A project I'm currently working on is converting a play into RM (The Importance of Being Earnest). As you're all likely aware plays rely heavily on dialogue as a narrative force (relaying offscreen events and the likes). With this in mind I'm sure you can understand the desire for a pleasant method of presenting dialogue, it often comes across so untidy.
So here are a few examples of relaying dialogue and I'd like you to pick your favourite or suggest one I haven't thought of.

1. The plain, blunt, approach: (Easy and so much less time consuming, preferable seeing as I'm copying out for hours at a time, but I dislike the result)

"Did you really Miss Prism? How wonderfully
clever you are! I hope it did not end happily?
I don't like novels that end happily."

2. A sentence per box: (A little ott? These sentences are, of course, quite short, so you see this method in its worst, but still accurate, light. This would allow for many changes in face art though, and so more apt expressions)

"Did you really Miss Prism?"
"How wonderfully clever you are! "
"I hope it did not end happily?"
"I don't like novels that end happily."

3. Some amalgamation of the above: (This may be the best method, it feels the most phonetic, but its so hard to define when each should start and end)

"Did you really Miss Prism?
How wonderfully clever you are!"
"I hope it did not end happily?
I don't like novels that end happily."

I like #3 the best. 'v' it sounds nice, lol...

It's a bit more work, but... I think it really adds to the drama?

I think breaking up the text is good whenever theres 4 or more lines. Or when ur seperating two different tones/ideas, trying to add emphasis/summarize a point, or when a regular person would take a breather.
On tv for example, there's a sort of rhythm with language and people naturally pause after some lines.. Xd

Bump
(and thanks for replying rune =])

Yeah, #3 speaks to me more. I can imagine two people talking at a table. If it is two people. The first one seem to be the worst out of the three to me.

It is just one person speaking, so maybe it is not so good, if it was two people the first method would be impossible, though maybe I should have specified.
As said in the OP I'm not a fan of the first either, but I added it in case people said they were indifferent to it, meaning it would be alright to use that easy method.
But thanks for replying Yuu-Mon =]

I don't think i clearly understand the difference between method #2 and #3. Is #2 separated into 4 different text boxes and #3 is one text box with each sentence on a different line? If so then it would depend on you text box. If you are doing default text box style than #3 would be best. However if you are doing speech bubble style than obviously choice #2 would be better. Choice #1 is tacky and gives off the feeling that you are reading a book, which may bore some.

Yeah, #3 is definitely the best among the three.
#1 is too direct and I'd use it only with a letter-by-letter text mode with time pauses between a sentence and the next (such as an AMS script).
#2 is a bit too dispersive, anyway it depends on what the message is.
For certain kinds of messages, #2 could result a better choice than #3, expecially if you want to emphasize the meaning of that single line.
If you aren't using an Advanced Message System, I advise against #1, unless the text is made up of a single statement or a bunch of useless lines (sort of NPC random talking without any useful information). Even in that case I'd prefer using #3, however, grouping sentences with a contents connection.

Jens

Hate to sound like a broken record, but I have to agree that #3 is the best. The pacing will just be so much better when long phrases are connected in a box and punchlines are separate. It's a play, so your "acting" is really going to be how you connect the phrases together. Good luck though! I'd love to see it when it's done, I love that play.