Writing Dialogue
Within a short story, a novel or even a biography, dialogue
can be written either as direct speech or as indirect speech.
Setting out direct speech
Direct speechis the actual words that are said by a character.
They are enclosed in inverted commas and there are rules to
be followed:
◆ When a person starts to speak, always begin a new para-
graph.
◆ The paragraph begins at the beginning of the sentence in
which the speech occurs.
◆ The first word of a person’s speech always starts with a
capital letter.
◆ Always put a punctuation mark before closing the
inverted commas.
◆ A comma is usually used to separate the speech from
words before or after it.
◆ Use a full stop if no words follow the speech.
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