I have read books with "John Asked:" though not often. | 1 | 10,122 | 1.333333 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijp4j3c | ijq5qzg | 1,660,123,929 | 1,660,143,687 | 1 | 4 | Yes, comma if it's a speech tag like 'says', 'asks', 'shouts', but not if it's an action. "Look over here." John pointed to the the object in question. There is punctuation there, but it's a full stop, because the speech is treated as a complete statement. In the case of a speech tag, it's a comma because the speech tag itself affects the context of the previous statement. | John took a bite out of his apple and said, "This is a trope." "I don't mind it," Joel said. "You wouldn't." "Watch it, bucko." John smiled. "I'm just saying the whole apple thing is overused." "Whatever," Joel said, tightening his bootstraps. "You whatever," John said, doing the same, "And lets not forget who went to film school here." Edit: Punctuation. | 0 | 19,758 | 4 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijppyxs | ijq5qzg | 1,660,137,094 | 1,660,143,687 | 1 | 4 | Usually if I’m writing dialogue where I put the speaker before what they are saying, I don’t directly quote them. So as opposed to saying (“What time is it?” John asked.) I’d phrase the question he’s asking as an action instead. (John asked what time it is.) I just do that to simplify it, I find it makes the writing easier to follow along as well. | John took a bite out of his apple and said, "This is a trope." "I don't mind it," Joel said. "You wouldn't." "Watch it, bucko." John smiled. "I'm just saying the whole apple thing is overused." "Whatever," Joel said, tightening his bootstraps. "You whatever," John said, doing the same, "And lets not forget who went to film school here." Edit: Punctuation. | 0 | 6,593 | 4 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijpzdw4 | ijq5qzg | 1,660,141,140 | 1,660,143,687 | 1 | 4 | I would put the tag at the end of the line, and then use a comma. | John took a bite out of his apple and said, "This is a trope." "I don't mind it," Joel said. "You wouldn't." "Watch it, bucko." John smiled. "I'm just saying the whole apple thing is overused." "Whatever," Joel said, tightening his bootstraps. "You whatever," John said, doing the same, "And lets not forget who went to film school here." Edit: Punctuation. | 0 | 2,547 | 4 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijq5qzg | ijp40te | 1,660,143,687 | 1,660,123,522 | 4 | -1 | John took a bite out of his apple and said, "This is a trope." "I don't mind it," Joel said. "You wouldn't." "Watch it, bucko." John smiled. "I'm just saying the whole apple thing is overused." "Whatever," Joel said, tightening his bootstraps. "You whatever," John said, doing the same, "And lets not forget who went to film school here." Edit: Punctuation. | John asked, “What time is it?” Elizabeth answered, “It’s time for lunch.” “Not lunch already!” responded Cathleen. “Yes, it’s lunchtime. I’m hungry,” said Henry. Edit: Thanks for the correction, sometimes autocorrect isn’t right with capitalization :) | 1 | 20,165 | -4 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijq5qzg | ijpivul | 1,660,143,687 | 1,660,133,576 | 4 | 1 | John took a bite out of his apple and said, "This is a trope." "I don't mind it," Joel said. "You wouldn't." "Watch it, bucko." John smiled. "I'm just saying the whole apple thing is overused." "Whatever," Joel said, tightening his bootstraps. "You whatever," John said, doing the same, "And lets not forget who went to film school here." Edit: Punctuation. | There are no rules, and what you write should be whatever makes the most sense to you/ flows best. I see a lot of people advocating for and against using a colon— it is NOT a typical practice to use a colon in dialogue writing outside screenwriting, but it’s also not something you ~can’t~ do (John couldn’t help but wonder out loud: “what time is it?” Although I wouldn’t personally use this structure, it depends on your style!) Some authors even italicize dialogue rather than use quotes, others don’t even distinguish dialogue from the text (this requires a skilled hand, though, as it has the potential to be super confusing). Overall, there are no rules only conventions. I think we should understand conventions but not let them dictate our style! Even when it comes to the minutiae:) (A previous comment may have said it best, read a bunch of dialogue to learn conventions/see what you like!) | 1 | 10,111 | 4 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijp4j3c | ijpiv4f | 1,660,123,929 | 1,660,133,565 | 1 | 3 | Yes, comma if it's a speech tag like 'says', 'asks', 'shouts', but not if it's an action. "Look over here." John pointed to the the object in question. There is punctuation there, but it's a full stop, because the speech is treated as a complete statement. In the case of a speech tag, it's a comma because the speech tag itself affects the context of the previous statement. | I have read books with "John Asked:" though not often. | 0 | 9,636 | 3 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijpiv4f | ijp40te | 1,660,133,565 | 1,660,123,522 | 3 | -1 | I have read books with "John Asked:" though not often. | John asked, “What time is it?” Elizabeth answered, “It’s time for lunch.” “Not lunch already!” responded Cathleen. “Yes, it’s lunchtime. I’m hungry,” said Henry. Edit: Thanks for the correction, sometimes autocorrect isn’t right with capitalization :) | 1 | 10,043 | -3 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijrbliz | ijp4j3c | 1,660,159,338 | 1,660,123,929 | 3 | 1 | John asked, “What time is it?” ”What time is it?” John asked. ”What time is it?” asked John. | Yes, comma if it's a speech tag like 'says', 'asks', 'shouts', but not if it's an action. "Look over here." John pointed to the the object in question. There is punctuation there, but it's a full stop, because the speech is treated as a complete statement. In the case of a speech tag, it's a comma because the speech tag itself affects the context of the previous statement. | 1 | 35,409 | 3 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijppyxs | ijrbliz | 1,660,137,094 | 1,660,159,338 | 1 | 3 | Usually if I’m writing dialogue where I put the speaker before what they are saying, I don’t directly quote them. So as opposed to saying (“What time is it?” John asked.) I’d phrase the question he’s asking as an action instead. (John asked what time it is.) I just do that to simplify it, I find it makes the writing easier to follow along as well. | John asked, “What time is it?” ”What time is it?” John asked. ”What time is it?” asked John. | 0 | 22,244 | 3 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijpzdw4 | ijrbliz | 1,660,141,140 | 1,660,159,338 | 1 | 3 | I would put the tag at the end of the line, and then use a comma. | John asked, “What time is it?” ”What time is it?” John asked. ”What time is it?” asked John. | 0 | 18,198 | 3 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijqivw0 | ijrbliz | 1,660,148,683 | 1,660,159,338 | 1 | 3 | So confused by this irrelevant rule. Like why? | John asked, “What time is it?” ”What time is it?” John asked. ”What time is it?” asked John. | 0 | 10,655 | 3 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijr7woz | ijrbliz | 1,660,157,941 | 1,660,159,338 | 2 | 3 | I've seen this question asked so many times on this subreddit. It's always worth searching for a similar post before making a new one. Or, you know, Google it. | John asked, “What time is it?” ”What time is it?” John asked. ”What time is it?” asked John. | 0 | 1,397 | 1.5 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijp40te | ijrbliz | 1,660,123,522 | 1,660,159,338 | -1 | 3 | John asked, “What time is it?” Elizabeth answered, “It’s time for lunch.” “Not lunch already!” responded Cathleen. “Yes, it’s lunchtime. I’m hungry,” said Henry. Edit: Thanks for the correction, sometimes autocorrect isn’t right with capitalization :) | John asked, “What time is it?” ”What time is it?” John asked. ”What time is it?” asked John. | 0 | 35,816 | -3 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijpivul | ijrbliz | 1,660,133,576 | 1,660,159,338 | 1 | 3 | There are no rules, and what you write should be whatever makes the most sense to you/ flows best. I see a lot of people advocating for and against using a colon— it is NOT a typical practice to use a colon in dialogue writing outside screenwriting, but it’s also not something you ~can’t~ do (John couldn’t help but wonder out loud: “what time is it?” Although I wouldn’t personally use this structure, it depends on your style!) Some authors even italicize dialogue rather than use quotes, others don’t even distinguish dialogue from the text (this requires a skilled hand, though, as it has the potential to be super confusing). Overall, there are no rules only conventions. I think we should understand conventions but not let them dictate our style! Even when it comes to the minutiae:) (A previous comment may have said it best, read a bunch of dialogue to learn conventions/see what you like!) | John asked, “What time is it?” ”What time is it?” John asked. ”What time is it?” asked John. | 0 | 25,762 | 3 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijrbliz | ijqqlkz | 1,660,159,338 | 1,660,151,531 | 3 | 1 | John asked, “What time is it?” ”What time is it?” John asked. ”What time is it?” asked John. | put a comma before | 1 | 7,807 | 3 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijp4j3c | ijtc0kt | 1,660,123,929 | 1,660,189,834 | 1 | 2 | Yes, comma if it's a speech tag like 'says', 'asks', 'shouts', but not if it's an action. "Look over here." John pointed to the the object in question. There is punctuation there, but it's a full stop, because the speech is treated as a complete statement. In the case of a speech tag, it's a comma because the speech tag itself affects the context of the previous statement. | The first one is correct. This post has some examples of how dialogue should be written with the correct tags. A transcription of the post if there's trouble with the link: >*"This is your daily, friendly reminder to use commas instead of periods during the dialogue of your story," she said with a smile.* > >*"Unless you are following the dialogue with an action and not a dialogue tag." He took a deep breath and sat down after the clarifying statement.* > >*"However," she added, shifting in her seat, "it's appropriate to use a comma if there's an action in the middle of a sentence."* > >*"True." She glanced at the others. "You can also end with a period if you include an action between two separate statements."* | 0 | 65,905 | 2 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijtc0kt | ijppyxs | 1,660,189,834 | 1,660,137,094 | 2 | 1 | The first one is correct. This post has some examples of how dialogue should be written with the correct tags. A transcription of the post if there's trouble with the link: >*"This is your daily, friendly reminder to use commas instead of periods during the dialogue of your story," she said with a smile.* > >*"Unless you are following the dialogue with an action and not a dialogue tag." He took a deep breath and sat down after the clarifying statement.* > >*"However," she added, shifting in her seat, "it's appropriate to use a comma if there's an action in the middle of a sentence."* > >*"True." She glanced at the others. "You can also end with a period if you include an action between two separate statements."* | Usually if I’m writing dialogue where I put the speaker before what they are saying, I don’t directly quote them. So as opposed to saying (“What time is it?” John asked.) I’d phrase the question he’s asking as an action instead. (John asked what time it is.) I just do that to simplify it, I find it makes the writing easier to follow along as well. | 1 | 52,740 | 2 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijtc0kt | ijpzdw4 | 1,660,189,834 | 1,660,141,140 | 2 | 1 | The first one is correct. This post has some examples of how dialogue should be written with the correct tags. A transcription of the post if there's trouble with the link: >*"This is your daily, friendly reminder to use commas instead of periods during the dialogue of your story," she said with a smile.* > >*"Unless you are following the dialogue with an action and not a dialogue tag." He took a deep breath and sat down after the clarifying statement.* > >*"However," she added, shifting in her seat, "it's appropriate to use a comma if there's an action in the middle of a sentence."* > >*"True." She glanced at the others. "You can also end with a period if you include an action between two separate statements."* | I would put the tag at the end of the line, and then use a comma. | 1 | 48,694 | 2 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijqivw0 | ijtc0kt | 1,660,148,683 | 1,660,189,834 | 1 | 2 | So confused by this irrelevant rule. Like why? | The first one is correct. This post has some examples of how dialogue should be written with the correct tags. A transcription of the post if there's trouble with the link: >*"This is your daily, friendly reminder to use commas instead of periods during the dialogue of your story," she said with a smile.* > >*"Unless you are following the dialogue with an action and not a dialogue tag." He took a deep breath and sat down after the clarifying statement.* > >*"However," she added, shifting in her seat, "it's appropriate to use a comma if there's an action in the middle of a sentence."* > >*"True." She glanced at the others. "You can also end with a period if you include an action between two separate statements."* | 0 | 41,151 | 2 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijs3uod | ijtc0kt | 1,660,170,081 | 1,660,189,834 | 1 | 2 | if you ask Cormac McCarthy, neither of those. | The first one is correct. This post has some examples of how dialogue should be written with the correct tags. A transcription of the post if there's trouble with the link: >*"This is your daily, friendly reminder to use commas instead of periods during the dialogue of your story," she said with a smile.* > >*"Unless you are following the dialogue with an action and not a dialogue tag." He took a deep breath and sat down after the clarifying statement.* > >*"However," she added, shifting in her seat, "it's appropriate to use a comma if there's an action in the middle of a sentence."* > >*"True." She glanced at the others. "You can also end with a period if you include an action between two separate statements."* | 0 | 19,753 | 2 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijtc0kt | ijp40te | 1,660,189,834 | 1,660,123,522 | 2 | -1 | The first one is correct. This post has some examples of how dialogue should be written with the correct tags. A transcription of the post if there's trouble with the link: >*"This is your daily, friendly reminder to use commas instead of periods during the dialogue of your story," she said with a smile.* > >*"Unless you are following the dialogue with an action and not a dialogue tag." He took a deep breath and sat down after the clarifying statement.* > >*"However," she added, shifting in her seat, "it's appropriate to use a comma if there's an action in the middle of a sentence."* > >*"True." She glanced at the others. "You can also end with a period if you include an action between two separate statements."* | John asked, “What time is it?” Elizabeth answered, “It’s time for lunch.” “Not lunch already!” responded Cathleen. “Yes, it’s lunchtime. I’m hungry,” said Henry. Edit: Thanks for the correction, sometimes autocorrect isn’t right with capitalization :) | 1 | 66,312 | -2 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijtc0kt | ijpivul | 1,660,189,834 | 1,660,133,576 | 2 | 1 | The first one is correct. This post has some examples of how dialogue should be written with the correct tags. A transcription of the post if there's trouble with the link: >*"This is your daily, friendly reminder to use commas instead of periods during the dialogue of your story," she said with a smile.* > >*"Unless you are following the dialogue with an action and not a dialogue tag." He took a deep breath and sat down after the clarifying statement.* > >*"However," she added, shifting in her seat, "it's appropriate to use a comma if there's an action in the middle of a sentence."* > >*"True." She glanced at the others. "You can also end with a period if you include an action between two separate statements."* | There are no rules, and what you write should be whatever makes the most sense to you/ flows best. I see a lot of people advocating for and against using a colon— it is NOT a typical practice to use a colon in dialogue writing outside screenwriting, but it’s also not something you ~can’t~ do (John couldn’t help but wonder out loud: “what time is it?” Although I wouldn’t personally use this structure, it depends on your style!) Some authors even italicize dialogue rather than use quotes, others don’t even distinguish dialogue from the text (this requires a skilled hand, though, as it has the potential to be super confusing). Overall, there are no rules only conventions. I think we should understand conventions but not let them dictate our style! Even when it comes to the minutiae:) (A previous comment may have said it best, read a bunch of dialogue to learn conventions/see what you like!) | 1 | 56,258 | 2 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijtc0kt | ijqqlkz | 1,660,189,834 | 1,660,151,531 | 2 | 1 | The first one is correct. This post has some examples of how dialogue should be written with the correct tags. A transcription of the post if there's trouble with the link: >*"This is your daily, friendly reminder to use commas instead of periods during the dialogue of your story," she said with a smile.* > >*"Unless you are following the dialogue with an action and not a dialogue tag." He took a deep breath and sat down after the clarifying statement.* > >*"However," she added, shifting in her seat, "it's appropriate to use a comma if there's an action in the middle of a sentence."* > >*"True." She glanced at the others. "You can also end with a period if you include an action between two separate statements."* | put a comma before | 1 | 38,303 | 2 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijtc0kt | ijrvuqg | 1,660,189,834 | 1,660,166,929 | 2 | 1 | The first one is correct. This post has some examples of how dialogue should be written with the correct tags. A transcription of the post if there's trouble with the link: >*"This is your daily, friendly reminder to use commas instead of periods during the dialogue of your story," she said with a smile.* > >*"Unless you are following the dialogue with an action and not a dialogue tag." He took a deep breath and sat down after the clarifying statement.* > >*"However," she added, shifting in her seat, "it's appropriate to use a comma if there's an action in the middle of a sentence."* > >*"True." She glanced at the others. "You can also end with a period if you include an action between two separate statements."* | The first one is correct | 1 | 22,905 | 2 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijtc0kt | ijrzeoa | 1,660,189,834 | 1,660,168,313 | 2 | 0 | The first one is correct. This post has some examples of how dialogue should be written with the correct tags. A transcription of the post if there's trouble with the link: >*"This is your daily, friendly reminder to use commas instead of periods during the dialogue of your story," she said with a smile.* > >*"Unless you are following the dialogue with an action and not a dialogue tag." He took a deep breath and sat down after the clarifying statement.* > >*"However," she added, shifting in her seat, "it's appropriate to use a comma if there's an action in the middle of a sentence."* > >*"True." She glanced at the others. "You can also end with a period if you include an action between two separate statements."* | The ‘correct’ way has already been described, but I want to share how I do it as I think it’s superior. John asked, “what time is it?” “What time is it?” asked John. “Never have I ever,” John started, momentarily hesitating, “asked the time.” John started, “never have I ever,” he hesitated, “asked the time.” The last two I rarely have an opportunity to use effectively, but the style can flow quite nicely. | 1 | 21,521 | 2,000 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijs22hz | ijtc0kt | 1,660,169,366 | 1,660,189,834 | 1 | 2 | In the U.S., quotation marks surround other punctuation even if that punctuation isn't part of the quote, allowing me to finish a question with "Happiest Place on Earth?" when I would have normally written in a European style "Happiest Place on Earth"? | The first one is correct. This post has some examples of how dialogue should be written with the correct tags. A transcription of the post if there's trouble with the link: >*"This is your daily, friendly reminder to use commas instead of periods during the dialogue of your story," she said with a smile.* > >*"Unless you are following the dialogue with an action and not a dialogue tag." He took a deep breath and sat down after the clarifying statement.* > >*"However," she added, shifting in her seat, "it's appropriate to use a comma if there's an action in the middle of a sentence."* > >*"True." She glanced at the others. "You can also end with a period if you include an action between two separate statements."* | 0 | 20,468 | 2 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijtc0kt | ijshac8 | 1,660,189,834 | 1,660,175,761 | 2 | 1 | The first one is correct. This post has some examples of how dialogue should be written with the correct tags. A transcription of the post if there's trouble with the link: >*"This is your daily, friendly reminder to use commas instead of periods during the dialogue of your story," she said with a smile.* > >*"Unless you are following the dialogue with an action and not a dialogue tag." He took a deep breath and sat down after the clarifying statement.* > >*"However," she added, shifting in her seat, "it's appropriate to use a comma if there's an action in the middle of a sentence."* > >*"True." She glanced at the others. "You can also end with a period if you include an action between two separate statements."* | What about: "It is time, Mary," said John. Is it correct? The two comas confuse me | 1 | 14,073 | 2 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijr7woz | ijp4j3c | 1,660,157,941 | 1,660,123,929 | 2 | 1 | I've seen this question asked so many times on this subreddit. It's always worth searching for a similar post before making a new one. Or, you know, Google it. | Yes, comma if it's a speech tag like 'says', 'asks', 'shouts', but not if it's an action. "Look over here." John pointed to the the object in question. There is punctuation there, but it's a full stop, because the speech is treated as a complete statement. In the case of a speech tag, it's a comma because the speech tag itself affects the context of the previous statement. | 1 | 34,012 | 2 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijp40te | ijp4j3c | 1,660,123,522 | 1,660,123,929 | -1 | 1 | John asked, “What time is it?” Elizabeth answered, “It’s time for lunch.” “Not lunch already!” responded Cathleen. “Yes, it’s lunchtime. I’m hungry,” said Henry. Edit: Thanks for the correction, sometimes autocorrect isn’t right with capitalization :) | Yes, comma if it's a speech tag like 'says', 'asks', 'shouts', but not if it's an action. "Look over here." John pointed to the the object in question. There is punctuation there, but it's a full stop, because the speech is treated as a complete statement. In the case of a speech tag, it's a comma because the speech tag itself affects the context of the previous statement. | 0 | 407 | -1 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijr7woz | ijppyxs | 1,660,157,941 | 1,660,137,094 | 2 | 1 | I've seen this question asked so many times on this subreddit. It's always worth searching for a similar post before making a new one. Or, you know, Google it. | Usually if I’m writing dialogue where I put the speaker before what they are saying, I don’t directly quote them. So as opposed to saying (“What time is it?” John asked.) I’d phrase the question he’s asking as an action instead. (John asked what time it is.) I just do that to simplify it, I find it makes the writing easier to follow along as well. | 1 | 20,847 | 2 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijppyxs | ijp40te | 1,660,137,094 | 1,660,123,522 | 1 | -1 | Usually if I’m writing dialogue where I put the speaker before what they are saying, I don’t directly quote them. So as opposed to saying (“What time is it?” John asked.) I’d phrase the question he’s asking as an action instead. (John asked what time it is.) I just do that to simplify it, I find it makes the writing easier to follow along as well. | John asked, “What time is it?” Elizabeth answered, “It’s time for lunch.” “Not lunch already!” responded Cathleen. “Yes, it’s lunchtime. I’m hungry,” said Henry. Edit: Thanks for the correction, sometimes autocorrect isn’t right with capitalization :) | 1 | 13,572 | -1 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijr7woz | ijpzdw4 | 1,660,157,941 | 1,660,141,140 | 2 | 1 | I've seen this question asked so many times on this subreddit. It's always worth searching for a similar post before making a new one. Or, you know, Google it. | I would put the tag at the end of the line, and then use a comma. | 1 | 16,801 | 2 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijpzdw4 | ijp40te | 1,660,141,140 | 1,660,123,522 | 1 | -1 | I would put the tag at the end of the line, and then use a comma. | John asked, “What time is it?” Elizabeth answered, “It’s time for lunch.” “Not lunch already!” responded Cathleen. “Yes, it’s lunchtime. I’m hungry,” said Henry. Edit: Thanks for the correction, sometimes autocorrect isn’t right with capitalization :) | 1 | 17,618 | -1 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijr7woz | ijqivw0 | 1,660,157,941 | 1,660,148,683 | 2 | 1 | I've seen this question asked so many times on this subreddit. It's always worth searching for a similar post before making a new one. Or, you know, Google it. | So confused by this irrelevant rule. Like why? | 1 | 9,258 | 2 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijqivw0 | ijp40te | 1,660,148,683 | 1,660,123,522 | 1 | -1 | So confused by this irrelevant rule. Like why? | John asked, “What time is it?” Elizabeth answered, “It’s time for lunch.” “Not lunch already!” responded Cathleen. “Yes, it’s lunchtime. I’m hungry,” said Henry. Edit: Thanks for the correction, sometimes autocorrect isn’t right with capitalization :) | 1 | 25,161 | -1 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijr7woz | ijp40te | 1,660,157,941 | 1,660,123,522 | 2 | -1 | I've seen this question asked so many times on this subreddit. It's always worth searching for a similar post before making a new one. Or, you know, Google it. | John asked, “What time is it?” Elizabeth answered, “It’s time for lunch.” “Not lunch already!” responded Cathleen. “Yes, it’s lunchtime. I’m hungry,” said Henry. Edit: Thanks for the correction, sometimes autocorrect isn’t right with capitalization :) | 1 | 34,419 | -2 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijr7woz | ijpivul | 1,660,157,941 | 1,660,133,576 | 2 | 1 | I've seen this question asked so many times on this subreddit. It's always worth searching for a similar post before making a new one. Or, you know, Google it. | There are no rules, and what you write should be whatever makes the most sense to you/ flows best. I see a lot of people advocating for and against using a colon— it is NOT a typical practice to use a colon in dialogue writing outside screenwriting, but it’s also not something you ~can’t~ do (John couldn’t help but wonder out loud: “what time is it?” Although I wouldn’t personally use this structure, it depends on your style!) Some authors even italicize dialogue rather than use quotes, others don’t even distinguish dialogue from the text (this requires a skilled hand, though, as it has the potential to be super confusing). Overall, there are no rules only conventions. I think we should understand conventions but not let them dictate our style! Even when it comes to the minutiae:) (A previous comment may have said it best, read a bunch of dialogue to learn conventions/see what you like!) | 1 | 24,365 | 2 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijqqlkz | ijr7woz | 1,660,151,531 | 1,660,157,941 | 1 | 2 | put a comma before | I've seen this question asked so many times on this subreddit. It's always worth searching for a similar post before making a new one. Or, you know, Google it. | 0 | 6,410 | 2 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijp40te | ijs3uod | 1,660,123,522 | 1,660,170,081 | -1 | 1 | John asked, “What time is it?” Elizabeth answered, “It’s time for lunch.” “Not lunch already!” responded Cathleen. “Yes, it’s lunchtime. I’m hungry,” said Henry. Edit: Thanks for the correction, sometimes autocorrect isn’t right with capitalization :) | if you ask Cormac McCarthy, neither of those. | 0 | 46,559 | -1 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijs3uod | ijrzeoa | 1,660,170,081 | 1,660,168,313 | 1 | 0 | if you ask Cormac McCarthy, neither of those. | The ‘correct’ way has already been described, but I want to share how I do it as I think it’s superior. John asked, “what time is it?” “What time is it?” asked John. “Never have I ever,” John started, momentarily hesitating, “asked the time.” John started, “never have I ever,” he hesitated, “asked the time.” The last two I rarely have an opportunity to use effectively, but the style can flow quite nicely. | 1 | 1,768 | 1,000 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijpivul | ijp40te | 1,660,133,576 | 1,660,123,522 | 1 | -1 | There are no rules, and what you write should be whatever makes the most sense to you/ flows best. I see a lot of people advocating for and against using a colon— it is NOT a typical practice to use a colon in dialogue writing outside screenwriting, but it’s also not something you ~can’t~ do (John couldn’t help but wonder out loud: “what time is it?” Although I wouldn’t personally use this structure, it depends on your style!) Some authors even italicize dialogue rather than use quotes, others don’t even distinguish dialogue from the text (this requires a skilled hand, though, as it has the potential to be super confusing). Overall, there are no rules only conventions. I think we should understand conventions but not let them dictate our style! Even when it comes to the minutiae:) (A previous comment may have said it best, read a bunch of dialogue to learn conventions/see what you like!) | John asked, “What time is it?” Elizabeth answered, “It’s time for lunch.” “Not lunch already!” responded Cathleen. “Yes, it’s lunchtime. I’m hungry,” said Henry. Edit: Thanks for the correction, sometimes autocorrect isn’t right with capitalization :) | 1 | 10,054 | -1 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijqqlkz | ijp40te | 1,660,151,531 | 1,660,123,522 | 1 | -1 | put a comma before | John asked, “What time is it?” Elizabeth answered, “It’s time for lunch.” “Not lunch already!” responded Cathleen. “Yes, it’s lunchtime. I’m hungry,” said Henry. Edit: Thanks for the correction, sometimes autocorrect isn’t right with capitalization :) | 1 | 28,009 | -1 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijp40te | ijrvuqg | 1,660,123,522 | 1,660,166,929 | -1 | 1 | John asked, “What time is it?” Elizabeth answered, “It’s time for lunch.” “Not lunch already!” responded Cathleen. “Yes, it’s lunchtime. I’m hungry,” said Henry. Edit: Thanks for the correction, sometimes autocorrect isn’t right with capitalization :) | The first one is correct | 0 | 43,407 | -1 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijrzeoa | ijp40te | 1,660,168,313 | 1,660,123,522 | 0 | -1 | The ‘correct’ way has already been described, but I want to share how I do it as I think it’s superior. John asked, “what time is it?” “What time is it?” asked John. “Never have I ever,” John started, momentarily hesitating, “asked the time.” John started, “never have I ever,” he hesitated, “asked the time.” The last two I rarely have an opportunity to use effectively, but the style can flow quite nicely. | John asked, “What time is it?” Elizabeth answered, “It’s time for lunch.” “Not lunch already!” responded Cathleen. “Yes, it’s lunchtime. I’m hungry,” said Henry. Edit: Thanks for the correction, sometimes autocorrect isn’t right with capitalization :) | 1 | 44,791 | 0 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijs22hz | ijp40te | 1,660,169,366 | 1,660,123,522 | 1 | -1 | In the U.S., quotation marks surround other punctuation even if that punctuation isn't part of the quote, allowing me to finish a question with "Happiest Place on Earth?" when I would have normally written in a European style "Happiest Place on Earth"? | John asked, “What time is it?” Elizabeth answered, “It’s time for lunch.” “Not lunch already!” responded Cathleen. “Yes, it’s lunchtime. I’m hungry,” said Henry. Edit: Thanks for the correction, sometimes autocorrect isn’t right with capitalization :) | 1 | 45,844 | -1 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijp40te | ijshac8 | 1,660,123,522 | 1,660,175,761 | -1 | 1 | John asked, “What time is it?” Elizabeth answered, “It’s time for lunch.” “Not lunch already!” responded Cathleen. “Yes, it’s lunchtime. I’m hungry,” said Henry. Edit: Thanks for the correction, sometimes autocorrect isn’t right with capitalization :) | What about: "It is time, Mary," said John. Is it correct? The two comas confuse me | 0 | 52,239 | -1 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijrzeoa | ijs22hz | 1,660,168,313 | 1,660,169,366 | 0 | 1 | The ‘correct’ way has already been described, but I want to share how I do it as I think it’s superior. John asked, “what time is it?” “What time is it?” asked John. “Never have I ever,” John started, momentarily hesitating, “asked the time.” John started, “never have I ever,” he hesitated, “asked the time.” The last two I rarely have an opportunity to use effectively, but the style can flow quite nicely. | In the U.S., quotation marks surround other punctuation even if that punctuation isn't part of the quote, allowing me to finish a question with "Happiest Place on Earth?" when I would have normally written in a European style "Happiest Place on Earth"? | 0 | 1,053 | 1,000 | ||
wksibw | writing_train | 0.92 | Which is the correct way to format dialogue? Is it John asked, "What time is it?" or John asked "What time is it?" Do I put a comma before the quotation marks or not? | ijshac8 | ijrzeoa | 1,660,175,761 | 1,660,168,313 | 1 | 0 | What about: "It is time, Mary," said John. Is it correct? The two comas confuse me | The ‘correct’ way has already been described, but I want to share how I do it as I think it’s superior. John asked, “what time is it?” “What time is it?” asked John. “Never have I ever,” John started, momentarily hesitating, “asked the time.” John started, “never have I ever,” he hesitated, “asked the time.” The last two I rarely have an opportunity to use effectively, but the style can flow quite nicely. | 1 | 7,448 | 1,000 | ||
x238ro | writing_train | 0.84 | Writing from the perspective of two different main characters I'm working on a novel written from the perspective of two sisters. The idea being that it switches back and forth between the two. I'm a little concerned with it jumping between two and am wanting some general advice around this writing style. 3rd Person High Fantasy NA What have you seen that's made this style of writing fail? What's the word count expectation? Want to hear all opinions on any aspect about this style! | imhmzyb | imhi53f | 1,661,926,204 | 1,661,922,743 | 10 | 5 | For me, what makes or breaks POV switches usually involves a) writing style and b) character differences. You can get away without too much of a writing style difference. Brandon Sanderson kind of does this. His writing STYLE (sentence structure, etc) stays pretty consistent between characters. You can, of course, give style markers - maybe one character has a more frantic POV and so you write longer sentences without much punctuation or pauses or breaks or anything. Maybe another character has shorter sentences. They're terse. This is something you can consider. The big difference-maker for me though is their personality. Who are they? If someone is a surgeon, they'd use more medical metaphors. They'd make more clinical observations. How they describe someone could involve an element of how healthy they look. A farmer might observe physical characteristics, markers of strength, similarities to family members, how well-worked their hands are. These choices will help differentiate your characters, even if you write in basically the same way. Ideally you do a bit of a) and b). That comes with practice. I'll give one other word of caution, which is to keep an eye on your word-usage. You might use a certain phrase or word in one POV character but then repeat it in another (my current manuscript has its MC say "cobbled stone", while others just say "cobblestone", for example) - you can keep track of this and adjust word choices that a character might use for one reason or another. Hopefully some of this was helpful. Good luck with your writing! | I guess just covering my bases, you'll want to either give them extremely different voices and perspectives, or have them be doing radically different things. You can do both, but you need to have at least one or the other. Do you plan on having them be separated for large portions of this novel? | 1 | 3,461 | 2 | ||
x238ro | writing_train | 0.84 | Writing from the perspective of two different main characters I'm working on a novel written from the perspective of two sisters. The idea being that it switches back and forth between the two. I'm a little concerned with it jumping between two and am wanting some general advice around this writing style. 3rd Person High Fantasy NA What have you seen that's made this style of writing fail? What's the word count expectation? Want to hear all opinions on any aspect about this style! | imjmlxh | imi2e0p | 1,661,965,588 | 1,661,939,014 | 3 | 2 | So a lot of the responses here are to make sure that your narration style is vastly different between characters, but I don't entirely agree. It's important that your readers don't confuse characters based on their actions or dialogue, but the entire point of writing from 3rd person is that you're narrating in your voice, not your character's. Their actions and dialogue are theirs and should be unique when writing from different perspectives, but your narration will always be consistently your style. That being said, a large part of narration and prose can often consist of the thought processes of the character whose perspective is being focused on. In those situations, you do want to make the character's personality shine through, especially if the focus is on something personal rather than the narrator's thoughts or descriptions. I realized after writing this all out that it may be a bit confusing, but I'm sure that's just because I suck at explanations. Basically, writing from any character's perspective should consist of two voices: their thoughts, actions, and words, and those of the narrator. Your narrative voice should always be consistent. The characters, on the other hand, should be distinctly different. I hope that helps! | 3rd person makes it easier, because the narrators voice is always the narrators voice. Main thing to watch out for imo is forcing a POV shift when you don’t need to. A lot of people first trying to start a novel like this seem to think the chapters need to follow a pattern. Sometimes the story just isn’t there for that. It’s okay for POV1 to be having some downtime while POV2 is being chased through a forest. Just focus on the POV most interesting at the time because otherwise it just gets jarring and frustrating cutting from the storyline you like as a reader. Other thing is character voices, but that should be obvious. POV1 should not sound like POV2 | 1 | 26,574 | 1.5 | ||
x238ro | writing_train | 0.84 | Writing from the perspective of two different main characters I'm working on a novel written from the perspective of two sisters. The idea being that it switches back and forth between the two. I'm a little concerned with it jumping between two and am wanting some general advice around this writing style. 3rd Person High Fantasy NA What have you seen that's made this style of writing fail? What's the word count expectation? Want to hear all opinions on any aspect about this style! | imjmlxh | imiyuqm | 1,661,965,588 | 1,661,956,405 | 3 | 2 | So a lot of the responses here are to make sure that your narration style is vastly different between characters, but I don't entirely agree. It's important that your readers don't confuse characters based on their actions or dialogue, but the entire point of writing from 3rd person is that you're narrating in your voice, not your character's. Their actions and dialogue are theirs and should be unique when writing from different perspectives, but your narration will always be consistently your style. That being said, a large part of narration and prose can often consist of the thought processes of the character whose perspective is being focused on. In those situations, you do want to make the character's personality shine through, especially if the focus is on something personal rather than the narrator's thoughts or descriptions. I realized after writing this all out that it may be a bit confusing, but I'm sure that's just because I suck at explanations. Basically, writing from any character's perspective should consist of two voices: their thoughts, actions, and words, and those of the narrator. Your narrative voice should always be consistent. The characters, on the other hand, should be distinctly different. I hope that helps! | Take a look at the leviathan series by Scott westerfeld, the entire trilogy switch back and forth between the two protagonist and it is awesome, you should totally check it out. The change in the perspective indeed breaks the flow as he almost always use a cliffhanger to end the chapter, but it's really well done | 1 | 9,183 | 1.5 | ||
x238ro | writing_train | 0.84 | Writing from the perspective of two different main characters I'm working on a novel written from the perspective of two sisters. The idea being that it switches back and forth between the two. I'm a little concerned with it jumping between two and am wanting some general advice around this writing style. 3rd Person High Fantasy NA What have you seen that's made this style of writing fail? What's the word count expectation? Want to hear all opinions on any aspect about this style! | imjmlxh | imhxe88 | 1,661,965,588 | 1,661,934,774 | 3 | 0 | So a lot of the responses here are to make sure that your narration style is vastly different between characters, but I don't entirely agree. It's important that your readers don't confuse characters based on their actions or dialogue, but the entire point of writing from 3rd person is that you're narrating in your voice, not your character's. Their actions and dialogue are theirs and should be unique when writing from different perspectives, but your narration will always be consistently your style. That being said, a large part of narration and prose can often consist of the thought processes of the character whose perspective is being focused on. In those situations, you do want to make the character's personality shine through, especially if the focus is on something personal rather than the narrator's thoughts or descriptions. I realized after writing this all out that it may be a bit confusing, but I'm sure that's just because I suck at explanations. Basically, writing from any character's perspective should consist of two voices: their thoughts, actions, and words, and those of the narrator. Your narrative voice should always be consistent. The characters, on the other hand, should be distinctly different. I hope that helps! | Well all I know is that if you switch the perspective too much then it becomes confusing. That's all I know, havnt really tried writing it, and have only seen it done in fanfics but I don't think the writing style for fanfics is fit for actual books. (Plzz any fanfic writers don't come at me, I'm sorry) | 1 | 30,814 | 3,000 | ||
x238ro | writing_train | 0.84 | Writing from the perspective of two different main characters I'm working on a novel written from the perspective of two sisters. The idea being that it switches back and forth between the two. I'm a little concerned with it jumping between two and am wanting some general advice around this writing style. 3rd Person High Fantasy NA What have you seen that's made this style of writing fail? What's the word count expectation? Want to hear all opinions on any aspect about this style! | imi2e0p | imhxe88 | 1,661,939,014 | 1,661,934,774 | 2 | 0 | 3rd person makes it easier, because the narrators voice is always the narrators voice. Main thing to watch out for imo is forcing a POV shift when you don’t need to. A lot of people first trying to start a novel like this seem to think the chapters need to follow a pattern. Sometimes the story just isn’t there for that. It’s okay for POV1 to be having some downtime while POV2 is being chased through a forest. Just focus on the POV most interesting at the time because otherwise it just gets jarring and frustrating cutting from the storyline you like as a reader. Other thing is character voices, but that should be obvious. POV1 should not sound like POV2 | Well all I know is that if you switch the perspective too much then it becomes confusing. That's all I know, havnt really tried writing it, and have only seen it done in fanfics but I don't think the writing style for fanfics is fit for actual books. (Plzz any fanfic writers don't come at me, I'm sorry) | 1 | 4,240 | 2,000 | ||
x238ro | writing_train | 0.84 | Writing from the perspective of two different main characters I'm working on a novel written from the perspective of two sisters. The idea being that it switches back and forth between the two. I'm a little concerned with it jumping between two and am wanting some general advice around this writing style. 3rd Person High Fantasy NA What have you seen that's made this style of writing fail? What's the word count expectation? Want to hear all opinions on any aspect about this style! | imiyuqm | imhxe88 | 1,661,956,405 | 1,661,934,774 | 2 | 0 | Take a look at the leviathan series by Scott westerfeld, the entire trilogy switch back and forth between the two protagonist and it is awesome, you should totally check it out. The change in the perspective indeed breaks the flow as he almost always use a cliffhanger to end the chapter, but it's really well done | Well all I know is that if you switch the perspective too much then it becomes confusing. That's all I know, havnt really tried writing it, and have only seen it done in fanfics but I don't think the writing style for fanfics is fit for actual books. (Plzz any fanfic writers don't come at me, I'm sorry) | 1 | 21,631 | 2,000 | ||
rmwvvc | writing_train | 0.84 | How much of myself should I put into my story? I’m in the brainstorming process of my first novel and I’ve realized that the main character is just an exaggerated version of myself and will become the person that I want to be by the end of the book. She looks like me, has the same worries as me, the same problems, same hometown, same physical disabilities etc. Where do I draw the line? I want to tell my story in a meaningful way but I want it to be more than just myself. | hpp6yiq | hpoqupa | 1,640,277,662 | 1,640,270,590 | 10 | 4 | If you're writing this with the intention of actually putting it out in the world for people to read, and not just as therapy or a writing exercise, then you draw the line where things stop making an interesting story and start becoming wish fulfillment. That's the difference between a Mary Sue and a self-insert. No one cares if the protagonist is a self-insert as long as the story is good. | If you write what you know, of course your novel will be about yourself. How much depends on how comfortable you are with airing all your personal history (and getting sued by other people for including them). Most writers prefer to mask their persona behind composite characters, altered locations, false names and descriptors, and the like. Flip some genders, move the locale, change some ages and few will be the wiser, allowing you to write what you know with comparative anonymity. | 1 | 7,072 | 2.5 | ||
rmwvvc | writing_train | 0.84 | How much of myself should I put into my story? I’m in the brainstorming process of my first novel and I’ve realized that the main character is just an exaggerated version of myself and will become the person that I want to be by the end of the book. She looks like me, has the same worries as me, the same problems, same hometown, same physical disabilities etc. Where do I draw the line? I want to tell my story in a meaningful way but I want it to be more than just myself. | hpot0yp | hpp6yiq | 1,640,271,603 | 1,640,277,662 | 5 | 10 | I think it's only a problem if the protagonist becomes a perfect persona for an otherwise bland character, for example a Mary Sue type thing. Then again... it does sell well like "Twilight" or "Ready Player One" | If you're writing this with the intention of actually putting it out in the world for people to read, and not just as therapy or a writing exercise, then you draw the line where things stop making an interesting story and start becoming wish fulfillment. That's the difference between a Mary Sue and a self-insert. No one cares if the protagonist is a self-insert as long as the story is good. | 0 | 6,059 | 2 | ||
rmwvvc | writing_train | 0.84 | How much of myself should I put into my story? I’m in the brainstorming process of my first novel and I’ve realized that the main character is just an exaggerated version of myself and will become the person that I want to be by the end of the book. She looks like me, has the same worries as me, the same problems, same hometown, same physical disabilities etc. Where do I draw the line? I want to tell my story in a meaningful way but I want it to be more than just myself. | hpp6yiq | hpp3bpu | 1,640,277,662 | 1,640,276,121 | 10 | 3 | If you're writing this with the intention of actually putting it out in the world for people to read, and not just as therapy or a writing exercise, then you draw the line where things stop making an interesting story and start becoming wish fulfillment. That's the difference between a Mary Sue and a self-insert. No one cares if the protagonist is a self-insert as long as the story is good. | I’m currently working on a story with two protagonists who both embody different aspects of how I see myself, while also possessing their own traits. I’m doing this in order to take a good, honest look at me and my values and express them in a way I find interesting and creatively fulfilling. I think honesty is key here. If you’re willing to put yourself out there in a way that’s neither overly flattering or massively self-deprecating for no good reason, and demonstrates clear-eyed self-reflection, then I think you could make a great story out of that. | 1 | 1,541 | 3.333333 | ||
rmwvvc | writing_train | 0.84 | How much of myself should I put into my story? I’m in the brainstorming process of my first novel and I’ve realized that the main character is just an exaggerated version of myself and will become the person that I want to be by the end of the book. She looks like me, has the same worries as me, the same problems, same hometown, same physical disabilities etc. Where do I draw the line? I want to tell my story in a meaningful way but I want it to be more than just myself. | hpp629r | hpp6yiq | 1,640,277,285 | 1,640,277,662 | 3 | 10 | There is catharsis in writing. I wrote a really dark story once and read it again years later and realized it was me in allegory. Don’t worry about how much of you is in there. Let the book out and then you can always establish good balances through revision. | If you're writing this with the intention of actually putting it out in the world for people to read, and not just as therapy or a writing exercise, then you draw the line where things stop making an interesting story and start becoming wish fulfillment. That's the difference between a Mary Sue and a self-insert. No one cares if the protagonist is a self-insert as long as the story is good. | 0 | 377 | 3.333333 | ||
rmwvvc | writing_train | 0.84 | How much of myself should I put into my story? I’m in the brainstorming process of my first novel and I’ve realized that the main character is just an exaggerated version of myself and will become the person that I want to be by the end of the book. She looks like me, has the same worries as me, the same problems, same hometown, same physical disabilities etc. Where do I draw the line? I want to tell my story in a meaningful way but I want it to be more than just myself. | hpp6yiq | hpovi0q | 1,640,277,662 | 1,640,272,720 | 10 | 2 | If you're writing this with the intention of actually putting it out in the world for people to read, and not just as therapy or a writing exercise, then you draw the line where things stop making an interesting story and start becoming wish fulfillment. That's the difference between a Mary Sue and a self-insert. No one cares if the protagonist is a self-insert as long as the story is good. | Even if it is completely you, it is an interpretation of you. Someone else would write a completely different story of you, or even yourself would come up with a completely different text if written a few years down the road. So I wouldn't worry at all. Also, the story might need your character to behave differently than you or pull her towards a different direction. I really wouldn't worry about it as long as you are enjoying it. The end result will be more than just yourself. | 1 | 4,942 | 5 | ||
rmwvvc | writing_train | 0.84 | How much of myself should I put into my story? I’m in the brainstorming process of my first novel and I’ve realized that the main character is just an exaggerated version of myself and will become the person that I want to be by the end of the book. She looks like me, has the same worries as me, the same problems, same hometown, same physical disabilities etc. Where do I draw the line? I want to tell my story in a meaningful way but I want it to be more than just myself. | hpow51e | hpp6yiq | 1,640,273,000 | 1,640,277,662 | 2 | 10 | I know what you’re asking, and maybe you already know this: all your stories are already all you. Maybe some things borrow heavily from other places, sure. Still every word you write is one you carefully selected. The problem, always, is being criticized for it. And that’s something you can’t really help. Critics will always find something to nitpick and you just have to be okay with what you write in spite of any possible bad review. | If you're writing this with the intention of actually putting it out in the world for people to read, and not just as therapy or a writing exercise, then you draw the line where things stop making an interesting story and start becoming wish fulfillment. That's the difference between a Mary Sue and a self-insert. No one cares if the protagonist is a self-insert as long as the story is good. | 0 | 4,662 | 5 | ||
rmwvvc | writing_train | 0.84 | How much of myself should I put into my story? I’m in the brainstorming process of my first novel and I’ve realized that the main character is just an exaggerated version of myself and will become the person that I want to be by the end of the book. She looks like me, has the same worries as me, the same problems, same hometown, same physical disabilities etc. Where do I draw the line? I want to tell my story in a meaningful way but I want it to be more than just myself. | hpoqupa | hpot0yp | 1,640,270,590 | 1,640,271,603 | 4 | 5 | If you write what you know, of course your novel will be about yourself. How much depends on how comfortable you are with airing all your personal history (and getting sued by other people for including them). Most writers prefer to mask their persona behind composite characters, altered locations, false names and descriptors, and the like. Flip some genders, move the locale, change some ages and few will be the wiser, allowing you to write what you know with comparative anonymity. | I think it's only a problem if the protagonist becomes a perfect persona for an otherwise bland character, for example a Mary Sue type thing. Then again... it does sell well like "Twilight" or "Ready Player One" | 0 | 1,013 | 1.25 | ||
rmwvvc | writing_train | 0.84 | How much of myself should I put into my story? I’m in the brainstorming process of my first novel and I’ve realized that the main character is just an exaggerated version of myself and will become the person that I want to be by the end of the book. She looks like me, has the same worries as me, the same problems, same hometown, same physical disabilities etc. Where do I draw the line? I want to tell my story in a meaningful way but I want it to be more than just myself. | hpp97s3 | hpp3bpu | 1,640,278,594 | 1,640,276,121 | 4 | 3 | The best advice for an aspiring writer is 100% just to write something, anything, and worry about the details later. Even if what you create isn’t marketable, it will still give you a feel with what flows well, it will generate endless tested ideas of what does and doesn’t work, and it will get you into a routine. This will put you ahead of the vast majority of people with the same goals as a writer. | I’m currently working on a story with two protagonists who both embody different aspects of how I see myself, while also possessing their own traits. I’m doing this in order to take a good, honest look at me and my values and express them in a way I find interesting and creatively fulfilling. I think honesty is key here. If you’re willing to put yourself out there in a way that’s neither overly flattering or massively self-deprecating for no good reason, and demonstrates clear-eyed self-reflection, then I think you could make a great story out of that. | 1 | 2,473 | 1.333333 | ||
rmwvvc | writing_train | 0.84 | How much of myself should I put into my story? I’m in the brainstorming process of my first novel and I’ve realized that the main character is just an exaggerated version of myself and will become the person that I want to be by the end of the book. She looks like me, has the same worries as me, the same problems, same hometown, same physical disabilities etc. Where do I draw the line? I want to tell my story in a meaningful way but I want it to be more than just myself. | hpp97s3 | hpp629r | 1,640,278,594 | 1,640,277,285 | 4 | 3 | The best advice for an aspiring writer is 100% just to write something, anything, and worry about the details later. Even if what you create isn’t marketable, it will still give you a feel with what flows well, it will generate endless tested ideas of what does and doesn’t work, and it will get you into a routine. This will put you ahead of the vast majority of people with the same goals as a writer. | There is catharsis in writing. I wrote a really dark story once and read it again years later and realized it was me in allegory. Don’t worry about how much of you is in there. Let the book out and then you can always establish good balances through revision. | 1 | 1,309 | 1.333333 | ||
rmwvvc | writing_train | 0.84 | How much of myself should I put into my story? I’m in the brainstorming process of my first novel and I’ve realized that the main character is just an exaggerated version of myself and will become the person that I want to be by the end of the book. She looks like me, has the same worries as me, the same problems, same hometown, same physical disabilities etc. Where do I draw the line? I want to tell my story in a meaningful way but I want it to be more than just myself. | hpovi0q | hpp97s3 | 1,640,272,720 | 1,640,278,594 | 2 | 4 | Even if it is completely you, it is an interpretation of you. Someone else would write a completely different story of you, or even yourself would come up with a completely different text if written a few years down the road. So I wouldn't worry at all. Also, the story might need your character to behave differently than you or pull her towards a different direction. I really wouldn't worry about it as long as you are enjoying it. The end result will be more than just yourself. | The best advice for an aspiring writer is 100% just to write something, anything, and worry about the details later. Even if what you create isn’t marketable, it will still give you a feel with what flows well, it will generate endless tested ideas of what does and doesn’t work, and it will get you into a routine. This will put you ahead of the vast majority of people with the same goals as a writer. | 0 | 5,874 | 2 | ||
rmwvvc | writing_train | 0.84 | How much of myself should I put into my story? I’m in the brainstorming process of my first novel and I’ve realized that the main character is just an exaggerated version of myself and will become the person that I want to be by the end of the book. She looks like me, has the same worries as me, the same problems, same hometown, same physical disabilities etc. Where do I draw the line? I want to tell my story in a meaningful way but I want it to be more than just myself. | hpow51e | hpp97s3 | 1,640,273,000 | 1,640,278,594 | 2 | 4 | I know what you’re asking, and maybe you already know this: all your stories are already all you. Maybe some things borrow heavily from other places, sure. Still every word you write is one you carefully selected. The problem, always, is being criticized for it. And that’s something you can’t really help. Critics will always find something to nitpick and you just have to be okay with what you write in spite of any possible bad review. | The best advice for an aspiring writer is 100% just to write something, anything, and worry about the details later. Even if what you create isn’t marketable, it will still give you a feel with what flows well, it will generate endless tested ideas of what does and doesn’t work, and it will get you into a routine. This will put you ahead of the vast majority of people with the same goals as a writer. | 0 | 5,594 | 2 | ||
rmwvvc | writing_train | 0.84 | How much of myself should I put into my story? I’m in the brainstorming process of my first novel and I’ve realized that the main character is just an exaggerated version of myself and will become the person that I want to be by the end of the book. She looks like me, has the same worries as me, the same problems, same hometown, same physical disabilities etc. Where do I draw the line? I want to tell my story in a meaningful way but I want it to be more than just myself. | hpovi0q | hpp3bpu | 1,640,272,720 | 1,640,276,121 | 2 | 3 | Even if it is completely you, it is an interpretation of you. Someone else would write a completely different story of you, or even yourself would come up with a completely different text if written a few years down the road. So I wouldn't worry at all. Also, the story might need your character to behave differently than you or pull her towards a different direction. I really wouldn't worry about it as long as you are enjoying it. The end result will be more than just yourself. | I’m currently working on a story with two protagonists who both embody different aspects of how I see myself, while also possessing their own traits. I’m doing this in order to take a good, honest look at me and my values and express them in a way I find interesting and creatively fulfilling. I think honesty is key here. If you’re willing to put yourself out there in a way that’s neither overly flattering or massively self-deprecating for no good reason, and demonstrates clear-eyed self-reflection, then I think you could make a great story out of that. | 0 | 3,401 | 1.5 | ||
rmwvvc | writing_train | 0.84 | How much of myself should I put into my story? I’m in the brainstorming process of my first novel and I’ve realized that the main character is just an exaggerated version of myself and will become the person that I want to be by the end of the book. She looks like me, has the same worries as me, the same problems, same hometown, same physical disabilities etc. Where do I draw the line? I want to tell my story in a meaningful way but I want it to be more than just myself. | hpow51e | hpp3bpu | 1,640,273,000 | 1,640,276,121 | 2 | 3 | I know what you’re asking, and maybe you already know this: all your stories are already all you. Maybe some things borrow heavily from other places, sure. Still every word you write is one you carefully selected. The problem, always, is being criticized for it. And that’s something you can’t really help. Critics will always find something to nitpick and you just have to be okay with what you write in spite of any possible bad review. | I’m currently working on a story with two protagonists who both embody different aspects of how I see myself, while also possessing their own traits. I’m doing this in order to take a good, honest look at me and my values and express them in a way I find interesting and creatively fulfilling. I think honesty is key here. If you’re willing to put yourself out there in a way that’s neither overly flattering or massively self-deprecating for no good reason, and demonstrates clear-eyed self-reflection, then I think you could make a great story out of that. | 0 | 3,121 | 1.5 | ||
rmwvvc | writing_train | 0.84 | How much of myself should I put into my story? I’m in the brainstorming process of my first novel and I’ve realized that the main character is just an exaggerated version of myself and will become the person that I want to be by the end of the book. She looks like me, has the same worries as me, the same problems, same hometown, same physical disabilities etc. Where do I draw the line? I want to tell my story in a meaningful way but I want it to be more than just myself. | hpovi0q | hpp629r | 1,640,272,720 | 1,640,277,285 | 2 | 3 | Even if it is completely you, it is an interpretation of you. Someone else would write a completely different story of you, or even yourself would come up with a completely different text if written a few years down the road. So I wouldn't worry at all. Also, the story might need your character to behave differently than you or pull her towards a different direction. I really wouldn't worry about it as long as you are enjoying it. The end result will be more than just yourself. | There is catharsis in writing. I wrote a really dark story once and read it again years later and realized it was me in allegory. Don’t worry about how much of you is in there. Let the book out and then you can always establish good balances through revision. | 0 | 4,565 | 1.5 | ||
rmwvvc | writing_train | 0.84 | How much of myself should I put into my story? I’m in the brainstorming process of my first novel and I’ve realized that the main character is just an exaggerated version of myself and will become the person that I want to be by the end of the book. She looks like me, has the same worries as me, the same problems, same hometown, same physical disabilities etc. Where do I draw the line? I want to tell my story in a meaningful way but I want it to be more than just myself. | hpow51e | hpp629r | 1,640,273,000 | 1,640,277,285 | 2 | 3 | I know what you’re asking, and maybe you already know this: all your stories are already all you. Maybe some things borrow heavily from other places, sure. Still every word you write is one you carefully selected. The problem, always, is being criticized for it. And that’s something you can’t really help. Critics will always find something to nitpick and you just have to be okay with what you write in spite of any possible bad review. | There is catharsis in writing. I wrote a really dark story once and read it again years later and realized it was me in allegory. Don’t worry about how much of you is in there. Let the book out and then you can always establish good balances through revision. | 0 | 4,285 | 1.5 | ||
rmwvvc | writing_train | 0.84 | How much of myself should I put into my story? I’m in the brainstorming process of my first novel and I’ve realized that the main character is just an exaggerated version of myself and will become the person that I want to be by the end of the book. She looks like me, has the same worries as me, the same problems, same hometown, same physical disabilities etc. Where do I draw the line? I want to tell my story in a meaningful way but I want it to be more than just myself. | hppx18u | hppp80g | 1,640,288,591 | 1,640,285,254 | 2 | 1 | When people say your MC is delightful and likeable and witty, and you know they're actually describing you - that's a really lovely feeling. Conversely, if people describe your MC in less than flattering terms, and you know they're actually describing you - that stings an awful lot. Only you can decide whether you can handle the potential criticism. | It's as good a place to start as any. Just don't let your other characters go all cardboardy. | 1 | 3,337 | 2 |
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