Standard Paragraphs

[xriotzx]

Well up until now I have never taking writing this seriously and I never paid much attention to proper paragraphs, so what exactly is the standard paragraph, like for instance how do you decide when to start another, what the usual sizes, etc.

I want to make sure I have my facts straight for when I show you what I'm working on.

[Benel Germosen]

Four to six sentences.

That's pretty much it.

[BlueLeafeon]

But you have to start a new paragraph when somebody new speaks.

[Benel Germosen]

Aug 23, 2010 10:20:30 GMT -5 BlueLeafeon said:

But you have to start a new paragraph when somebody new speaks.

Yeah.

And sometimes a sentence is a paragraph.

[xriotzx]

Okay new questions.
.1 What if this "new person" says something more than once, do you start a new paragraph each time he says something, even though he's the only one speaking?

.2 Is there any special condition dictating when you absolutely have to start anew, just like what blueleaf said?

[BlueLeafeon]

.1 What if this "new person" says something more than once, do you start a new paragraph each time he says something, even though he's the only one speaking?

I was afraid that might not come across clearly enough. My apologies.

By "new person" I meant a different one than the person before. Like this:

Tigerkit was nagging his mother.

"Why can't I go out?"

"You just came in!"

"But you made me come in!"

"It's time for your nap!"

etc.

[kilmore]

A paragraph is for a single thought. For example, when setting a scene, your first paragraph might describe the scene in general. The second paragraph may describe your main character's impressions of the scene. The third describes another character's with a comment in quotation marks. The fourth being the reply to that comment.

Generally, every time a character speaks, that's a new paragraph. However, you can have the same character speak twice in the same paragraph, like this which I have recently written:

“Keep it up, Magus Artleartle, and you can discuss it with him in person. I won’t allow this treasonable talk.” Leslee warned him, then said to the surrounding officers, “Come on, lets run the wounded to the hospital.”

You can also have multiple quotes in quotation marks from different people in the same paragraph if it is a sort of a diffuse crowd or a rambunctious classroom, forex:

The angry crowd milled outside the old brick jailhouse, getting larger and more surly by the minute. There were calls of "Bring him out!", "We demand justice!" and "Hang the son of a b----!"