Board Thread:Voting/@comment-4854965-20141207004226/@comment-4854965-20141207034910

Mr B Natural wrote: I support everything except 3. I still think you should never put a character's actions into another character's speech box. And as for 3b, why should Narrating have its own special place in the character name box in the left column? It would look really out of place as it's the only non-name thing to go in the left column, if 3b were to go into action. Also, it would mean the creation of an extra column if the character switches from narrating to normal speaking.

I've said this before (I've said all this before), but here is a guideline proposal:

There are three types of things put in parentheses in character text boxes:

1.Actions the character does when not speaking.

2.Actions the character does while speaking.

3.Adverbs which describe how the character speaks.

I propose that each one be written differently, so that you can distinguish which one is happening.

The first one should be written in present tense, as in [(Runs to Soos) What are you doing?!] In this situation, Dipper runs to Soos, then says the line.

The second one should be written with the verb ending in "ing": [(Running to Soos)] What are you doing?!] In this situation, Dipper runs to Soos while he says the line.

The third situation is different from the other two. It just means that it the thing in parentheses is describing how the character is saying the line, there should be a colon: in the parentheses. This would mean that [Mabel: (Thinking) Please be a vampire!] Would be different from [Mabel: (Thinking:) Please be a vampire!], because in the first situation, Mabel says the line while thinking about something, and in the second, Mabel thinks the line. This way we can tell the difference between the two. First off, sorry that you're suggestions didn't make it into my 'voting' proposal. I skimmed over the other threads to see what other people agreed on and suggested so I could modify it. Sorry that I skipped over yours.

I agree with your outline of the parenthetical phrases and situations. I am going to edit the initial post to include what you just mentioned.

The reason I was thinking for the narration description being seperate is because in narrating a scene, the character takes on a different role between him/herself and the audience. For example, when Dipper narrates in Tourist Trapped, he is talking to the viewer (us), which is still different from him just talking to himself. There's a change in the relation between character and viewer.