Author's Notes: It's optional for the author's notes bit, but it's always nice to acknowledge those who helped you in some way...
I'd like to thank my ever faithful betas... my friends for keeping me sane... my mother for giving birth to me... <grin>
DISCLAIMER: Please always include a disclaimer to the sounds of something like "The people in the suits with all the money own these cool characters... I just like playing in their toy box 'cause the toys are so cool! I don't own anything, and no money is made" or just anything that in some way says the characters, etc aren't yours. Comprendre?
Yay! Now we get to the fun bit! The actual story!!
So, you've written a story, eh? That's pretty damn cool, and I'm not being sarcastic. I have respect for anyone who has guts to have their work archived on the web. <smile> Now, you're probably wondering why you're reading this... well, some people still aren't getting my explanations of what a real paragraph is... which is probably my own fault, because I'm not really known for my amazing communicative skills. <grin>
Now, when a new character speaks, it's a good idea to start a new paragraph. Like this...
"Daniel?"
"Jack?"
"Whatcha doin'?"
"You really want to know that...?"
"Uh, no, not really..."
That, ladies and gents, is how you use paragraphs each time a new person speaks. The equivalent of one 'enter' space in between each persons quotes. Okay?
Another instance you start a new paragraph is with a slight change in scene, or a new movement. For example...
Qui-Gon's blue eyes narrowed in on the opposite side of the room, as if he was focussing on a particular object. In reality, he was letting his mind wander over the possibilites and repercussions that could result from the events of the past few days.
Suddenly, he stood in one graceful move, head snapping around to face the window, his features alert. His hands strayed to rest at his belt, just above his lightsabre.
There was a definite disturbance in the Force.
<evil grin> For those of you who are wondering what happens next, you'll just have to wonder. I pulled that off the top of my head for an example. <wink>
Do you all see where I'm going with this? Essentially, this whole page is an example. These are all properly formatted paragraphs and I'd love you all forever if you could please, in future, format your work like this (the paragraphs, anyway).
Oh! One last thing!! For a really big change in scene, like if characters have been split up into groups, and you swtich back and forth between each group, then a horizontal rule is needed. That's one of these...
You can indicate to me that you want one of those by using a few asterisks (*) or something similar in a row... e.g. *****
Thanks for your time everyone! Hope this helped somewhat!!
-- Sarah, The Place of Our Legacy owner/webmistress/archivist/all-round ball of stress <grin>