There are two different ways you can construct one of your stories. At least, the general structure of nearly all stories written here revolve around these two kinds of story forms (or sometimes, a bizarre mix of both of them). I'll cover both of them in this topic.
Paragraph form Everybody should know what this kind of format is. Most books are in this format. This is the standard way most people write stuff. There's not really much more to explain here.
Script form Most theatrical plays are written in this format. However, it's also become a popular way for fanfiction writers to orgranize what they write. Why? Most likely because it's easier to arrange. In an exchange of dialogue, the speaker's name followed by a colon appears before their sentence, so you know whose talking. Actions are specified in numerous ways, such as *action*, [action], or a previously mentioned strange mix of the paragraph format. It's not that this is a bad way to write or anything; it just is more challenging to be able to capture as much as you can in the other form.
Comparisons I'll give you several examples. Say that you want to describe a scene where Charles the Goomba is about to buy a burger from the Toad Restaurant. A novice would probably write something like this:
*Charles walks to the Toad Restaurant and orders a burger* That could also be bracketed, or just a sentence. Next, Charles ordering the burger would probably look something like this:
Charles: Hey. I'll have a regular burger with a side of Shroom Fries.
Toad: Okay. Would you like a drink also?
Charles: Just a soda.
Toad: Please wait. *the Toad starts to walk away to take the order*
Charles: Hold on! No ice, please. I don't really like ice.
Toad: Oh. Alright then. No ice. *walks back again* Yeah, you scratch the point of what you were writing about, but you don't really dig into the surface enough. Spice it up with some explanation of the scenery and actions.
At Toad Town...
*Charles casually walks over inside the Toad Restaurant while humming the Super Mario Bros. theme song and then walks up to the counter*
Charles: Hey. I'll have a regular burger with a side of Shroom Fries.
Toad: *busily typing in the order* okay... Shroom Fries... alright. Would you like a drink also?
Charles: Yeah, I'll just have a soda.
Toad: The total comes to 11 Coins. *types in the rest of the order and starts walking to the back*
Charles: *jumps halfway on the counter and leans forward* Hey, hold on! No ice, please. I don't really like ice.
Toad: *strange look* ...Oh. Alright then. No ice. *slightly pauses and then walks back again* But even the added details get masked by the possibilities of ditching the script form and writing out the whole thing in paragraph format. Watch as the whole thing suddenly becomes more alive.
Toad Town was as active as it always was. Few clouds were in the sky, making the sun able to light up nearly the entire town, lifting the mood of the area. The Toad Restaurant here was one of Charles's favorite places to get a cheap, tasty meal that would last for the rest afternoon. Today was one of those days he decided to make the walk over, with a casual pace that made his head move slightly to the left and right each time his feet moved forward. When he got there, nobody was in line yet, so he seized the moment and went straight to the counter, where a busy Toad stood, taking orders back and forth.
Charles didn't begin saying what he wanted until the Toad stared directly at him. At that moment, he quickly said, "Hey. I'll have a regular burger with a side of Shroom Fries."
The Toad hit various buttons on a machine on top of the counter, punching in what Charles just said. "...okay... shroom fries... alright. Would you like a drink also?"
Charles quickly skimmed his eyes over the drink list, and replied "Yeah, I'll have just a soda."
The Toad punched some more buttons, waited for a "ping" sound, said "The total comes to 11 Coins. Please wait," and started to head off for the back. Charles realized he forget a key part of his order. Jumping up halfway onto the counter and leaning forward, he said "Hey! Hold on! No ice. I don't really like ice."
The Toad paused for a few seconds with a strange look on his face before saying "...Oh. Alright then. No ice." before continuing walking to the back to process the order. See the big difference? There's more I wanted to cover, but I'll continue explaining this later.
Origin of Entria