Consider This: Moments in My Writing Life After Which Everything Was Different

by Chuck Palahniuk

whenever you want to undermine what’s being said, paraphrase it. If you want to negate or lessen a character, paraphrase what they say. When you want to showcase a character, put their dialogue in quotation marks. Include attribution. Underscore the speech with a gesture. It’s a subtle effect, but if you were my student I’d tell you it works.