Forum: Author Hangout

I have a personal rule about not mixing narrative sentences and dialogue sentences in the same paragraph. I also do not like single sentence paragraphs, so on occasion I will violate my rule and combine the two types of sentences in a single paragraph.

I have noticed some authors frequently combine the two types of sentences in a paragraph. I have also noted that some authors combine narrative sentences and dialog sentences spoken by different speakers in one paragraph.

I'm curious about what other authors think of the above.

Not a real author here, but I tend to combine narrative and dialog for one character in a paragraph if they're related and, typically, if the narrative is in support of the dialog (e.g. someone thinking about something then voicing the results of that thought.)

If I don't allow myself to do that I tend to do a lot of dialog without the internal voices of a first person or third person limited POV character. It seems awkward to me to have the thought driving the dialog in a separate paragraph unless things are getting long.

Narrative and dialogue in the same paragraph? Yes, of course. For example:

Joe slammed his hand on his boss's desk. "I quit, you backstabbing asshole!"

Single sentence paragraphs? I have one word paragraphs for effect. Single sentence paragraphs can also be used to transition from one speaker to another. For example:

"Where were you last night?" the lead policeman asked.

All eyes fell on the suspect.

"I, uh, I don't remember. I was drunk."

I have also noted that some authors combine narrative sentences and dialog sentences spoken by different speakers in one paragraph.

If I were editing the story, I'd flag two different speakers in the same paragraph as an error. Except for unusual circumstances.

"No!" Priscilla and Drusilla protested in unison.

AJ