Hello fellow writers! My incredible ego and I have decided to start a thread wherein I tell you all sorts of things that you probably don't want to know... or do you? Today's topic is on how to lay out your stories, according to conventional wisdom. Luckily for you all, I won't actually be telling you how to do this. Instead, I'll be linking to other people who do it better. :)
This
handy link explains how to lay out a story when you submit it to a magazine.
Those of us who aren't yet sending stories out to publishers or magazines can learn from the article as well. There are plenty of basic rules contained within the article and you might find your own stories easier to read if you start formatting them that way. :) I
wouldn't recommend using Courier as your font on a day-to-day basis, though. It's far too ugly to read properly on a screen.
One thing that used to give me trouble when I first started writing on computers was the puctuation used when characters talk. I used to put in things like this:
"I can't believe we're here!", exclaimed the character.Notice how I put a comma after I closed the inverted commas? I know it's wrong now, but it looked OK to me back then. Of course, I should have written:
"I can't believe we're here!" exclaimed the characterAlways leave your commas, full-stops etc
inside the inverted commas.
Make sure you do have punctuation there. For instance, try not to write something like this:
"I refuse to say anything else" said the guinea pig.Put a comma in after the
else and everyone will be happy.
I think that's it from me. Enough pointless rambling about punctuation - it's time to... make a cup of tea! (Or something...)
Incidentally, if anyone actually has a grammar-related question, by all means ask it and I'll answer it for you! :)