karaokecrush
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« on: November 03, 2009, 06:34:00 PM » |
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OK, I am currently writing a scene where a MC is giving an interview on TV. The speech is a bit long and I feel it should be broken up into two paragraphs but I don't want to have to stop the speech and add some cheesy tag that is totally unnecessary (e.g. he paused, then reached forward for a glass of water ... blah blah blah) just for the opportunity to drop a line and start a new paragraph. Is it "kosher" to format paragraphs within a "speech" in a quote? Do I have to leave the end of the sentence before the break without quotes and then quote the first line of the new para to remind the audience that it's still the same person speaking? Hmmm ... anyone, anyone?  any help here would be most appreciated! |
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violet
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« Reply #1 on: November 03, 2009, 07:05:07 PM » |
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It's totally kosher and you ought to do it just how you stated: leave the end of the sentence before the break w/o quotes...etc."
Another thought...you said it's an interview...could the person interviewing the MC ask a question?
Either way, it's fine to have a long speech. I too have one in my ms...come to think of it, while I probably should've broken it up, I didn't. *shrugs*
Hope this helps!
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Magic_Seeker
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« Reply #2 on: November 03, 2009, 07:14:25 PM » |
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I'm not sure I understood the question (or Violet's answer; I'm not in top form tonight), but I think you have two choices (which, in the end, will be determined by your editor). 1) Quotes: "I am making a speech. "I am making a very long speech. "I shall now finish my speech." 2) Offset from the rest of the text, and completely without quotes, unless he is quoting someone else: John pulled up the mike and started to talk. I am making a speech. I am making a very long speech. I shall now finish my speech. John turned off the mike. Either way, any time you have a long paragraph, please do split it up or people like me will just skip it. Sorry, but my eyes glaze over when I see large blocks of text. I hope this helps!  |
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cheermom
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« Reply #3 on: November 04, 2009, 03:43:02 AM » |
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My last chapter is a speech given by the MC. I quoted and close quoted each paragraph and didn't change the formatting.
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You can't grasp tomorrow, if both hands are holding onto yesterday.
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Tabris
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« Reply #4 on: November 04, 2009, 05:43:34 AM » |
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I'm with Magic_Seeker. My first thought (fairly or unfairly) when I see a text block that long is "INFODUMP!" and that the author isn't doing his job.
What a text block that long deprives us of (the readers) is the reaction of the listeners and the feelings of the speaker. The speaker is doing his thing without regard to the audience,and since the reader is the audience,we feel LESS invested in the speech, not more (which is what I assume you want, with the long block of text to be some moving admission or summation.)
I'd break it up to include reactions from the listeners, or if he's dictating in a tape recorder in an empty room, the reactions he imagines from characters we've grown to love during the book.
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 "It's a better work to feed the hungry than to raise the dead." ~St. John Chrysostom Come visit my weblog! |
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newday11
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« Reply #5 on: November 04, 2009, 06:21:37 AM » |
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 I like Magic_Seeker's number 1 sample. newday11
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Axordil
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« Reply #6 on: November 04, 2009, 08:19:52 AM » |
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TV interviewers, the good ones at least, try to keep people from making long speeches in interviews, because it's bad television, as a rule. They interrupt if necessary. If it's a set piece interview (think 60 Minutes) they cut back to the interviewer, zoom in, pan out, and otherwise break it up visually. In many cases they just edit out what they think is fluff.
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bodwen
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« Reply #7 on: November 04, 2009, 09:30:55 AM » |
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I'll go against the grain and say that I think that modern writers go a little bit overboard to avoid speeches. Take the example.
Ex1:
"Honey? Please open the door. I shouldn't have talked to you like that. It was wrong and I'm sorry. I'll never do it again."
Ex2:
"Honey?"
"What!"
Please open the door."
"No!"
"I shouldn't have talked to you like that."
"I agree. It really upset me!"
"It was wrong and I'm sorry."
"If I open the door you'll just do it again!"
"I'll never do it again."
Most people would probably prefer Ex. 2. but in my opinion it is too scattershot and is padded out to the point where it loses emotional impact.
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Tabris
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« Reply #8 on: November 04, 2009, 09:39:17 AM » |
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But how about this:
"Honey?" No answer. "Honey, please open the door." Again, silence. Nothing. He waited, and then almost so low he couldn't hear it, the soft rustle of fabric. She must be listening. "I shouldn't have talked to you like that. It was wrong. I'm sorry. I'm terribly sorry."
That spaces it out more the way he'd say it, plus gives his behavior and her responses/nonresponses.
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"It's a better work to feed the hungry than to raise the dead." ~St. John Chrysostom Come visit my weblog! |
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AshK
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« Reply #9 on: November 04, 2009, 10:19:33 AM » |
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Either way, any time you have a long paragraph, please do split it up or people like me will just skip it. Sorry, but my eyes glaze over when I see large blocks of text. I hope this helps! White space on every page makes for a real page-turner. Also helps keep eyeballs well-lubricated so they don't dry out before the end!  |
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violet
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« Reply #10 on: November 04, 2009, 04:47:37 PM » |
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I'm with Magic_Seeker. My first thought (fairly or unfairly) when I see a text block that long is "INFODUMP!" and that the author isn't doing his job.
What a text block that long deprives us of (the readers) is the reaction of the listeners and the feelings of the speaker. The speaker is doing his thing without regard to the audience,and since the reader is the audience,we feel LESS invested in the speech, not more (which is what I assume you want, with the long block of text to be some moving admission or summation.)
I'd break it up to include reactions from the listeners, or if he's dictating in a tape recorder in an empty room, the reactions he imagines from characters we've grown to love during the book.
Don't read City of Bones...an entire chapter is one person talking--explaining how he became a werewolf. Info dump? Absolutely. Done a lot? Yep. |
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Tabris
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« Reply #11 on: November 04, 2009, 05:32:11 PM » |
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How would that be any different than slipping into first person for one chapter? That I can handle. What I don't like is the page-long block of lecture/speech/infodump that is supposed to somehow move me to tears.
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"It's a better work to feed the hungry than to raise the dead." ~St. John Chrysostom Come visit my weblog! |
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violet
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« Reply #12 on: November 04, 2009, 11:10:36 PM » |
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How would that be any different than slipping into first person for one chapter? That I can handle. What I don't like is the page-long block of lecture/speech/infodump that is supposed to somehow move me to tears.
Agreed!  |
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Tabris
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« Reply #13 on: November 05, 2009, 06:30:38 AM » |
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For some reason, first person (even though it's technically one monologue) gives the reader a chance to interact with the monologue, whereas an actual monologue is isolating to the reader. That's why I prefer having pauses to break it up even if it is a speech or something where no one is interrupting.
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"It's a better work to feed the hungry than to raise the dead." ~St. John Chrysostom Come visit my weblog! |
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