Hmm, is it proper to break a sentence without using a speech indicator
like that?

Must one always designate a 'said,' 'coughed,' spluttered,' 'spewed' sort
of action indicator into it? Just in case the answer was yes, I made a quick
revision:

    "Right," Kenji said with a nod, "I've still got scars from

        I believe it's possible to do without a speech indicator
stylistically, but I've never managed to get it _right_. You might
have. :/

It is indeed possible...often the way to go would be something like:

     "Right." Kenji nodded. "I've still got scars from

To me this sounds less awkward than "said with a nod," though that's not too bad.

You can't nod dialogue, and you can't smile or frown it either, but you can easily
smile or frown or nod between utterances, and this is usually enough to indicate who
the dialogue belongs to. And, of course, if it's already obvious who is speaking,
you often need no sort of tag at all.

What? You want me to describe how Ranma sidestepped dozens of bokken
swings while simultaneously knocking out four attackers at a time while
balancing on one foot in the Stuffed Vulture position while snatching a stick
and swinging it around against the heads of all the juniorclassmen while
singing "We Will Rock You" and playing three games of paper-rock-scissors?

I mean, is that what you really want? (I'd need a minimum of three people to
tell me that for me to put that in. Fight scenes can be hard to calculate...)

Works for me. ^_^ That's one...

Peter

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