PARAGRAPHING YOUR WORK / 51 PRACTISING WHAT YOU’VE LEARNT 1. Change the following examples of direct speech into indirect speech: (a) ‘Will you come to the dance, Susan?’ asked John. (b) ‘I can’t go because I’m going to a wedding,’ replied Susan. 2. Set out the following dialogue as a play. ‘I’ve got so much to do,’ wailed Ruth. ‘The wedding’s not for ages,’ Brian reminded her. ◆ Each paragraph should have a topic sentence whose content is expanded in the rest of the paragraph. ◆ Short paragraphs may be used for effect. ◆ Direct speech is always enclosed in inverted commas. ◆ A new paragraph always starts at the beginning of the sentence in which a character speaks. ◆ There is always a punctuation mark before the inverted commas are closed. ◆ Start a new paragraph when returning to the narrative. ◆ A punctuation mark always separates the speech from the person who says it. ◆ Use double inverted commas for quotations and titles if contained in dialogue. ◆ Inverted commas are not needed when reporting speech or writing a play.