Dialoge for my book?????

Question

I'm not sure how to write dialoge in my book. The first copy of the book that my friend read, made her a little confused about who was saying what.

i know that you have to start a new paragraph evertime someone new starts talking but i dont know whether to do something like this or not.

Amber says, "How could you do such a thing!" Leslie laughs and says,
"It was easy, expecially with you to help me out."

or is it like this???

Amber says, "How could you do such a thing!"
Leslie laughs and says, "It was easy, expecially with you to help me out."

Answer 1

The second way

Answer 2

The "rule" is that one character's words cannot be in the same paragraph as another character's actions or dialogue.

Amber can have a line of dialogue, with or without some actions, in a single paragraph, but when Leslie does or says something, it needs to be in a new paragraph.

Your second version is correct.

Here's a little tip. You can often use an action instead of an attribute or tag, the "she said" part.

Amber twirls her hair around her finger. "How could you do such a thing?"

Leslie laughs. "It was easy, especially with you to help me out."

Remember, too, that people cannot smile or grin words, so you can't use that sort of word in place of "said."

Answer 3

I write my stories in the form of your second example.
If you really want a shock, check out Cormac McCarthy's books (The Road, No Country For Old Men) he doesn't use quote marks at all for dialog.
Talk about confusing dialog!!!

Gary Anderson
author GAMEPLAYER: The Genesis Portal

Answer 4

The second way is correct in sequence but not in verb. It should be said, laughed, etc.
Also you don't need to qualify each statement with "and says": Leslie laughed. "It was easy..."
Anytime it changes from person to person, change the paragraph.

Answer 5

The second way is much better, for following purposes. If your book is in the present tense... I hope you know how to write well enough to pull that off, and have sources to use to help! Past is the easiest to write in, and reading that in present seemed... odd to me, only because I'm used to reading in the past.

Whenever in doubt, turn to your favorite books to learn how to format. That's how I learned how to do most of what I know.