Why is it important to start a new paragraph each time a different character speaks in dialogue?

Starting a new paragraph for each speaker clarifies who is talking and prevents reader confusion.

Where does punctuation go in relation to quotation marks when writing dialogue?

Punctuation marks should be placed inside the quotation marks.

She responded, "That's a great idea."

Em dashes are used to indicate interruptions or abrupt changes in a character's thought or speech.

“I don’t know,” he said. “What are we going to do?”

I can write dialogue in a short story using proper punctuation and formatting.

1
Each new speaker should begin a new paragraph, and their exact words should be enclosed in quotation marks.
2
Use commas to separate dialogue tags from the dialogue itself, placing the comma either after the tag if it comes before the dialogue or before the closing quotation mark if it comes after.
3
Use em dashes to indicate interruptions or abrupt changes in thought within dialogue.