How to's for formatting diologue in a manuscript?

Question

When formatting your manuscript, I've read all about font size, paper weight, chapter positions etc.

When it comes to diologue, the only thing I can find is "make a new paragraph for each new speaker."

But it just doesn't look right. Am I missing part of the rule?

I tend to have my characters doing things while they speak. Either thinking about things that are going on, or doing actions (Sitting down, walking etc.)

So, when I am writing my speaking parts, is the accepted way to write...

Jennifer flopped down on the cold november grass, Julia followed.
"I'm moving." Jennifer said.
"Get out!" Julia said, sitting up so quickly she startled her friend.
"That's not the worst part." Jennifer said.
Julia looked over at Jennifer laying on the grass. The low grey clouds and setting sun seemed to echo her mood exactly.
"How could it get worse." Julia asked.

I guess that's enough of an example. Now, have I formatted this correctly?

The paragraph where Julia is talking about ....

... the setting and Jennifer's mood... I am half tempted to put the next line of Diologue with that paragraph.... but I'm not sure.

Also, what happends if they say something quick in one line and the next person says something long and then back to something quick. The formatting looks strange.

Also, "Create a new paragraph for each speaker"... do they want it indented.

I would HATE for my manuscript to be rejected on the bases of formatting and not the story itself.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me.

To the second poster.. your additions sound nice.. but they don't fit my story. See, they've only known eachother since september (and its now november)..

Also, Thanks for the spelling and punctuation advice.. but this was just a small piece of unedited text to use as a formating sample. I have't yet gone and proofed my text for other things. I want to make sure its layed out right first.

Answer 1

Take a quick run over to my site and have a look at the sample page in my call for submissions. The format there is much as it would be for any publisher. If that doesn't help you can contact me by e-mail (address on the site or through this forum) and I'll have a few more places you can go for further information.

J.

http://www.jrichardjacobs.net

"The speed of the brain is inversely proportional to the speed of the mouth squared."

Answer 2

You can attach the actions to the dialogue.

Jennifer flopped down on the cold november grass, Julia followed. "I'm moving," Jennifer said.

"Get out!" Julia said, sitting up so quickly she startled her friend.

"That's not the worst part," Jennifer said.

Julia looked over at Jennifer laying on the grass. The low grey clouds and setting sun seemed to echo her mood exactly. "How could it get worse?" Julia asked.


You have a couple things wrong. There is a comma inside the quotation marks and a period at the end.

"That's not the worst part," Jennifer said.

You also have to indent and doublespace.

Then you need to vary your words a bit.

"That's not the worst part," Jennifer replied, sighing as she looked at her best friend since kindergarten. It was hard for her to imagine a day without Julia in her life.

See how I was able to tuck a lot more information in there?? Make the most of your quotations. Get the most of them so they give off more information for your readers.

That should help. Pax - C