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Guidelines for writing Poems, Stories and Tales

How to format dialogue with an embedded long monologue?

Asked by: Nicole Love

How do you format a long monologue script?

To structure your monologue, create a clear beginning, middle, and an end. Have a climax, or a turning point. Look at your sentence structure and create a rhythm and flow to the speech. Write a rough draft and read it aloud to yourself.

Can you use dialogue in a monologue?

Dialogue refers to a conversation between two or more characters in a work of literature. The main difference between monologue and dialogue is that monologue is a speech by one person whereas dialogue is a conversation between two or more people.

How do you write a long dialogue section?

Here are the main rules for writing dialogue:

  1. Each speaker gets a new paragraph. …
  2. Each paragraph is indented. …
  3. Punctuation for what’s said goes inside the quotation marks. …
  4. Long speeches with several paragraphs don’t have end quotations. …
  5. Use single quotes if the person speaking is quoting someone else.

How do you format an indirect dialogue?

Indirect dialogue is basically you telling someone about what another person said. It looks like this: He said hello and that his name was Dave. Note that no quotation marks are required because it’s not a direct quote — the speaker is paraphrasing.

How do you format an internal monologue?

Here’s what I recommend to keep it all straight.

  1. Use quotation marks for normal dialogue spoken out loud.
  2. For inner dialogue where the character is thinking to herself, don’t use italics or tags. Keep the tense consistent, and format it the way I showed you above for deep POV (third person).
  3. For head speak, use italics.

How do you break down a monologue?

Break down the monologue.

Read through the monologue and separate it into sections or “beats.” A change in thought or topic is a different beat. Make a note about the overall theme or topic of each beat (try to keep it to one or two words). The theme/topic words will help jog your memory when memorizing your monologue.

How do you format dialogue?

How to Format Dialogue in a Story

  1. Use Quotation Marks to Indicate Spoken Word. …
  2. Dialogue Tags Stay Outside the Quotation Marks. …
  3. Use a Separate Sentence for Actions That Happen Before or After the Dialogue. …
  4. Use Single Quotes When Quoting Something Within the Dialogue. …
  5. Use a New Paragraph to Indicate a New Speaker.

What is misdirected dialogue?

Misdirected dialogue–this is all about subtext and tension. The characters are not fully answering each other, or are inherently misleading the conversation. This is where the audience realizes ‘oh, they’re not really talking about xyz’, but the characters may not have caught on quite yet.

How do you not directly quote?

In writing, an “indirect quotation” is a paraphrase of someone else’s words: It “reports” on what a person said without using the exact words of the speaker. It’s also called “indirect discourse” and “indirect speech.” An indirect quotation (unlike a direct quotation) is not placed in quotation marks.



How much can I quote without plagiarizing?

such instances should be very few in your paper. Moreover, try to avoid using long passages as direct quotes; limit it to one or two sentences. To avoid plagiarism, you should always use quotation marks when you are quoting the author verbatim.

How many words can you safely take verbatim from a source without putting them in quotation marks?

Words you take verbatim from another person need to be put in quotation marks, even if you take only two or three words; it’s not enough simply to cite. If you go on to use the quoted word or phrase repeatedly in your paper, however, you don’t need to cite it each subsequent time.

Do I need to cite if I paraphrase?

When you use your own words to convey information from an original source, you are paraphrasing. While paraphrases do not require quotation marks, they do require citations. Be sure to change both the words and word order of the original source in order to avoid plagiarism.

How do you not plagiarize when paraphrasing?

What strategies can I use to paraphrase?

  1. Use synonyms for all words that are not generic. …
  2. Change the structure of the sentence.
  3. Change the voice from active to passive and vice versa.
  4. Change clauses to phrases and vice versa.
  5. Change parts of speech.



Do I have to cite after every sentence when paraphrasing a whole paragraph?

No. The citation should appear only after the final sentence of the paraphrase. If, however, it will be unclear to your reader where your source’s idea begins, include the author of the source in your prose rather than in a parenthetical citation.

What should you not do when paraphrasing?

Ineffective Paraphrasing Strategies

  1. Avoid switching out or changing around of a few words in an author’s sentence(s) for use in your paper.
  2. Avoid failing to acknowledge (through an in-text citation or direct quotes) the outside source from which you obtained your information or ideas.

What are the 4 R’s of paraphrasing?

The four R’s of paraphrasing are read, restate, recheck as well as repair.

Why is paraphrasing so hard?

One of the main difficulties of paraphrasing is that students often express other people’s ideas without changing enough of the words. Therefore, the student’s words in their assessment look very similar to those that they have read in the original.

What are the 6 steps to effective paraphrasing?

  1. 6 Steps to Effective Paraphrasing. Read the material that you plan to paraphrase. Read it several times so that you understand it well. Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card. …
  2. 7 Steps to Effective Summarizing. Read the article. Re-read the article. Underline important ideas.
  3. What are the 5 ways to paraphrase effectively?

    Read below for our top paraphrasing techniques and make paraphrasing an essential part of your study routine.



    • Use Synonyms. …
    • Use a Different Word Form. …
    • Change from the Active to the Passive. …
    • Change the word order. …
    • Use a combination of techniques.

    How do you paraphrase perfectly?

    To paraphrase effectively, don’t just take the original sentence and swap out some of the words for synonyms. Instead, try: Reformulating the sentence (e.g., change active to passive, or start from a different point) Combining information from multiple sentences into one.

    What are the paraphrasing techniques?

    Paraphrasing techniques

    • Read your text/paragraph and ensure that you understand it.
    • Write down your ideas without looking at the original.
    • Use synonyms or change the word order of your sentence.
    • Compare with the original to see whether you are conveying the same meaning.

    What are the three 3 different ways in paraphrasing?

    Techniques for paraphrasing



    • Using synonyms (words that mean the same)
    • Changing the form of words.
    • Changing the grammatical structure.
    • Using several techniques.

    What are the 3 steps to paraphrasing?

    Steps to Paraphrasing

    1. Read the original text until you grasp its meaning; then set it aside. …
    2. Using your memory, write down the main points or concepts. …
    3. Change the structure of the text by varying the opening, changing the order of sentences, lengthening or shortening sentences, etc.