The English Oracle

Is it necessary to begin a new paragraph after a person speaks?

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Chapters
00:00 Is It Necessary To Begin A New Paragraph After A Person Speaks?
00:44 Accepted Answer Score 7
01:20 Thank you

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Full question
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Tags
#writing #writingstyle #speech #paragraphs

#avk47



ACCEPTED ANSWER

Score 7


This is purely a matter of style. Even Dickens' publishers didn't follow that rule. This is from Google Books' reproduction of A Tale of Two Cities published in Philadelphia in 1859:

A Tale of Two Cities

However, at least one reproduction of this passage does split this single paragraph between the end of the quote and And.

Paragraphs generally hold a single idea. If there is narration which follows directly from the quotation and it could be understood as part of the same idea, it's reasonable for it to be all in the same paragraph.