1. Bone2pick

    Bone2pick Conspicuously Conventional Contributor

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    Parentheses within Dialogue

    Discussion in 'Dialogue Development' started by Bone2pick, Mar 1, 2021.

    I'm currently reading a book published in the seventies (1975 to be exact) and ran across the following snippet of dialogue. For context, this is a scene where a medieval lord is speaking with the heir of a rival lord.

    "There is no point in continuing this war, really. Your defeat must have convinced you of what a mistake your invasion was. (Let me finish!) Breimen lost the best part of its army."

    Note the parentheses. I'm confident they aren't necessary, and I don't particularly care for them as a formatting choice. But what about you? Would today's editors discourage such usage?
     
  2. SethLoki

    SethLoki Retired Autodidact Contributor

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    I'll +1 that, they only seem to add confusion (to me).
     
    Homer Potvin likes this.
  3. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    Yeah, that's stupid. I would use em-dashes to bracket a paranthetical "thought" within the dialogue, but the example appears to an exclamation in reaction to being interrupted, which would seem to call for a beat or for the other character to break in and do something.
     
  4. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    The only way I can see it working is in a comedy making fun of overly ornate antique methods of writing and speaking.
     
    Seven Crowns likes this.
  5. SapereAude

    SapereAude Contributor Contributor

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    I agree with Homer Potvin. It's intended to convey a break in the flow for a somewhat forceful (I presume) interjection. I think I would have done it with small caps.
     
  6. Francis de Aguilar

    Francis de Aguilar Contributor Contributor

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    I agree with this. No way anyone would do it like that these days.
     

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