It's a stylistic thing. Personally, I'd have to disagree with Don; I
think mixing dialog with narrative, if done judiciously, works well.
After all, we don't stop moving, observing, or thinking every time we
say something. Breaking a line of dialog with a character's action is
also a convenient way to identify the source of the action without the
need for explicit "he said" tags on every paragraph (and I do agree that
substituting other words for "said" is often awkward unless you're very
careful to choose those words appropriately), and provides a break in
the rhythm of the dialog.

As I said, a stylistic thing. Experiment with it and you may find a
style that works best for you -- or, better yet, several different
styles that you can choose between to best fit whatever story you're
trying to tell.

Okay, that makes sense! I was actually kinda worried, because all my stories 
are written that way, and I was wondering if I was doing something wrong.

Don, I'll wait and see if you have anything else to add, but at the very 
least I think some of the "dialogue with narrative" stuff in my fic could be 
cleaned up a little. Still, I might stick with my own style for the moment, 
as it's easier for me and I'm used to it.

Anyway, thanks for your viewpoint, Gary! And if anybody else wants to add 
their thoughts to writing styles, I'd be more than willing to listen! ^_^

Brad aka Kaiphantom
www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000

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