: Re: Should I ever break up a long line of dialogue in different paragraphs? I often second-guess myself in one particular scenario when writing dialogue. Convention says I should break different characters'

@Karen856

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As long as you can make the dialogues flow smoothly, I don't see any problem with dividing it into paragraphs. With that said, I would like to point out that it isn't always the best way to build up suspense, tension or drama in a piece of fiction.

To make it easy to the eye and a lot less intimidating for the reader, make sure that the change in paragraphs only comes when the narrative sees a major change in subject.

Not a lot of contemporary writers use this in their work. However, if used sparingly, this can definitely make for a tight yarn.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used an awful lot of this tack in his works. You can find the complete Sherlock Holmes collection here. This should suffice in giving you a fair idea of the intricacies of this technique.

Hope this helped!

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