Hello iam René, aka Diviance, or anything that starts with Div. Iam working on my first book, while googling abit for some pointers general thought processes etc.. i found this forum. Iam a 21 year old, I live in Holland, I like cats, dogs, metal, my girlfriend, my ps3, and my computers. Iam working on a fantasy novel that takes place in Gliese 581, a solar system like really really far away. And it supposedly has big earthlike planets (sweet!). Iam not a very serious person, i hate formality's. What i hope to gain from visiting, posting, and reading this forum is basically the expierences others had before me. What better place is there to start then a forum with new and more experienced writers. The actual question i had when i started my google spree was this; I have seen many ways to denote a dialogue in a book, some writers use quotations, others use nothing. My question is which is the preferred way, The guy said; "Hi.". The guy said hi. "Hi." The guy said. Hi, the guy said. Replace hi with a large sentence. If the answer is all of the above please help me pick! Anyways that's it ill try to contribute as much as i can, if anyone has questions, remarks etc.. you're welcome!
Hello René, Welcome to the Writing Forums. None of the above. "Hi," the guy said. For more info, see my blog entry, He said, she said - Mechanics of Dialogue. Posting your own work should not be among the very first things you do here. It is worth taking the time to see what other people have done to improve their writing, and see if some of it applies to your writing as well. That is part of why we require members to review other members' work before posting their own for review. On the other hand, there are no restrictions, other than content and copyright rules, on showcasing your work in your member blog. If you haven't explored the site yet, you should probably do so soon. Newcomers often gravitate to the Lounge, the Word Games, or the Review Room, but there is much more to be discovered if you poke in the corners. Remember to check out our FAQ as well, and be sure to read through the forum rules, too, to avoid any misunderstandings or hurt feelings. Respect for one another is our principal mandate. As for the Review Room, new joiners often wonder why we do things a bit differently on this site than on other writing sites. We emphasize constructive critique as a vital writing skill. Training your eye by reviewing other people's work helps you improve your own writing even before you present it for others to see. Therefore, we ask members to review other people's writing before posting work of their own. The Review Room forums on this site, therefore, are true workshops, not just a bulletin board for displaying your work (and on that note, please only post each item for review in one Review Room forum). Also, please use the same thread for all revisions and additional excerpts from the same piece of writing. See this post, Why Write Reviews Before Posting My Work? for more information. And while you're looking around, don't forget to check out our Weekly Short Story Contest and Weekly Poetry Contest. They actually run more than one week apiece, but any member may enter, and all members are urged to vote for their favorites. Enjoy your stay here, and have fun!
