How many spaces down for quotes?

Question

I was wondering, because my teacher said that every time a new person says a new speech, we must start a new paragraph. However, in many books, articles, and other forms of writing I've seen one space down rather than two. Why is this? Which is right? If I'm making an an article, what should I do?

Eg:

The girl sat down on the boy's book.

"Hey, get off!" he said.

The girl stood up and walked off.

OR

The girl sat down on the boy's book.

"Hey, get off!" he said.

The girl stood up and walked off.

To me, the first one looks right. However, all my life I've learnt that the second one is correct... so, which one is it? (I'm working on an article, btw.) Citation would be preferred, but I'll appreciate any help.

Answer 1

I'm not sure ... you can check out the website www.mla.org to get the answers ... but I believe you either double-space the whole article, not just the quotation part, and you indent the first word, as you would a new paragraph, and start a new paragraph every time a new person speaks. I believe most teachers want double-spaced work turned in - it is much easier to read and make corrections on.

eg.

(indent 1 tab)        "Your hair looks nice today" the little girl said to the nice old lady when she left the hair salon.

  (indent 1 tab)       "Thank you very much. I decided to get a perm and a new color and try something new" she replied.

Hope this helps. Good luck!