To: 
From: "Steve Oostrom" 
Reply-To: trekcreative{at}yahoogroups.com

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>If I think a section of dialogue has changed topic
and would benefit from being broken into another paragraph I usually do so.
 I could add some bit of description, but if I think the flow of what's
going on would suffer I just break it into a second paragraph, leaving off
the quotation mark at the end of the first one to indicate the same person
is speaking.

>I actually didn't pick it up from Joseph.  I have seen
this used in various works of fiction.

First of all, let me apologize to Joe.  Perhaps it was not the best place
t= o make comments that might
have been directed at him while commenting on a "Dark Horizons"
story.  I w= ill refrain from doing that
again.  I will also drop the topic of splitting one person's dialogue over
= multiple paragraphs after this
post.  Michael mentioned that he saw this in other works of fiction.  He
mu= st be reading different books
than I am.  Obviously, I have seen long statements from one character
broke= n up into multiple
paragraphs, and I have done such things myself.  I've seen long
description= s of action or thought or
whatever between lines of dialogue from the same character, and those have
= been split up into
different paragraphs.  What I have not seen, however, are paragraphs of
jus= t one or two sentences in
each containing dialogue from the same character.  I have been watching for=
 this in the stuff I've
been reading, and I haven't seen any of it.

I also conducted an experiment.  I have long known that I do not notice
per= iods when reading.  I can
take a sample of text and delete all the periods and have no problem
readin= g it.  I tend to be more
clued in to the structure of the sentence and initial capitals.  Perhaps
I'= m not noticing quotation marks
either, especially quotation marks at the end of paragraphs.  If I'm seeing=
 short dialogue, I am
assuming quotation marks at the end of the paragraph, even if I do not see
= one.  My mind is telling
me that in short paragraphs, each paragraph is a different character
speaki= ng, quotation mark or not.
Perhaps I have been conditioned by lots of reading and writing over the
yea= rs to do it this way, and now
I have to recondition myself to start to notice closing quotation marks at
= the end of a sentence.  This
could be a perception problem on my part.  I wonder if Joe reads "Dark
Hori= zon" and when Michael
uses this structure if he can follow it, and if Michael reads
"Liberty," he=
 can follow it.

Of course, if Joe or Michael wants to write in this style, it is within his=
 right to do so, and if one reader--
me--has a problem with it, that should not stop them from writing their
sto= ries in the way they feel best
expresses what they want to say.  I just have to live with it and start to
= pay attention to the presence or
absence of quotation marks at the end of sentences.  I just won't be using
= it in my writing either.

Steve
The Universe Unbounded.

Visit "Star Trek: Athena" at http://ussathena.iwarp.com






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>If I think a section of dialogue has changed
topicand would
benefit
from being broken into anotherparagraph I usually do
so.  I could add some bitof description, but if I think
the flow of what'sgoing on would suffer I just break it into a
secondparagraph, leaving off the quotation mark at the
endof the first one to indicate the same person is
speaking.>I actually didn't pick it up from
Joseph.  I have seenthis used in various works of
fiction.
 
First of all, let me apologize to
Joe. 
Perhaps it was not the best place to make comments that
might
have been directed at him while
commenting on a
"Dark Horizons" story.  I will refrain from doing
that
again.  I will also drop
the topic of
splitting one person's dialogue over multiple paragraphs after
this
post.  Michael mentioned
that he saw this in
other works of fiction.  He must be reading different
books
than I am.  Obviously, I
have seen long
statements from one character broken up into multiple
paragraphs, and I have done such things
myself.  I've seen long descriptions of action or thought
or
whatever between lines of dialogue
from the same
character, and those have been split up into
different paragraphs. 
What I have not seen,
however, are paragraphs of just one or two sentences in
each containing dialogue from the same
character.  I have been watching for this in the stuff
I've
been reading, and I haven't seen any of
it.
 
I also conducted an
experiment.  I have
long known that I do not notice periods when reading.  I
can
take a sample of text and delete
all the periods
and have no problem reading it.  I tend to be more
clued in to the structure of the
sentence and
initial capitals.  Perhaps I'm not noticing quotation
marks
either, especially quotation marks
at the end of
paragraphs.  If I'm seeing short dialogue, I am
assuming quotation marks at the end of the
paragraph, even if I do not see one.  My mind is
telling
me that in short paragraphs, each
paragraph is a
different character speaking, quotation mark or not.
Perhaps I have been conditioned by
lots of reading
and writing over the years to do it this way, and now
I have to recondition myself to
start to notice
closing quotation marks at the end of a sentence. 
This
could be a perception problem on
my part.  I
wonder if Joe reads "Dark Horizon" and when
Michael
uses this structure if he can
follow it, and if
Michael reads "Liberty," he can follow it.
 
Of course, if Joe or Michael wants
to write in
this
style, it is within his right to do so, and if one reader--
me--has a problem with it, that
should not stop
them from writing their stories in the way they feel best
expresses what they want to
say.  I just have
to live with it and start to pay attention to the presence
or
absence of quotation marks at the end of
sentences.  I just won't be using it in my writing
either.
 
Steve
The Universe
Unbounded.
 
Visit "Star Trek: Athena" at http://ussathena.iwarp.com;">http://ussathena.iwarp.comhttp://ussathena.iwarp.com">http://ussathena.iwarp.com;
 
 
 







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