do you indent dialogue in an essay

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• Open the Home tab (1).
• Select your text.
• Move your cursor to the ruler and select the top marker (2).
• Drag it to the position of your preferred indent.
• Right-click on the style in the ribbon (3).
• S elect 'Update Normal to Match Selection'. ​
• Open the Styles pane via the arrow icon (4).
• Go  to the Styles pane (5) and right-click on the style (6).
• Select 'Update Normal to Match Selection'.​ ​

• Go to the Styles pane (5) and right-click on the style (6).
• Select 'Modify' to open the Modify Styles pane (A).
• Click on the Format button in the bottom left-hand corner (B).
• Select Paragraph to open the Paragraph pane (C).
• Make sure you're in the Indents and Spacing tab.
• Look at the Indentations section in the middle. Make sure 'First line' is selected under 'Special:' (D).
• Adjust the first-line indent according to your preference (E).
• Click OK (F).

• If using the ruler, ensure the markers (2) are aligned, one on top of the other.
• If using the styles pane, adjust the indent spacing (E) to zero.

This is so useful. Thank you so much.

You're welcome, Neetu!

As a former librarian I insisted our writing group's self-published anthologies (that I was formatting) conformed to traditional convention (title page and reverse, fiction indents, section separators with blank reverse and all chapters on a new page...) but I see so many indie published books that don't , not to mention self-published paperbacks and e-books, that I wonder how long this will be the norm. It does identify the indies from the traditional publishers, which seems a shame, since the content can be comparable.

Hi, Cathy. I think it often depends where the budget's going. Not all indies invest in a pro interior designer; they do it themselves. And if they don't know the conventions, they'll not bother. Good design should improve reader experience so I do think it's worth attending to the basics. Your group's lucky to have you!

This is most helpful. I was not aware of the convention of no indentation for the beginning of a chapter and change of scene, time etc. Thank you.

Glad it helped, Vivienne!

This is so clearly written and informative. It was a huge help to me. Thank you!

Can you advise whether or not to indent at the start of a new section (not a new chapter) when the first line of the section is a line of dialogue. At present I am choosing not to indent in keeping with the new section format but is this correct? Thank you.

Hi, Danielle. See the post above - the section on dialogue layout: "​The same applies even if the chapter *or section* starts with dialogue." Your current choice is therefore what I'd recommend. HTH.

Thank you very much - this is most helpful. Just shows I should have read your advice more carefully in the first place!

I am confused whether I should indent the first line of a new page or not?

If a new chapter or section falls on a new page = no indent. If it's just a new paragraph that falls on a new page = indent. Hope that helps!

Great article! I'd like to know if the same rule should be in non fiction where it is mostly narrative? Or is it better to have no indentions at all. I'm designing a book interior for a non fiction, still a story, and I went with no indention but I'm wondering if I should indent it after all.

That's a style choice, Chip. You could have no indents but separate each paragraph with a space: Xxxxxxx, xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx xxxx xxx. Xxxxxxx, xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx xxxx xxx. That's quite common in non-fic. If, however, the text is formatted so that the paragraphs run on, it's common to go down the route I've outlined above.

Hi Louise The very first lines of my prologue are: She could hardly hear herself laugh and who could blame her? She could hardly hear her own childish thoughts and who could blame her? For Saturday it was, it truly was etc etc Now, do I full out the first line and indent the second “She could . . “? I tried this and it just looks untidy on the page, to my eyes anyway. “For Saturday etc” Is the start of a new para so will be indented but those first two lines are giving me a headache. I’d appreciate help here and thank you in advance!

Yes, I would push the first line full out, and indent the second. Pull down some fiction off your shelf and have a look at how mainstream publishers do it.

I will take your advice. Thank you again Louise!

Hi Louise, What a great article, so clearly written and solved my dilemna with indenting. Just joined the mailing list and will have a good look around your site, as no doubt other questions I have will be answered too! Cheers, Maddy Newman

So helpful. I couldn't find the part about not indenting dialogue in the first line anywhere. Thank you for the thorough breakdown and examples.

Hi, Rebecca. Look at the subheading DIALOGUE LAYOUT. It's immediatley below.

Hey Louise, thank you very much for this article, It helped me a lot, especially since I'm translating my German novel into English right now. There is still one open question for me and I really hope you can help me with it: Here is an example/ little excerpt of my novel, which I already translated but kept the German Formatting. I am asking myself if the colon can stay like this ( Then she said: ) or do I have to replace it with a comma ( Then she said, ) and begin with the dialogue in the next line. _____________________________________________________________ After my mother echoed Michael's exact words, she looked at me with a fixed gaze for several seconds. Then she said: “Do you understand now, Jimmy, why I opened my eyes so wide just now?” “Yes... I feel as if he is here right now, Mother. I know him, but I don‘t know from where...” “But now I really want to ask you, were you aware of his words, Jimmy?” ____________________________________________________ I really hope that you can help me with this little question - it would help me A LOT! :) Greetings from Germany Yannic

Hello, Yannic I saw that your question hasn't received an answer yet, so I thought to help out. I believe placing 'Then she said' on the same line as the dialogue might read better. Then she said, "Do you understand now, Jimmy, why I opened my eyes so wide just now?" Dialogue tags can come before or after a dialogue, and in your case, it comes before. The comma makes it flow better. I hope this helps.

So helpful thanks! As a first time author I was quite confused about indenting and quickly searching the Internet your blog came up. Very clear and helpful thanks for posting.

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Home / Book Writing / How to Format Dialogue (2024 Rules): The Ultimate Guide for Authors

How to Format Dialogue (2024 Rules): The Ultimate Guide for Authors

Dialogue is one of the most ever-present components of writing, especially in fiction. Yet even experienced authors sometimes format dialogue incorrectly.

There are so many rules, standards, and recommendations to format dialogue that it can be easy to get lost and not know what to do.

Thankfully, this article will help you know exactly what to do when formatting and writing dialogue, and I’ll even mention a tool that will make the whole process a lot easier, but more on that later.

• The basic rules for good dialogue
• Grammar rules for effective dialogue
• The difference between curly and straight quotes
• Common stylistic choices
• And other recommendations

Table of contents

• Basic Dialogue Rules
• 1. The Correct Use of Quotation Marks
• 2. The Correct Use of Dialogue Tags
• 3. The Correct Use of Question and Exclamation Marks
• 4. The Correct Use Of Em-Dashes And Ellipses
• 5. Capitalization Rules
• 6. Breaking Dialogue Into Multiple Paragraphs
• 7. Using Quotation Marks With Direct Dialogue vs Indirect Dialogue 
• Using Quotation Marks With Direct Dialogue vs Reported Dialogue
• Keyboard Shortcuts for PC or Windows
• Keyboard Shortcuts for Mac
• Formatting Quotes with Atticus
• Best Practice: Dialogue Tags
• If dialogue is interrupted by a tag and action…
• If dialogue is interrupted by just an action…
• Best Practices: She Said vs. Said She
• Best Practice: Using Beats to Break up Your Dialogue
• 1. Italicized With a Tag
• 2. Italicized Without a Tag
• 3. Not Italicized
• 1. Make It Clear Who Is Speaking
• 2. Focus on Character Voice
• 3. Don't Overdo Your Character Voice
• 4. Don't Info-Dump with Dialogue
• 5. Avoid Repetitive Dialogue Tags
• Final Thoughts on Formatting Dialogue

Why You Should Trust Me

So I've been writing and formatting books for a long time. 10+ years as of this writing.

But I actually found formatting to be a huge pain, which is why I actually created my own formatting software that solved all my problems. I called it Atticus.

But this isn't meant to be a sales pitch. I just want to make sure it's clear that I know what I'm talking about. The amount of research that went into not only formatting my own books, but also creating a formatting software is huge.

I researched everything, from tiny margin requirements, to the specific type of quotes to use (curly or straight, it makes a difference).

And yes, of course, that includes how to format dialogue.

So if all that makes sense, hopefully you'll come along with me as show you everything I've learned.

There are some basic rules that most people are aware of, but still need to be mentioned in an article about formatting dialogue.

The following are some of the very basic instructions you will need to follow:

• New speaker, new paragraph: whenever a new person speaks, you should start a new paragraph. This is true, even if your character is alone and talking out loud, or even if all they say is one word.
• Indent each paragraph: as with any paragraph, you should indent it. There are small exceptions, such as at the beginning of a chapter or scene break.
• Quotation marks go around the dialogue: use quotation marks at the beginning and end of your character's dialogue. Any punctuation that is part of the dialogue should be kept within the quotes.

Now that you have these basics in mind, let's dive into the specific rules of grammar and punctuation for formatting dialogue.

Dialogue Punctuation

To punctuate dialogue correctly, there are a few rules you should know:

• The correct use of quotation marks
• The correct use of dialogue tags
• The correct use of question and exclamation marks
• The correct use of em-dashes and ellipses
• Capitalization rules
• Breaking dialogue into multiple paragraphs
• Using quotation marks with direct dialogue versus indirect dialogue
• Using quotation marks with direct dialogue vs reported dialogue

Let's dive into each of these one by one…

For American writing, you will use a set of quotation marks (” “). These are placed directly before and after the dialogue spoken by your character.

Furthermore, the quotation marks are placed around any punctuation, such as a comma, question mark, or exclamation mark.

Example:  

“I love writing books!” said John.

You can use the same set of quotation marks around more than one sentence.

Example: 

“I love writing books! It makes me feel so accomplished.”

Note: the double quote is used heavily in American writing and in some other parts of the world, with single quotes used to quote dialogue within a larger quote. However these roles are often reversed outside of American writing, and some cultures even use angle brackets instead (<< >>).

A dialogue tag is simply a phrase at the beginning or end of your dialogue that tells us who is speaking. Dialogue tags are optional, but should be used when there are multiple people speaking and it is not clear which dialogue belongs to whom.

Your dialogue tag should use a comma to separate itself from the dialogue. If your dialogue tag appears at the beginning of your quote, the comma should appear after the dialogue tag and before your first quotation mark. If your dialogue tag is after your quote, the comma should appear after the dialogue, but before the closing quotation mark.

John said, “I love to write books.”

“I love to write books,” said John.

If a sentence of dialogue is interrupted by the dialogue tag, then you should use two commas that follow the above rules.

“I love to write books,” said John, “every single day.”

If you are using a question or exclamation mark, those are placed within the quotation marks, just as a comma would be.

“You like to write books?”

If you are following up the dialogue with a dialogue tag, you do not need to capitalize the first word of the dialogue tag.

“You like to write books?” said Lucy.

“You like to write books?” Said Lucy.

Both em-dashes and ellipses are used to show incomplete dialogue, but their uses very.

Em-dashes should be used when dialogue is interrupted by someone else's dialogue, or any other interruption that leads to an abrupt ending.

Note that the em-dash is contained within the quotation marks, and replaces any punctuation. If the em-dash appears at the start of the quote, the following word should not be capitalized.

“Have I ever told you—”

“Yes, yes you have.”

“—that I love writing books?”

Ellipses are used when the dialogue trails off, but there is not an obvious interruption.

“What was I saying just…

In most cases, you should capitalize the first word of your dialogue. This is true, even if the dialogue does not technically begin the sentence.

John said, “But I love to write books!”

John said, “but I love to write books!”

The exception to this is if you are starting in the middle of your character's sentence, such as after an em-dash, or anytime the first quoted word is not the first word of the character's full sentence.

Lucy rolled her eyes, ready to hear again just how much John “loved to write books.”

If you have especially long dialogue, you might want to divide that dialogue into multiple paragraphs.

When this happens, place the first quotation mark at the beginning of the dialogue, but do not place a quotation mark at the end of that first paragraph.

You also place a quotation mark at the beginning of each subsequent paragraph until the dialogue ends. The last paragraph of dialogue has a quotation mark at the beginning and the end.

John said, “I can't explain to you why I love writing books so much. Perhaps it has something to do with my childhood. I always loved writing books as a child and making up stories . My mom told me I should be playing outside, but I preferred writing.

“Or maybe it was in college when I started learning the rules of good creative writing and saw my characters come to life in a way that I had never seen in my youth. It excited me more.

“Or maybe I'm just weird.” 

Before I get into the specifics of how to use quotation marks with direct dialogue versus indirect dialogue, you have to understand what each is.

Direct dialogue is written between inverted commas or quotes. This is someone actually speaking the words you’ve written down. It looks like this:

“Hello, I like to write books,” he said.

Indirect dialogue is basically you telling someone about what another person said.

He said hello and that he liked to write books.

Note that no quotation marks are required because it’s not a direct quote — the speaker is paraphrasing.

However, most of the formatting and punctuation tips I work with in this article pertain to direct dialogue.

Besides direct dialogue and indirect dialogue, I also have reported dialogue.

Reported dialogue is when one line of dialogue is quoting something else.

With American usage of quotation marks, I place double quotation marks around the direct dialogue (a.k.a. the main quote), with single quotation marks around the reported dialogue (a.k.a. the quote within the quote).

“I was talking to John the other day, and he kept saying ‘I love writing books' all the time,” said Lucy.

Note that this is common for American writing, and is often reversed outside of North America. Check your local style guides to know exactly how to embed one quote within another.

Curly Quotes or Straight Quotes?

Some authors don't even realize this, but there is a big difference between straight quotes and curly quotes.

Straight quotes do not bend inward, but remain straight. They are identical, whether they are located at the beginning or end of your quote.

John said, “I just like to write books, okay?”

By default, most keyboards use straight quotes instead of smart quotes. It is also the standard for web-based writing, since it simplifies the HTML needed to render a webpage (notice that most quotes in this article are straight quotes).

Curly quotes (sometimes called smart quotes) curve inward toward the line of dialogue that they encapsulate.

John said, “I just like to write books, okay?”

Curly quotes are more common in publishing, fiction, and are generally considered the standard when doing dialogue.

How to Change Straight Quotes to Curly Quotes

Since most keyboards use straight quotes, and is the default for many programs, you will have to change them to smart quotes manually.

While some programs have this functionality, you can also use keyboard shortcuts. For example:

To use keyboard shortcuts for PC, hold down the alt key, then type the four-digit code using your number pad:

• Opening double quote shortcut: alt 0147
• Closing double quote shortcut: alt 0148
• Opening single quote shortcut: alt 0145 
• Closing single quote shortcut: alt 0146

Note that you must type these numbers in with your number pad, and not the top row of numbers on your keyboard. The top row will not work.

The same process applies here, but the commands are slightly different. With a Mac, hold down the different keys shown here:

• Opening double quote shortcut: Option + [
• Closing double quote shortcut: Option + Shift + [
• Opening single quote shortcut: Option + ]
• Closing single quote shortcut: Option + Shift + ]

The downside to using the short codes is that it can become extremely tedious, especially if you have to go through your entire book and replace all of the quotes.

Thankfully, there is an option to make this a lot easier…

When you use Atticus, you can automatically swap your straight quotes for curly quotes with the touch of a button.

To do this, look on the top writing toolbar, and you will see two icons on the right.

If you click the button labeled “Apply Smart Quotes”, it will give you the following pop-up:

Do this for each of your chapters, and you should see the little red warning icon change to a green icon, indicating that your entire book is free of straight quotes.

This saves you a ton of hassle, it is by far the easiest way to improve your quotes in a writing or formatting program.

We've already talked about the grammatical rules for dialogue tags above, but let's talk a little more about, because there are ways to use dialogue tags that are grammatically correct, but not great from a stylistic standpoint.

For example, should you use words other than “said” for your dialogue tag?

Technically, you can do this. You can use many words as a dialogue tag. For example:

“You like to write books?” asked Lucy.

“You like to write books?” scoffed Lucy.

“You like to write books?” snickered Lucy.

“You like to write books?” intoned Lucy.

In this case, I have used alternative dialogue tags in each example. It's common for newer writers to think that mixing up the dialogue tags like this is a good thing, but this is not the case.

In fact, most authors agree the best practice is to use just “said” and “asked”. 

You can use other words on occasion (I sometimes use “clarified”, “shouted”, or “whispered”), but these should be rare.

The reason for this is simple: readers expect to see the words “said” and “asked”. Their mind brushes right over it, taking the necessary attribution data, and nothing else. Using “said” over and over again will not seem repetitive, because it is expected.

Using unusual dialogue tags is a quick way to draw the reader out of the book.

Best Practice: Formatting Interruptions

I’ve talked, briefly, about em-dashes and ellipses above, but there are a few other considerations to make when formatting dialogue interruptions.

You can format it in two ways. First of all:

“I love writing books,” John said, rubbing his hands together, “but I don’t like editing them that much.”

In this first example, you write your starting dialogue, tag, and action as usual, but instead of finishing the sentence with a period, you place a comma, open a new quotation mark and continue the sentence with a conjunction. At the end of that sentence, you’d use a period and close the speech.

But you can also format that interruption by separating the spoken pieces into two separate sentences as follows:

“I love writing books,” John said, rubbing his hands together. “But I don’t like editing them that much.”

Here, the sentence ends after John has rubbed his hands together. Because of that, when you start your new line of dialogue, you format it with a capitalized ‘But’ and end it with a period.

Say your speaker is being erratic, or just doing something that would interrupt his speech, like taking a sip of water or coughing uncontrollably, you wouldn’t have a well-planned and inserted interruption. The text would look broken because the dialogue is being broken by the action.

You’d format that as follows:

“I love writing books”–John took a sip of water–“but I’m not a fan of editing them.”

Note: The em-dashes are outside of the dialogue for this type of formatting.

You might be surprised to learn that there is a best practice for the word order for your dialogue tags.

For example, should you say “Lucy said” or “said Lucy”?

It may be common for you to guess that “said Lucy” is an acceptable practice (at least I did), but while this is technically grammatically correct, it is actually discouraged.

The correct way to format this is “Lucy said”.

Think of it this way, would it feel more natural to say “she said” or “said she”? Since “she said” is more natural with pronouns, the logic is that “Lucy said” is the superior form of dialogue tag.

Instead of dialogue tags, one alternative that you can use are beats.

Beats are small actions to give to your characters, so it doesn't sound like the dialogue is being spoken between two talking heads in a void.

It helps to move the story along, creates a sense of realism, and gives you a chance to reduce the number of dialogue tags that you use, without confusing the reader.

“I love to write books!” John sat at the keyboard and cracked his knuckles.

You can also add a beat to your dialogue tag.

“I love to write books!” said John, then sat at the keyboard and cracked his knuckles.

Additionally, you can use a beat to interrupt the flow of dialogue. This is even encouraged at times, because it can create diversity in how you use your dialogue.

“I love to write books!” John sat at the keyboard and cracked his knuckles. “But I don't like editing them as much.”

Best Practice: Formatting Inner Dialogue

When you are formatting internal dialogue (particularly when writing from 3rd person point of view), there are three ways that you can format it.

It’s common to see inner dialogue treated the same as quoted dialogue, but with the entire inner dialogue italicized instead of using quotation marks.

I just love to write books, John thought. Why can’t Lucy understand this?

Likewise, you can often leave out the tag all together, as the reader is able to understand by the italics that this is a thought. However, you might want to accompany this with a beat.

John sat at his desk. I just love to write books. Why can’t Lucy understand this?

If you are writing from a deeper point of view, you might not need italics or a tag. This is especially common when writing in first-person point of view, where literally all of the prose represents that person’s thoughts.

I sat at my desk. I just love to write books. Why can’t Lucy understand this?

Other Tips for Formatting Dialogue

In addition to the above, there are a few miscellaneous tips that I would like to share:

When using dialogue, you never want the reader to be confused as to who is saying the dialogue. There are a couple of ways to do this.

• Use dialogue tags effectively
• Never leave out dialogue tags unless you only have two people, and it is obvious which one is speaking
• Use beats appropriately

Each character should have a unique way of speaking.

A good way to practice different voices is to record a conversation, such as around the dinner table, and transcribe it. Notice how everyone uses a different “flow” to our sentences, or have favorite words that I like to use.

Do they speak in short, choppy sentences? Or are they more prone to elegant, long-winded paragraphs?

Another great exercise is to write a conversation with two people, and don't use dialogue tags. Instead, try to make how they are speaking make it obvious who is actually talking.

Despite my recommendation above, it is possible to overdo character voice.

Examples of this include:

• Overdoing a heavy accent, where every word of their dialogue is spelled slightly different to convey the dialect.
• Including curse words in every other sentence, even if this is realistically based on someone you know.
• Including a lot of “ums” and “uhs” in your sentence. While these are common in real life, they can dramatically pull your reader out of the story.

While it is okay for the character to explain some of what is going on in their dialogue, you have to be careful with this.

Above all, make sure your dialogue naturally fits the character in the scene. Info dumping can easily lead to “Maid and Butler dialogue”, where it feels like the characters just talking for the benefit of the reader, and not for the actual situation they are in.

While it is important to use “said” and “asked” the most when doing your dialogue tags, there are other ways that you should use to diversify your tags, such as:

• Use beats instead
• Use dialogue tags before, after, and in the middle of your dialogue
• Remove dialogue tags when you have a back-and-forth conversation between two people and it is obvious who is saying what

This is not just relevant for dialogue tags, but also for your dialogue styles. If you have had three lines of dialogue in a row that all placed your dialogue tag in the middle of the dialogue, then you might want to change things up a bit.

While it is easy to get overwhelmed with all of the little tips and tricks to formatting dialogue, once you have enough practice, it becomes second nature.

Additionally, a tool like Atticus can make some of the technical bits so much easier, such as changing your street quotes to curly quotes.

In addition to formatting dialogue, Atticus is the number one software for writing and formatting a book. Plus, unlike other leading formatting software is, it is available on all platforms, and costs over $100 less than the leading alternative.

Dave Chesson

When I’m not sipping tea with princesses or lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, I’m a book marketing nut. Having consulted multiple publishing companies and NYT best-selling authors, I created Kindlepreneur to help authors sell more books. I’ve even been called “The Kindlepreneur” by Amazon publicly, and I’m here to help you with your author journey.

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Writing Dialogue: Formatting and Style Questions Answered!

Hey friends! I’ve gotten several questions lately about how to punctuate and set up dialogue, and how to avoid repetitions of “he said, she said.” I’m not surprised, because English is weird, even for English speakers. I’m going to share those questions along with the answers here. Let’s dive in!

When do I write “said Bryn” and when do I write “Bryn said”?

In older novels, the first construction is common, but it has fallen out of favor in contemporary fiction. If you stick to the second way of doing it, your manuscript will probably seem more professional to beta readers and editors, and you’ll save your copy editor a lot of time.

This is not as good.

“Bring me my sword,” said Bryn.

This is the better way!

“Bring me my sword,” Bryn said.

Do I capitalize the “h” in “he said” after a line of dialogue?

Nope. If you have a “he said” or “she said” after a line of dialogue that ends in a period, you turn that final period into a comma and keep the “he” or “she” (or whatever else you’ve got going on there) uncapitalized.

These are wrong.

“Bring me my sword.” He said.

“Bring me my sword.” The captain said.

These are correct!

“Bring me my sword,” he said.

“Bring me my sword,” the captain said.

If you’re using a capitalized name here, it does stay capitalized:

“Bring me my sword,” Captain Jonas said.

If you have an exclamation point or a question mark at the end, you still don’t capitalize the “he” or “she” or whatever unless it’s a name you capitalize anyway.

“Bring me my sword!” He bellowed.

“Bring me my sword!” The captain bellowed.

“Could you please bring me my sword?” He asked.

“Bring me my sword!” he bellowed.

“Bring me my sword!” the captain bellowed.

“Could you please bring me my sword?” he asked.

This brings me to the next question.

Would you do a list of synonyms for “said”?

There are lists like this out there, but even if there weren’t, I wouldn’t do one. Synonyms like commanded, stated, and explained are fine here and there, but “said” is the right choice most of the time. If you constantly use synonyms for it, you’ll slow down the flow of your story and look like an amateur.

Often, the synonyms tell the reader something they already know. For instance, this is slightly annoying:

“Bring me my sword,” the captain ordered.

Um, we could tell from the sentence that it was an order.

Synonyms for “said” are especially useful when the tone of voice doesn’t match what is being said. For instance:

“Burn in hell,” the pirate suggested.

Burn in hell is an aggressive thing to say, and the synonym for said here is one way to convey that it’s being said in a calm rather than an aggressive tone of voice.

If you rarely use synonyms for “said,” how do you avoid a long line of “he said, she said” down the page?

Easy. First of all, in a long conversation between two people, not every line of dialogue needs to be attributed.

Beyond that, you can use a facial expression to set up a line of dialogue, like this:

The captain glowered. “Bring me my sword.”

You can also use body language or a gesture in the same way.

The pirate folded his arms. “Burn in hell.”

I put together my master list of facial expressions and my master list of body language and gestures to make this easy.

You can also set up dialogue with action, like this:

The captain banged his cup of rum down on the table. “Bring me my sword.”

That’s one of the reasons why I made this list of 50 things your characters can do while they talk .

Okay, moving on!

Do you indent every line of dialogue?

A line of dialogue from a new speaker begins a new paragraph (even if it’s a one-sentence paragraph). New paragraphs are indented, like this:

The captain gulped down the last of his rum and set the cup down on the wooden table with a clank. “Bring me my sword.”

“You’re too drunk to fight,” the pirate said.

If the same character continues speaking, you don’t need to start a new paragraph. For instance:

“Bring me my sword,” the captain said. He gulped down the last of his rum and set the cup down with a clank. “By God, I’m going to challenge that octopus to a duel.”

Is it okay to use italics, all capital letters, boldface, or extra exclamation points or question marks in my dialogue?

Even if your characters are screaming their heads off about life and death matters, the drama should come through in the words themselves, not through the punctuation.

While you don’t want to overdo it, it’s fine to use italics once in a while to show that a character is emphasizing a word. (Some writers will tell you to never do it, but I think they need to calm down.)

All caps should rarely be used, if ever.

Boldface, extra exclamation points, and extra question marks should never be used.

Is it okay to not use quotation marks for dialogue?

It’s your call, and several esteemed writers— James Joyce and Cormac McCarthy , for instance—have written dialogue without quotation marks. However, a lot of readers hate this. I would only do it in literary novels, whose readers have already resigned themselves to more difficult reading.

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Do you have any other questions about punctuation and setting up dialogue, or would you like to share some opinions? Let me know in the comments!

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40 thoughts on “ writing dialogue: formatting and style questions answered ”.

A flobbity-jillion times THANK YOU for point #3. I go ’round and ’round with my editing clients over using synonyms for every single line of dialogue. I don’t mind them occasionally, but absolutely put my foot down and cut them mercilessly if they’re used more than once or so a chapter. It is terribly amateurish and completely unnecessary. “Said” and “asked” are invisible; the reader’s eye just moves right over them. Besides, using anything else is wandering into the realm of telling not showing, another big no-no. So, THANK YOU!!!

“A flobbity-jillion,” hahaha! I think the overload of “said” synonyms are an attempt to mix things up and be creative… I’m pretty sure I did it at some earlier point, since I’ve made most other mistakes (and still make them in early drafts.) Thanks for commenting, Juliet!

I have to agree with Juliet. I so tremendously appreciate your pointing out the importance of using “said” (occasionally “asked”) and, really, no other dialogue attributions. I too have clients whose novels I edit or proofread who err far too heavily on the side of those wild attributions, and the more the better, it seems. I can’t understand it.

Plus, personally, if I pick up a novel to read and find “ejaculated,” “replied,” “responded,” “queried,” “bellowed,” “sighed,” “whispered,” and/or “plotted” (or the like) anywhere in the novel, I put it down (sometimes gently, sometimes not so gently) and find something else to read. Period. End of discussion.

And you’re correct in noting that too often those attributions are *telling* instead of *showing* … kind of like slapping the reader in the face and saying, “Duh!” to make him/her feel stupid.

Example: “Go to hell!” she shouted. (Redundant. The words and exclamation mark indicate the tone.)

Example: “I d-don’t understand,” he stammered. (Redundant. The stammer is obvious.)

And things like “‘I hate you,’ he stated,” or “‘I hate you,'” he replied,” just drive me crazy in general. Use said. Please, just use said. Otherwise, readers will feel lectured, or overwhelmed, or just … done.

Thanks, Eleanore. That one obviously struck a chord! I am actually okay with “shouted,” etc., after an exclamation point, because to me “said” seems like a lie after an exclamation point… so you and I may differ a little there. It still bothers me if it happens again and again, and setting it up in a different way is probably even better! You are probably just tougher than me, which is a good thing in a professional editor. 🙂

And I didn’t even get into using too many adverbs to describe the tone of voice (“calmly,” “suspiciously,” etc.) Again, I think they’re okay in small doses… I suspect you prefer very small doses. 🙂

I do agree that it would be even better to use a beat of action to set up a situation in which dialogue ended with an exclamation mark. You’re absolutely correct; it would be awkward to see the line, “‘I hate you!’ he said” in a work. Just doesn’t quite read as convincing. 🙂

And you’re right again, I do much prefer adverbs in very small doses, or not at all, if I can help it. They just seem like more telling instead of showing to me, and while there’s a place for telling sometimes, it’s usually not where people think.

PS I may need to call you about editing sometime 🙂

It would be a pleasure, any time! 🙂

That’s interesting because I argued about the dialogue in my book with one of the editors. (English is my second language). Basically I would have gone with “You’re too drunk to fight,” the pirate said. But she changed it to “You’re too drunk to fight.” the pirate said. Then the book I am currently reading is using that way as well and I don’t understand why. And I cannot recall where I learned to use a coma instead of a period but it makes more sense to me. I thought a period was always followed by a capital letter.

Hi Prisqua! Oh dear… you needed a better editor. Basically, you were right and they were wrong. 🙂

Thanks for reading, and for commenting!

My editor corrected mine as well. She argued that it is the end of the statement and therefore required a period, but I thought I had learned the comma thing years ago. Is this perhaps a “new” way to write dialogue? My editor is rather young and new to the scene but, I made the presumption that she was correct as it’s been years since I took an English class. She is fresh out if college. Is there somewhere I can reference to show her?

It’s actually been this way forever. Here’s a page from Nicholas Nickelby by Charles Dickens, for instance. Look a little ways down the page: “I hear you,” said Peg, receiving him very graciously.

https://books.google.com/books?id=NdYNAAAAQAAJ&dq=NICHOLAS%20NICKELBY&pg=PA567#v=onepage&q&f=false

Here is a contemporary example, from Donna Tartt’s The Secret History . Take a look at

“Wait,” he said.

“Look here, Henry, we’ve got someone to meet you,” he said.

https://books.google.com/books?id=VO2w8m-ZAeMC&lpg=PP1&dq=THE%20SECRET%20HISTORY&pg=PA22#v=onepage&q&f=false

It’s just always done that way. 🙂

This is very useful. Thank you.

Thanks for reading, Laurie!

An inexperienced writer really stands out in the crowd when trying to avoid said. The basic reason for using that one attribution is that readers are so accustomed to seeing it, they hardly notice it so the conversation flows unhindered. That said, there are many ways to use other words. “Where have you been?” Harriet scrunched up her face and nearly gagged as the words came out. “You want to cross swords with a pirate?” Captain Jack folded his arms and laughed at his opponent.

Yep, exactly. Those are great examples, Sean!

Hey Bryn, thanks for another very helpful post.

I use ‘ ‘ for conversation and quotation marks when characters are actually quoting something, am I doomed now? Furthermore I only use Italic when you can hear the thoughts of one main character per chapter, because I’m writing in third person. The feelings or thoughts of other characters are sometimes described, but cannot directly be heard.

Hi, Scarlett! Haha, you are not doomed. However, these marks ” ” are standard for conversation, while these ‘ ‘ are standard for a character quoting something within the conversation, so I think you may have them reversed.

And yeah, sometimes you need italics for character’s thoughts… when they are talking to themselves in a way that is kind of like out-loud speech. More often, as you say, that’s not the way people think.

Thanks for commenting, Scarlett! Hope you’re having a great week. 🙂

Excellent post. Thanks for the information.

Thanks, Don!

Loved this post b/c only recently, I argued with a new author over using a period or comma with a he said, or, she said. There was no changing her mind to correct it b/c that’s the way her editor told her to do it.I wonder if this is same editor giving this bad advice to green authors. Pity. The editor needs to take a refresher course in proper punctuation.

I have to admit that I’m really getting alarmed by editors giving out the exact wrong advice!

Thanks for reading and for commenting, Tabitha!

These so called “editors” are real head-shakers. What I’ve seen coming out of the major houses boarders on trash with all the mistakes. Those who have tried to argue about style, and new writers who submit work (some older ones, too) are referred to the Chicago Manual of Style. That is the writer’s Bible. Has been since the early 1900’s. If a person wants to be published, they better know the rules.

It’s true, Sean — standards really seem to have fallen, even in books from the big 5! And YES, thanks for mentioning Chicago Manual of Style !

Wow great advice! I have a question about italics. Is it annoying to have your characters thoughts constantly written in italics? Or should I just use she questioned herself, am I crazy?

Oh Lorrie, this is such a great question, and something I still wrestle with myself.

In third person, I think italics for direct thoughts should be used sparingly and for real emphasis. A lot of the time, it’s not really needed.

Lots of emphasis:

The man vanished into thin air. Lorrie blinked. Am I going crazy?

Less emphasis:

It was the man from the train station in Vienna. Lorrie blinked. Was she going crazy?

I hope that helps!

This absolutely helps. It must be all about the emphasis. Thank you, I see it know and have read it before without recognizing it. Because every thought, inner rage, doubt or question does not need to have a pointed emphasis. I have read other books where ever thought was in italics. From the beginning the reader knew every little thought to, “Ack!! There is a spider! Should I kill it?” I am exaggerating but sometimes it comes down to, is it Charmin TP or store brand? Thanks a million!!

Thank you very much. It’s very helpful 🙂

I have been going crazy thinking about stuff like this whenever I write. Thank you so much! You’re a real life-saver, Bryn!

Ania, thanks for the nice words. So glad it was helpful!

Hi. Just wondering if the Chicago Manual of style is used widely in the UK? I did a writing course from my US based company who quoted from this time and time again. Possibly there’s an Oxford equivalent but I’m not sure. Excellent ideas in your blog!

Hi Fiona! That is a great question, and I don’t know. It’s a good reminder to me that sometimes I’m too USA-centric! A quick Google search suggests that The Oxford Guide to Style may be an equivalent? (Hmm, it used to be called Hart’s Rules , and it looks like the newest version is called New Oxford Style Manual . ) Thanks for commenting!

I had to take a moment to say thank you because I fell into the trap of believing “said is dead” and have been writing my fan fiction using every attempt to avoid it. But the examples and alternatives you give have helped me feel I can breath new life into my writing. Thankfully, thus far, my reader have enjoyed what I’ve churned out and not made comments regarding my use of flowery language but it makes me excited to think I can improve myself more by using a more simple way to show dialogue. I’ll add here I saved your lists of things characters can be doing while talking to help me paint a picture more. I was starting to get bogged down in my own attempts to be clever and appreciate the reminder that sometimes simplicity is really the best policy. I have a feeling I’ll be visiting your blog many more times to improve my writing. Thank you for what you share here.

Hi, Michelle! Thinking one needs to find a lot of synonyms for “said” is very common, so you’re not alone. And it took me forever to understand how useful facial expressions, body language, and action were in setting up dialogue. I’m so glad you liked this! Thanks for commenting, and I hope you have a great year of writing!

PS and I’m not surprised that people have enjoyed your work, even though you’re seeing ways to improve! Writing doesn’t have to be perfect for people to love it… I mean, really, almost no writing is perfect! 🙂

Thank you! I’m actually working on the next chapter of one of my stories and working to employ the techniques you talk about here. I’m still struggling with it a bit since I’m so used to writing the other way and agree that using adverbs here and there to describe a character’s tone of speaking can be acceptable, I’m just working to use them less so it flows better. It’s slowing me down slightly but still I’m glad to learn something new to spice up my writing and know I will only get better the more I do it.

I went through that exact thing! It felt weird at first and then after a while it became natural. 🙂

But I love writing dialogue with synonyms for said! I was scared and went back to review some recent writings. Four in 40-50 lines of dialogue. Maybe, I’m not too bad. I can get that down to two. Great tips for the Grammarly impaired such as myself.

Hi, Tam! It can be daunting or unpleasant at first to switch gears in writing… but maybe give it a try and see what you think. 🙂 And take a look at what your favorite authors do!

One thing you didn’t mention is how to handle dialogue between three or more people. Fun times.

True, that is really tricky! You have to tag so many more lines of dialogue. One’s best bet is to never allow more than two people to discuss anything in a story. (Just kidding!) Thanks for commenting, Sean. 🙂

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How to Format Dialogue

by Beasley Nester | Feb 17, 2021 | Creative Writing

If you’re writing a novel, short story, or personal essay, then you need to know how to format dialogue properly. Even for writers with a knack for good grammar, formatting dialogue can prove challenging because there are many elements to consider. Below is a quick and simple guide to formatting dialogue along with examples. We’ll go into greater detail and more examples in another lesson.

What is Dialogue?

Dialogue is anything the people or characters actually say in your writing. You should use dialogue whenever you’re wanting to indicate that someone is speaking in your story, personal essay, or novel. In creative writing, there are many ways to allude to something a person or fictional character said, but we’ll only cover the basics here: Anything that shows between quotations “ ”. If you want to help the reader feel fully engaged and immersed in your writing, adding dialogue often makes this possible.

Rules to Format Dialogue

• Use Quotation Marks. Anytime someone speakers in your writing, you should surround those sentences in quotation marks. This doesn’t include internal thoughts, which may use italics or nothing at all. Opening and closing quotation marks are probably the most important part of dialogue. It allows a reader to know when someone speaks.

Without quotation marks, you’ll leave your reader frustrated and wondering if someone is speaking in a scene or if it’s the narrator talking.

“ How are those pomegranates coming along? ”

• Indent each new line of dialogue. The same way you indent a new paragraph because it helps the reader understand that you’ve moved on to a new idea, you should also indent each new line of dialogue by half an inch by pressing the tab key.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Mike said. “Well,” Kim said, “it’s not your problem.”

The indentation signals to the reader that you’ve moved on to another character who’s speaking.

• Use dialogue tags. A dialogue tag simply let’s the reader know which person or character is speaking each line. He said , she said , Jack said , are all considered dialogue tags. If two characters are having a long conversation down an entire page, it’s okay to skip a line here and there, as long as the reader understands which character is up next.

            “This is not what we talked about,” Jim said.             “I know,” Lynn said.             “Then why are we doing it?”             “Because it’s better.”             “Better than what?” Jim said.             “Better than getting fired,” Lynn said.

Notice how I dropped the tags once I established that the conversation takes place only between two characters. Remember, the dialogue tags exist only to let the reader know who’s talking. Once you’ve established the order of things, you’re free to drop a few tags and only add them as needed for clarity.

Notice how I only use the simple tag of said for each of these lines of dialogue. You may have seen other verbs used as dialogue tags such as replied, laughed, exclaimed, shouted, yelled, etc.

Don’t do this ever!

While the old creative writing industry standard used to accept tags like the ones above, things have changed over the last few years. As a writer, your goal should always be to immerse the reader into your writing. The reader should forget they’re reading a story and, instead, feel as if they’re part of it. Using the simple he said/she said dialogue tags, allows the reader to move through dialogue more easily.

Try reading the following:

            “Hey!” Angela shouted. “Bill!”             “Oh, what’s up, Angela?” Bill questioned.             “I thought that was you,” Angela replied, seductively. “Love the new haircut.”             “Gee, thanks,” Bill laughed.             “It looks great!” Angela exclaimed.

Did you find that more challenging to read than the earlier samples? I bet you did. Any reader might easily become overwhelmed with all the meaningless verbs that steal the focus from the dialogue between the characters. Do your readers a favor and stick with say / said/says .

• Quotes inside of quotes. Occasionally, you might have a character speak about something another person said within your dialogue. Don’t worry, this is less complicated than it sounds. If your character needs to quote another character, you can differentiate this using the single quote marks ‘ ’.

“I asked mom if I could go out tonight, but she said, ‘you have to do chores first.’”

• Actions that occur before or after dialogue go in a separate sentence. Remember that what your character says and what your narrator says are two completely different things. Even if your character’s actions happen on the same line of dialogue, you should put this in its own sentence.

            Beasley shouted. “Don’t do that!”             “Oh, no!” Beasley covered her mouth.

It some cases, you might slide by with the action attached to the dialogue sentence as long as it’s on the shorter side.

            “I’m so tired,” Beasley said, rubbing her eyes.

• Punctuation stays inside the quotation marks. When it comes to dialogue, punctuation remains inside the quotation marks at all times. If someone asks a question or shouts, the ? and the ! both live inside the quotes.

“How dare you?” he said. “Oh my God!” she said.

Punctuation marks within dialogue carry the same importance as they do in exposition because they let the reader know how a character might have said something. It communicates to the reader when a sentence ends and also gives a clue to the pacing of what’s being said.

            “Oh my God, Jess!” Margie said. “I just bought fresh apples that taste like candy.”             “Really, Margie?” Jess said.

Notice how the highlighted punctuation told you how to read the dialogue.

• Think of the dialogue and the tag as the same sentence. When deciding to choose between a comma, period, or other punctuation, consider where your sentence actually ends. When it comes to placing periods and commas in a line of dialogue, remember that your dialogue tag is part of the dialogue too.

If the character asks a question in dialogue, the first letter (besides a name, obviously) remains lowercase because the line of dialogue is not complete until after the tag, therefore, the period goes after the tag.

“I think I see the pumpkin patch!” she said.

Notice how, even with the exclamation mark, I use a lowercase s for the dialogue tag. This is because you must consider the dialogue tag and the dialogue itself as a single sentence.

Sometimes a dialogue tag better serves the dialogue in the middle of the speech. In this case, you may use commas to indicate short breaks, and the final punctuation marker will complete the sentence.

“Hey, Jenny,” Kerry said, “you like pumpkins soup, right?”

• If you’re narrator interrupts the dialogue, use lowercase on the first letter of that section. Sometimes it’s necessary for the narrator to give a bit more description about how the character is speaking the dialogue. For example, if the character is stammering, coughing during a sentence, or something similar, the reader will want to know this information.

“Listen carefully,” she lowered her voice to a whisper, “we won’t make it out.”

Remember that your line of dialogue and the tag or narrative descriptor are part of the same sentence, therefore, I begin the narrative fragment with a lowercase s .

9. If the character’s dialogue lasts more than a paragraph without a break, use an additional opening quotation to begin the next paragraph, but don’t use a closing one until they’re done speaking. This is something that shouldn’t happen often, but when it does, at least you’ll be prepared. If your character is a long-winded kind of talker, he might ramble for an entire paragraph without the narrator intervening.

Check out the image to get an idea of what this should look like.

Hopefully these tips will help improve your dialogue and creative writing as a whole. If you want to learn more about dialogue or other aspects of creative writing or grammar, check out our other articles or YouTube channel.

Beasley is native to North Carolina but claims no town as her own. She has her BFA in creative writing and a certificate of publication from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington where she also minored in Spanish. Beasley’s favorite thing to write is fantasy fiction. Beasley has had the opportunity to dabble in many fields in her 26 years: traveling the world, modeling for top fashion houses, and earning a writing degree. Putting her found passions together, she created this site for people to find fashion ideas and writing tips, as well as her professional work ranging from her modeling career to published pieces.

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How to Write Dialogue in a Narrative Paragraph

Hayley Milliman

What is Dialogue?

How to write dialogue, how to punctuate your dialogue, periods and commas, question marks and exclamation points, final thoughts.

Dialogue is the written conversational exchange between two or more characters.

Conventional English grammar rules tell us that you should always start a new paragraph when someone speaks in your writing.

“Let’s get the heck out of here right now,” Mary said, turning away from the mayhem.

John looked around the pub. “Maybe you’re right,” he said and followed her towards the door.

Sometimes, though, in the middle of a narrative paragraph, your main character needs to speak.

Mary ducked away from flying fists. The fight at the pub was getting out of control. One man was grabbing bar stools and throwing them at others, and while she watched, another one who you could tell worked out regularly grabbed men by their shirt collars and tossed them out of the way. Almost hit by one flying person, she turned to John and said, “Let’s get the heck out of here right now.”

In my research, I couldn’t find any hard and fast rules that govern how to use dialogue in the middle of a narrative paragraph. It all depends on what style manual your publisher or editorial staff follow.

For example, in the Chicago Manual of Style , putting dialogue in the middle of paragraphs depends on the context. As in the above example, if the dialogue is a natural continuation of the sentences that come before, it can be included in your paragraph. The major caveat is if someone new speaks after that, you start a new paragraph and indent it.

On the other hand, if the dialogue you’re writing departs from the sentences that come before it, you should start a new paragraph and indent the dialogue.

The fight at the pub was getting out of control. One man was grabbing bar stools and throwing them at others, and another one who you could tell worked out regularly grabbed men by their shirt collars and tossed them out of the way.

Punctuation for dialogue stays consistent whether it’s included in your paragraph or set apart as a separate paragraph. We have a great article on how to punctuate your dialogue here: Where Does Punctuation Go in Dialogue?

It’s often a stylistic choice whether to include your dialogue as part of the paragraph. If you want your dialogue to be part of the scene described in preceding sentences, you can include it.

But if you want your dialogue to stand out from the action, start it in the next paragraph.

Dialogue is a fantastic way to bring your readers into the midst of the action. They can picture the main character talking to someone in their mind’s eye, and it gives them a glimpse into how your character interacts with others.

That said, dialogue is hard to punctuate, especially since there are different rules for different punctuation marks—because nothing in English grammar is ever easy, right?

We’re going to try to make this as easy as possible. So we’ll start with the hardest punctuation marks to understand.

For American English, periods and commas always go inside your quotation marks, and commas are used to separate your dialogue tag from the actual dialogue when it comes at the beginning of a sentence or in the middle. Here are a few examples:

Nancy said, “Let’s go to the park today since the weather is so beautiful.”

“Let’s go to the park today since the weather is so beautiful,” she said.

“Let’s go to the park today,” she said, “since the weather is so beautiful.”

British English puts the periods and commas inside the quotation marks if they’re actually part of the quoted words or sentence. Consider the following example:

• She sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, the theme song from The Wizard of Oz.

In the above example, the comma after “Rainbow” is not part of the quoted material and thus belongs outside the quotation marks.

But for most cases when you’re punctuating dialogue, the commas and periods belong inside the quotation marks.

Where these punctuation marks go depends on the meaning of your sentence. If your main character is asking someone a question or exclaiming about something, the punctuation marks belongs inside the quotation marks.

Nancy asked, “Does anyone want to go to the park today?”

Marija said, “That’s fantastic news!”

“Please say you’re still my friend!” Anna said.

“Can we just leave now?” asked Henry.

But if the question mark or exclamation point is for the sentence as a whole instead of just the words inside the quotation marks, they belong outside of the quotes.

Does your physical therapist always say to his patients, “You just need to try harder”?

Do you agree with the saying, “All’s fair in love and war”?

Single Quotation Marks

Only use single quotation marks for quotes within quotes, such as when a character is repeating something someone else has said. Single quotes are never used for any other purpose.

Avery said, “I saw a sign that read ‘Welcome to America’s Greatest City in the Midwest’ when I entered town this morning.”

“I heard Mona say to her mom, ‘You know nothing whatsoever about me,’ ” said Jennifer.

Some experts put a space after the single quote and before the main quotation mark like in the above example to make it easier for the reader to understand.

Here’s a trickier example of single quotation marks, question marks, and ending punctuation, just to mix things up a little.

• Mark said, “I heard her ask her lawyer, ‘Am I free to go?’ after the verdict was read this morning.”

Perfectly clear, right? Let us know some of your trickiest dialogue punctuation situations in the comments below.

Are you prepared to write your novel? Download this free book now:

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Hayley is the Head of Education and Community at ProWritingAid. Prior to joining this team, Hayley spent several years as an elementary school teacher and curriculum developer in Memphis, TN. When Hayley isn't hunched over her keyboard, you can find her figure skating at the ice rink or hiking with her dog.

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• Do You Indent Dialogue?

by Dax MacGregor

When writing dialogue, you start a new paragraph every time a different character speaks. In a manuscript, every paragraph is indented. So yes, dialogue is indented.

Dialogue has many other formatting rules. Be sure to check our article How to Format Dialogue (with Examples) for all the details. For complete information about formatting manuscripts, you’ll want to visit our Proper Manuscript Format page.

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How do I punctuate quoted dialogue from a novel?

How you punctuate quoted dialogue from a novel will depend on what you are quoting and how you are quoting it. See the three most common considerations below.

Quoting Dialogue and Text

If you are incorporating a quotation featuring both exposition and a character’s speech into your text, use double quotation marks around the quotation and single quotation marks around the character’s speech that is within the quotation:

Early in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s  The Great Gatsby ,   Miss Baker, upon meeting Nick Carraway, makes the first reference in the novel to the title character: “‘You live in West Egg,’ she remarked contemptuously. ‘I know somebody there’” (11).

Quoting Only Dialogue

If you quote only the speech, use double quotation marks around it:

Early in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s  The Great Gatsby , Miss Baker tells Nick Carraway that he must be familiar with someone she knows from West Egg: “You must know Gatsby” (11).

Using Block Quotes

When quoting dialogue from a novel, set the quotation off from your text as a block if each character’s speech starts on a new line in the source. Indent the extract half an inch from the left margin, as you would any block quotation. If a character’s speech runs onto a new line, as it does below, indent each line of dialogue an additional half an inch. Use double quotation marks around the spoken words : 

Early in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s  The Great Gatsby , Miss Baker tells the narrator, Nick Carraway, that she knows someone from his town: “You live in West Egg,” she remarked contemptuously. “I know somebody there.” “I don’t know a single–” “You must know Gatsby.” “Gatsby?” demanded Daisy. “What Gatsby?” (11) Work Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Scribner, 1953.

What Is an Indentation?

Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

In a composition , an indentation is a blank space between a margin and the beginning of a line of text .

     The beginning of this paragraph is indented. Standard paragraph indentation is about five spaces or one-quarter to one-half of an inch, depending on which style guide you follow. In online writing , if your software doesn't allow indentation, insert a line space to indicate a new paragraph.

The opposite of first-line indentation is a format called hanging indentation . In a hanging indent, all the lines of a paragraph or entry are indented except the first line. Examples of this kind of indentation are found in résumés, outlines , bibliographies , glossaries , and indexes.

Indentation and Paragraphing

• "The whole idea of a paragraph  is to make things easier for the reader. You indent at the beginning of a paragraph to signal, 'Hey, Reader! I'm shifting gears now.' All of the ideas in this paragraph are about the same main thing. ... The indent—a nice big indent of at least half an inch—also makes things easier on the reader's eyes." (Gloria Levine,  The Princeton Review Roadmap to the Virginia SOL . Random House, 2005)
• "The most common use of indentation is at the beginning of a paragraph , where the first line is usually indented five spaces. ... Another use of indentation is in outlining , in which each subordinate entry is indented under its major entry. ... A long quotation [that is, a block quotation ] may be indented in a manuscript instead of being enclosed in quotation marks . The indentation varies, depending on what documentation style you are following. If you are not following a specific style manual , you may block indent one-half inch or ten spaces from both the right and left margins for reports and other documents." (Gerald J. Alred, Charles T. Brusaw, and Walter E. Oliu, The Business Writer's Handbook , 7th ed. Macmillan, 2003)
• "Paragraph structure is part and parcel of the structure of the discourse as a whole; a given [unit of discourse] becomes a paragraph not by virtue of its structure but because the writer elects to indent, his indentation functioning, as does all punctuation , as a gloss upon the overall literary process under way at that point. Paragraphs are not composed; they are discovered. To compose is to create, to indent is to interpret." (Paul Rodgers, Jr., "A Discourse-Centered Rhetoric of the Paragraph." CCC , February 1966)

Formatting for Dialogue

•  "Formatting for dialogue involves several steps: * Use quotation marks before and after the actual spoken words. * Put end punctuation (such as a period ) inside the end quotation mark. * Indent when a new speaker begins." (John Mauk and John Metz,  The Composition of Everyday Life: A Guide to Writing , 5th ed. Cengage, 2016)
•      "Haven't you ever had people coming over and no time to shop? You have to make do with what's in the fridge, Clarice. May I call you Clarice?" "Yes. I think I'll just call you—" "Dr. Lecter—that seems most appropriate to your age and station," he said. (Thomas Harris,  The Silence of the Lambs . St. Martin's, 1988)

The Origin of Paragraph Indentation

• "Paragraph indention, by the way, arises from that habit of early printers, following the practice of scribes, which consists in leaving a blank space for the insertion of a large initial by the illuminator." (Eric Partridge, You Have a Point There: A Guide to Punctuation and Its Allies . Routledge, 1978)
• "By the seventeenth century the indent was the standard paragraph break in Western prose. The rise of printing encouraged the use of space to organize texts. A gap in a printed page feels more deliberate than a gap in a manuscript because it is made by a slug of lead rather than a flux in handwriting." (Ellen Lupton and J. Abbot Miller, Design, Writing, Research . Princeton Architectural Press, 1996)
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CMOS Shop Talk

From the chicago manual of style, when characters speak: formatting dialogue.

In novels and stories and other creative works, words spoken by a character are normally set off from the narrative with quotation marks, and the speaker is identified in the run of text by tags like “she said.” This is not only Chicago style—it’s an old convention that continues to dominate literature today. To help readers keep track of who’s speaking without the constant repetition of tags, it’s also traditional to start a new paragraph when the speaker changes. Here’s an example from Ji-li Jiang’s memoir, Red Scarf Girl (New York: Harper Trophy, 1997):

“You know the junior high school admissions policy has changed,” Teacher Gu said. “Instead of an entrance exam, teachers are assigning students to their schools.” She paused. “Ji-li, all the sixth-grade teachers agreed to assign you to Shi-yi Junior High.”

“Shi-yi . . . ?” My dream! In spite of everything it was coming true!

“That’s right,” she said. (74)

Another common style dispenses with quotation marks, as Linda Spalding does in her novel A Reckoning (New York: Anchor Books, 2017):

The boy said: You never been at a revival?

Ross said: Not to this day.

I knew you was a Northern.

I’d like to meet your father.

Easy as pie. Just cross that field is our place. (6)

Chapter 13 in The Chicago Manual of Style covers the traditional options for quoted dialogue and offers guidelines related to punctuation, capitalization, and paragraphing, but CMOS by no means exhausts the possibilities for creative writers.

Mixing It Up

There are other practices and combinations of techniques that creative writers shouldn’t hesitate to embrace and their editors shouldn’t hesitate to support.

In her young adult novel Speak (New York: Square Fish, 1999), Laurie Halse Anderson writes speaker names followed by a colon, as in a script for a stage play, and starts a new paragraph for each speaker. But (unlike playwrights) she places quotation marks around each speech.

Siobhan: “What’s this?”

Heather: [swallowing] “It’s a can of beets.”

Siobhan: “No duh. But we found an entire bag of beets in the collection closet. They must have come from you.”

Heather: “A neighbor gave them to me. They’re beets. People eat them. What’s the problem?” (88–89)

Elsewhere in the same novel, Anderson occasionally changes style, running speeches by more than one speaker into the same paragraph:

I tune out for a while and come back when he [the teacher] holds up a huge globe that is missing half of the Northern Hemisphere. “Can anyone tell me what this is?” he asks. “A globe?” ventures a voice in the back. Mr. Freeman rolls his eyes. “Was it an expensive sculpture that some kid dropped and he had to pay for it out of his own money or they didn’t let him graduate?” asks another. (11)

While an editor might be uncomfortable with the difference in styles, it’s worth querying the writer before making changes. Here, because the narrator is a traumatized and withdrawn teenager, a sensitive reader might conclude that conversations are run in when the speakers are mainly unidentified minor characters and the narrator is minimally engaged in what’s happening around her. Then again, maybe the writer simply wandered off-style here and there. It’s especially worth querying if an editor is distracted by inconsistent styles and can’t discern the writer’s intentions.

In Miracle’s Boys (New York: Puffin Books, 2001), another YA novel, Jacqueline Woodson uses traditional quotation marks and paragraphing for character speech but changes the style for conversations a character is remembering from the past, using italics instead of quotation marks. The technique immediately imparts a dreamy style to the reminiscences.

You ever thought about that, Laf? Mama asked me. That being free means you help somebody else get free?

I shook my head.

She put her book down.

’Cause I ain’t free.

Mama looked at me and frowned.

Well, I’m not, I said. If I was free, then I’d be able to go outside like Ty’ree and Charlie.

Then Mama laughed. But I didn’t see what was so funny about the truth. (109)

Going Minimal

A feature present in all the examples above is the use of an initial cap for the first word in a speech, but even this is abandoned by some writers. In Inside the Whale (River Forest, IL: Wicker Park Press, 2012), a novel in verse, Joseph G. Peterson ignores even such strong conventions as periods at the ends of sentences and initial caps—or any caps—but retains the use of a new paragraph for each speaker and a traditional comma to set off speeches from speaker tags. Even the most sticklering editor would be hard put to claim confusion over who’s saying what:

she said reluctantly, i can’t go ricardo, i have this job

you’re kidding, he said

she said, no, i’m not kidding at all (123)

Nothing New under the Sun

O how asham’d I was!—He took it, without saying more, and read it quite thro’, and then gave it me again;—and I said, Pray your Honour forgive me!—Yet I know not for what: For he was always dutiful to his Parents; and why should he be angry, that I was so to mine! And indeed he was not angry; for he took me by the Hand, and said, You are a good Girl, Pamela , to be kind to your aged Father and Mother. I am not angry with you for writing such innocent Matters as these; tho’ you ought to be wary what Tales you send out of a Family.—Be faithful and diligent; and do as you should do, and I like you the better for this. And then he said, Why, Pamela , you write a very pretty Hand, and spell tolerably too. (6th ed., vol. 1, p. 4)

Although Richardson launches new speakers with a conventional tag like “I said” or “he said,” many speeches are run together in long paragraphs (as they might be in a letter), and the reader is pretty much left to divine when a character stops talking. Even with initial caps and long dashes tossed into the mix, Richardson’s text is less readable than any of the modern examples above, including Peterson’s minimally formatted dialogue.

• A writer who wants a straightforward rendering of dialogue can choose one or more of the traditional ways to signal who’s saying what.
• Creative writers who wish to experiment with new forms or achieve a certain literary effect may do as they please—and should prepare for an editor’s questions. Self-publishers who forgo professional editing would do well to test their technique on a few readers.
• Editors faced with either approach should read and query thoughtfully and resist an urge to automatically enforce rules from a stylebook.

Images: Samuel Richardson, Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded , 6th ed., vol. 1 (London, 1742), p. 4 and detail from recto opposite (top image). Courtesy of the British Library .

Fiction+ posts at Shop Talk reflect the opinions of its authors and not necessarily those of The Chicago Manual of Style or the University of Chicago Press.

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2 thoughts on “ when characters speak: formatting dialogue ”.

Thanks, Arlene! I just googled “sticklering -stickler” and didn’t get many hits, but it showed that I didn’t make it up. We should use it more. Maybe we can “frindle” it into recognition.

“Sticklering” made me smile. I love all the neologisms we edibuddies come up with. 😀

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A Guide to Indenting Paragraphs

4-minute read

• 9th July 2022

Indentation refers to the gap between the left-hand margin and the beginning of text on the page or screen. Like font choice and line spacing , indentation might seem like a trivial formatting decision, but using indentation effectively makes your writing more professional-looking and easier to read.

In this guide, we’ll summarize the rules for indentation given by three of the most common style guides. Then we’ll explain the simplest way to apply paragraph indentation in Microsoft Word. First though, what are the different types of indentation?

Indentation Options

Microsoft Word offers three choices of indentation style:

●  Standard: Each line of text is indented by a specified amount. This type of indentation is useful for block quotes and other sections of text that you want to set apart.

●  First line: Indentation is applied to the first line of each paragraph. This provides a visual clue to readers that you’re shifting focus or introducing a new idea.

●  Hanging: An indent is applied to the second and subsequent lines of each paragraph. Hanging indentation is most often used in works cited lists and bibliographies, as it enables readers to easily scan the list of authors.

Indentation in APA Style

In APA , you should indent the first line of each paragraph by 0.5” (1.27 cm). This rule also applies to the abstract, except for the first line, which should be left aligned.

Standard indentation of 0.5” is applied to block quotations, and if the quote runs to more than one paragraph, you must indent the first line of the second and subsequent paragraphs by a further 0.5”.

The entries in an APA reference list should have a hanging indent of 0.5”.

Indentation in MLA Style

The guidelines for MLA are very similar to those of APA with a slight difference in the formatting of block quotes. In MLA, the first line of the second and subsequent paragraphs of block quotes should be indented by only 0.25”. Moreover, if the beginning of the first paragraph of the block quote begins a paragraph in the source text, it too should be indented by 0.25”.

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Indentation in Associated Press Style

The Associated Press Stylebook says that you should not use indentation to indicate the start of a new paragraph. Instead, you should hit the Enter key twice at the end of a paragraph (like we do in our blog posts). Block quotes should have standard indentation of 0.5”.

How to Apply Indentation in MS Word

One quick way to indent text is to hit the Tab key when the cursor is at the beginning of a line. This will indent the line by 0.5”. Pressing Tab again will increase the indent by a further 0.5” and so on. However, if you want to apply a consistent indentation style throughout a section or an entire document, it’s more efficient to use the options in the Paragraph section of the Home tab.

To automatically apply indentation to the first line of every paragraph, select Paragraph Options on the Home tab, then choose First line from the list of special indentations. Finally, enter the size of indentation you require in centimeters (e.g., 1.27).

Hanging indentations work in much the same way. You simply choose Hanging instead of First line .

For block quotes, you can use the Increase Indent button, which appears on the Home and Layout tabs. Each time you press it, the indent increases by 0.5”. You can then reduce or remove the indent with the Decrease Indent button.

Alternatively, you could create a custom style for block quotes using the Styles feature. To do this, follow these steps:

• Select the relevant text and apply indentation either with the Increase Indent button or by entering the required size in Paragraph Options .
• With the text still selected, click on the Styles Pane and select New Style.
• A Create New Style from Formatting box should appear. Enter a name for your newly created style (e.g., Block quote ).

You will then be able to choose the same style and easily apply it to all of the block quotes in your document.

Flawless Formatting

We hope you now feel confident about when and how to apply indentation in your writing. When you upload a document to us for proofreading , you can add full formatting as an extra option. Or, if your writing has already been checked for errors, we offer a formatting-only service— contact us today for a quote.

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How to Properly to Cite Dialogue in MLA

Last Updated: February 13, 2024 References

This article was reviewed by Gerald Posner and by wikiHow staff writer, Jennifer Mueller, JD . Gerald Posner is an Author & Journalist based in Miami, Florida. With over 35 years of experience, he specializes in investigative journalism, nonfiction books, and editorials. He holds a law degree from UC College of the Law, San Francisco, and a BA in Political Science from the University of California-Berkeley. He’s the author of thirteen books, including several New York Times bestsellers, the winner of the Florida Book Award for General Nonfiction, and has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History. He was also shortlisted for the Best Business Book of 2020 by the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 67,734 times.

When you're writing a paper about a work of literature, such as a play or story, you might need to quote from the dialogue. If you're using the citation style of the Modern Language Association (MLA), your Works Cited entry will be the same as it would be for any book, play, or other source. However, the format and in-text citation of dialogue can be a little tricky, especially when you're quoting several lines of dialogue directly.

In-Text Citation

Use this method if your quote is short (3 lines or fewer) and only includes speech from one character. [1] X Research source

• For example, you might write: Nick, the narrator of the story, clearly has class insecurity: "'You make me feel uncivilized, Daisy,' I confessed on my second glass of corky but rather impressive claret. 'Can't you talk about crops or something?'" (Fitzgerald 15)

• For example, you might write: Tom brings his racism full center when he exclaims that "civilization's going to pieces." (Fitzgerald 15)
• For example, you might write: Tom describes a book he's been reading and asserts "The idea is if we don't look out the white race will be — will be utterly submerged. It's all scientific stuff; it's been proved" (Fitzgerald 16).

Block Quotes

Use this method for quotes that are longer than 3 lines or include speech from more than one character.

• For example, you might write: "You don't have to read far into Fitzgerald's book to encounter outright racism:" and then follow with a block quote about Tom discussing his white supremacist thoughts.

• With dialogue from a novel or short story, retain the paragraph format that appears in the original source and use double quotation marks around the spoken dialogue.
• If you're quoting dialogue from a play, the margins are different. The entire quote is set off 1 in (2.5 cm) from the text of your paper. Each subsequent line beyond a character's first is indented an additional 0.25 in (0.64 cm) (about 3 spaces). [7] X Research source

• Don't use quotation marks anywhere in the dialogue when block-quoting dialogue from a play.
• For example, you might quote the dialogue before Romeo and Juliet's first kiss: ROMEO. Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too? JULIET. Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer. ROMEO. O then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do. They pray: grant thou, lest faith turn to despair. JULIET. Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake. ROMEO. Then move not while my prayer's effect I take. (Shakespeare 1.5.112-117)

• For example, the last lines of your block quote might look like this: And I hope she'll be a fool — that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool." (Fitzgerald 19-20)

Works Cited

Use this method to organize information about the source in your Works Cited entry.

• Example: Fitzgerald, F. Scott.
• If there are 2 authors, list them in the order they appear on the title page of the book. Place a comma after the first author's first name, then type the word "and," followed by the second author's first and last name. (Example: Smith, John and Sally Ride)
• If there are 3 or more authors, list only the first author's name, add a comma after their first name, then type the abbreviation "et al." (Example: Smith, John, et al.)

• Book example: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby .
• Short story example: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz."

• Short story example: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz." The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald , edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli,
• For literary journals or other periodicals , include the volume and issue numbers as well.

• Book example: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby . Scribner, 2004.
• Short story example: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz." The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald , edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli, Scribner, 1995.

• Book example: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby . Scribner, 2004. gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200041h.html.
• Short story example: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz." The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald , edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli, Scribner, 1995. public-library.uk/ebooks/28/56.pdf.

Template to Cite Dialogue in MLA

Expert Q&A

• If you're quoting Shakespeare , use the act, verse, and line numbers, rather than the page numbers of the specific edition you're using. With other plays, use the page number, as you would with any book. [15] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• This article describes how to cite dialogue using MLA 8th edition (2016). If your instructor or supervisor has you using a different edition, the format might be different. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.monmouth.edu/resources-for-writers/documents/mla-citing-drama.pdf/
• ↑ https://style.mla.org/citing-dialogue-from-a-novel/
• ↑ https://libguides.msjc.edu/c.php?g=498977&p=3416596
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_page_books.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_page_basic_format.html
• ↑ https://style.mla.org/works-cited-a-quick-guide/
• ↑ https://dcc.libguides.com/c.php?g=904157&p=6508010
• ↑ http://msweinfurter.weebly.com/uploads/5/4/3/7/5437316/mla_in_text_citation_of_poetry_and_drama_godot_and_auden.pdf

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Do You Indent Every Paragraph in an Essay?: How to Indent in Microsoft Word

Indenting paragraphs may appear to be a minor formatting choice, much like the font and line spacing choices. However, properly employing indentation gives your paper a more polished appearance and facilitates its readability. It illustrates a flow of thoughts and coherence in your essay.

Nevertheless, many learners and professional writers forgo or do not fully grasp the idea behind the indentation of paragraphs. This article tackles this concept by answering some of the most pertinent questions about this issue. For example, do you indent every paragraph in an essay? When do you indent a paragraph?

Read on to answer these and more fundamental questions, and get a clearer understanding of indentation in writing.

Do You Indent Every Paragraph in an Essay?

When writing an essay, you should indent the first line of every paragraph. Indentation also applies to dissertations, research papers, theses, and term papers. Note that all formatting styles, including APA, MLA, Harvard, and Chicago, demand indentation when writing paragraphs. Every new paragraph you write should have its initial line indented by ½ inch from the left margin.

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Make sure to indent the paragraphs of an essay and exclude the abstract when composing a paper that requires an abstract. Never indent an abstract. When writing it, position the whole paragraph to the left to avoid an indent. Remember, the unique layout of the abstract makes it stand out from the remainder of the work.

Also see: When do you start writing a new paragraph

Nevertheless, indenting every paragraph in your essay is also subject to your institution’s policies and instructor’s guidelines. Some do not require students to indent paragraphs, especially when the essays should be typed. They prefer students to leave empty lines between paragraphs. Line spacing is also effective in making paragraphs coherent and easily distinguishable.

Do You Indent Paragraphs in APA 7th Edition?

Ensure to indent the lines of each paragraph in your essay or paper when writing it in APA 7th Edition style. You only exclude the abstract, which should not be indented.

In this writing style, the introduction and conclusion paragraphs’ initial lines need to be indented. Therefore, ensure to hit the one-tab space key to indent the line by 1/2 inch when starting a new paragraph. In a word document, you can allow automatic indentation to eliminate blanks between paragraphs and position each paragraph to the left.

Additionally, when using a block quote from a text in a direct quotation, you must indent it. This is true if the quotation spans more than three lines. Indent the full quote 1/2 inch from the left margin, and remember to exclude the quotation marks.

However, make sure to arrange your citations with a hanging indent and left-align them in the referencing list. Furthermore, note that the citation and the commentary should both be in a hanging indent when producing an annotated bibliography.

Do You Indent Every Paragraph in MLA?

In your MLA-formatted essay, you must indent each paragraph. Please ensure to read the MLA formatting special writing requirements. You will notice that the formatting style necessitates every essay writer to include a half-inch indent at the first line of every paragraph.

In MLA, you should indent block quotes too. Any quoted text, four lines or more, is considered a block quote. These lengthy quotations are formatted uniquely. The entire block has an indentation that is 1 inch long rather than the typical ½-inch. Remember, the block’s left margin should be constant; avoid indenting the first line further.

When Do You Indent a Paragraph?

Several instances would demand you as a writer to indent paragraphs when writing your essay. Please keep scrolling to learn and understand these instances.

When Shifting from a Concept or a Subtopic to Another

It’s time to create a new paragraph through indentation when the content, facts, details, or thoughts change to address a different aspect of the subject. Therefore, you can indent a paragraph when you want to explore a new concept, slightly independent from the previous paragraph.

The much-despised formatting method of indentation gives readers a sense of order. Readers are informed by indentations when they are about to explore a new subject or begin a new portion of a text. Indenting supports the logical material presentation.

When Shifting from One Setting to another

Using indentation in paragraphs to illustrate a change of setting is most common in narrative essays. When there is a change in time, place, emotion, occasion, date, direction, or dimension, you, as the writer, should indent to let your readers know. Doing so enhances the flow of information and events for your instructor and readers.

When Changing Speakers During a Dialogue

It is vital to indent paragraphs every time characters in your essay have a dialogue. It helps your readers to identify the shifts in speakers and, therefore, appreciate the flow of the dialogue.

How to Indent in Microsoft Word

There are several ways to indent paragraphs in Microsoft Word. Below are two of the most applicable ones and their explanations.

Using the Tab Key to Indent Individual Paragraphs

When using this technique, you press the Tab key after moving the cursor at the start of the topic sentence. Doing so will leave a 1/2-inch indent in the row. Remember, you can raise the indentation by another ½-inch by pressing the Tab button again, and so on.

Using the Ruler Technique

This technique is the fastest if you wish to indent all the paragraphs in your essay as a group. Below is a guideline on how to maneuver through this method

• Go to the ribbon and select the Home tab.
• Put the cursor at the start of a paragraph.
• Move to the Editing group at the top right corner of the page and click “Select.”
• Press the “Select Text with Similar Formatting” from the drop-down menu.
• Then, click the “View tab” in the ribbon.
• In the Show group, choose Ruler.
• Moving the top ruler marker toward the right will find the required indent length.

So, do you indent every paragraph in an essay? Most students are unsure whether to use indentation, despite it being a vital formatting strategy in writing academic papers. Fortunately, this article has clarified most aspects of indentation by answering some of the most fundamental questions on the concept.

Please ensure you write your next essay correctly by utilizing the above information. Additionally, ensure you have appropriately indented your document while you review for inconsistencies and style.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, should i indent paragraphs in my college essay.

Hey everyone! I'm currently working on my college application essays, and I was just wondering if I should indent my paragraphs or leave them as they are? I want my essays to look professional and be easy to read.

Hey! It's great that you're working on your college essays and want to ensure they look professional. When it comes to paragraph indentation, there isn't a strict rule as different schools may have slightly different preferences. However, it's generally a good idea to follow the standard formatting practices.

Most college application essays use a 0.5-inch indentation for each new paragraph. Alternatively, if you want to avoid using indentation, you could separate your paragraphs by a blank line instead. This would also make your essay easy to read. Whichever method you choose, just make sure to be consistent throughout your essay.

Remember, the most important factor is the content of your essay, so focus more on making it clear, engaging, and genuine. Good luck with your applications!

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MLA Formatting Quotations

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When you directly quote the works of others in your paper, you will format quotations differently depending on their length. Below are some basic guidelines for incorporating quotations into your paper. Please note that all pages in MLA should be double-spaced .

Short quotations

To indicate short quotations (four typed lines or fewer of prose or three lines of verse) in your text, enclose the quotation within double quotation marks. Provide the author and specific page number (in the case of verse, provide line numbers) in the in-text citation, and include a complete reference on the Works Cited page. Punctuation marks such as periods, commas, and semicolons should appear after the parenthetical citation.

Question marks and exclamation points should appear within the quotation marks if they are a part of the quoted passage, but after the parenthetical citation if they are a part of your text.

For example, when quoting short passages of prose, use the following examples:

When using short (fewer than three lines of verse) quotations from poetry, mark breaks in verse with a slash, ( / ), at the end of each line of verse (a space should precede and follow the slash). If a stanza break occurs during the quotation, use a double slash ( // ).

Long quotations

For quotations that are more than four lines of prose or three lines of verse, place quotations in a free-standing block of text and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, with the entire quote indented 1/2   inch  from the left margin while maintaining double-spacing. Your parenthetical citation should come  after the closing punctuation mark . When quoting verse, maintain original line breaks. (You should maintain double-spacing throughout your essay.)

For example, when citing more than four lines of prose, use the following examples :

Nelly Dean treats Heathcliff poorly and dehumanizes him throughout her narration: They entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their room, and I had no more sense, so, I put it on the landing of the stairs, hoping it would be gone on the morrow. By chance, or else attracted by hearing his voice, it crept to Mr. Earnshaw's door, and there he found it on quitting his chamber. Inquiries were made as to how it got there; I was obliged to confess, and in recompense for my cowardice and inhumanity was sent out of the house. (Bronte 78)

When citing long sections of poetry (four lines of verse or more), keep formatting as close to the original as possible.

In his poem "My Papa's Waltz," Theodore Roethke explores his childhood with his father:

The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy. We Romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; My mother's countenance Could not unfrown itself. (qtd. in Shrodes, Finestone, Shugrue 202)

When citing two or more paragraphs, use block quotation format, even if the passage from the paragraphs is less than four lines. If you cite more than one paragraph, the first line of the second paragraph should be indented an extra 1/4 inch to denote a new paragraph:

In "American Origins of the Writing-across-the-Curriculum Movement," David Russell argues,

Writing has been an issue in American secondary and higher education since papers and examinations came into wide use in the 1870s, eventually driving out formal recitation and oral examination. . . .

From its birth in the late nineteenth century, progressive education has wrestled with the conflict within industrial society between pressure to increase specialization of knowledge and of professional work (upholding disciplinary standards) and pressure to integrate more fully an ever-widening number of citizens into intellectually meaningful activity within mass society (promoting social equity). . . . (3)

Adding or omitting words in quotations

If you add a word or words in a quotation, you should put brackets around the words to indicate that they are not part of the original text:

If you omit a word or words from a quotation, you should indicate the deleted word or words by using ellipses, which are three periods ( . . . ) preceded and followed by a space. For example:

Please note that brackets are not needed around ellipses unless they would add clarity.

When omitting words from poetry quotations, use a standard three-period ellipses; however, when omitting one or more full lines of poetry, space several periods to about the length of a complete line in the poem: