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Grammar resource: Formatting dialogue - Action and dialogue

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Writers can vary in their approaches to formatting action and dialogue. However, there are a some general rules to follow.

Action and dialogue

As a general rule, if the speaker of a line of dialogue performs an action after speaking, you should keep that action in the same paragraph. Begin a new paragraph whenever action or dialogue from a character other than the original speaker is introduced. Start a new paragraph for actions performed by another character even if they don’t say anything. This keeps everything nice and clear!

 

Good examples:

    “I just can’t get over him,” Aaron cried. He wiped his eyes, which were red and puffy.

    Janet draped an arm around him and hugged him close. She was crying too. “Come on, Aaron. It’ll be all right,” she said.

    “You think?” he replied. The sobs stuttered and stopped.

    Aaron wiped his eyes, which were red and puffy.

    “Come on, Aaron. It’ll be all right,” Janet said, though she was crying too. She draped an arm around him and hugged him close. 

    The sobs stuttered and stopped.

Less clear example:

    Aaron wiped his eyes, which were red and puffy.

    “Come on, Aaron. It’ll be all right,” Janet said, though she was crying too. She draped an arm around him and hugged him close.
The sobs stuttered and stopped.

Punctuating action and dialog

If an action occurs before or after a line of dialogue is spoken, it should be given its own sentence, ending with a full stop.

Correct Examples:

    Martin held out his hands. “You should have told me.”

    “You should have told me.” Martin held out his hands.

Incorrect Examples:

    Martin held out his hands, “You should have told me.”

    “You should have told me,” Martin held out his hands

 

If the action happens at the same time as a line of dialogue is spoken, you can run it into the same sentence by using a dialogue tag (or em dashes, as shown in the next section).

Examples:

    “You should have told me,” Martin said, holding out his hands.

    Holding out his hands, Martin said, “You should have told me.”