Narrative Writing Cheat Sheet part 1
Punctuating Dialogue
1) Direct quotes should be in quotation marks.
Ex. 1: “Say hello to mom for me,” Tara said.
Ex. 2: Tara said, “I’m coming home.”
2) Indirect quotes do not need quotation marks
Ex. 1: Tara asked me to say hello to mom.
Ex. 2: Tara said that she was coming home.
3) Quotes in the middle of a sentence should
a) start with a capital letter
b) end with a , ! or ?
Ex. 1: Tara wondered aloud, “Where are my keys?” as she paced the room.
Ex. 2: “I thought I put them on the table,” she muttered.
4) Quotes inside a sentence are set off with commas.
Ex. 1: Tara told him, “I wasn’t there.”
Ex. 2: “No way,” Mary squeaked.
Ex. 3: “Yes,”Mary said, “I’m going.”
5) Punctuation goes inside the quotation marks.
Ex. 1: “No.”
Ex.2: “Help!”
Ex. 3: “Hunh?”
Ex. 4: “Not again,” she wailed.
When to Start a New Paragraph
1) When someone speaks (dialogue)
2) When a new idea begins
3) At a change in
a) location
Ex: Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
b) time
The next day,…
c) mood
The storm rolled in, covering the windows in darkness
4) At surprises and complications
Ex. 1: Suddenly…
Ex. 2: She stopped short at the sound of a loud crash in the distance.