: Re: Are there exceptions to starting a new paragraph for every speaker? I know that it's one of the golden rules to start a new paragraph every time there's dialogue from a new speaker, but my

@Kaufman555

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As they say, a good writer knows how to break the rules.
I'm dealing with this in a story I'm writing. Sometimes it just makes sense to keep different quotes in the same paragraph, especially if there's a lot of narrative around it. My advice would be to give main characters manners of speech that are distinct enough that who is speaking is clear enough from context that 'said so and so' is no longer necessary. In my story it's rather easy, as one of the main characters has a strong Turkish accent. Here's an example:

‘’So it was a failure?’’ Mia gazed toward Emine with glassy eyes and a folded brow. Emine softened her expression. ‘’Well, no one is stop TOKİ if zis your question, but protest was success. Too many peoples joined protest.’’ Mia’s eyes sharpened. ‘’Well, if the police broke the protest up, and nothing changed, that sounds like a failure.’’

The important thing is whether it is clear or not.

*As to your specific example, Scout, I think it's fine, but if I can nitpick, I'd say the sentence has too many function words.

"You wouldn't dare," Alexa hissed, at the same time that Corey shouted, "God, no!"

'at the same time that' is 5 syllables! I'd reduced it to:

"You wouldn't dare," Alexa hissed, just as Corey shouted, "God, no!" or even

"You wouldn't dare," Alexa hissed, as Corey shouted, "God, no!"

Function words distract attention away from the interesting nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs that make your writing strong. They're just clutter. Try to reduce them wherever you can.

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