Just wondering what the writer can get away with in terms of shifting focus in a paragraph, specially when dialogue is involved.
Example: Bob scratched the back of the dog's elongated head. 'You're a good boy, yes you are.' The dog whined and tried to share his fowl smelling slobber with Bob. 'You wanna go kill the neighbor's cat, do you? Come on, I'll break it's back legs and you do the rest.' The dog barked his concurrence and together they set off on the hunt.
Now, I know the general rule is to start a new line whenever shifting focus, but that would turn this concise paragraph into four. So my question is: Can you get away with squeezing a few (non-dialogue) character reactions into a single paragraph as long as the speaker is still discernible?
I've seen a lot of the big writers do this (the one that springs to mind is Joe Abercrombie) so I know it's possible. Whether it's a good habit to get into is another matter.
Example: Bob scratched the back of the dog's elongated head. 'You're a good boy, yes you are.' The dog whined and tried to share his fowl smelling slobber with Bob. 'You wanna go kill the neighbor's cat, do you? Come on, I'll break it's back legs and you do the rest.' The dog barked his concurrence and together they set off on the hunt.
Now, I know the general rule is to start a new line whenever shifting focus, but that would turn this concise paragraph into four. So my question is: Can you get away with squeezing a few (non-dialogue) character reactions into a single paragraph as long as the speaker is still discernible?
I've seen a lot of the big writers do this (the one that springs to mind is Joe Abercrombie) so I know it's possible. Whether it's a good habit to get into is another matter.