A common thing that takes away from the story, is using the right quotations.

So here is a quick lesson!

"My name is Author-chan and I am speaking!" I announced.

'I hope that sounded friendly." I thought solemnly.

'Well, I tried my best.' I sighed and shook myself free of thoughts.

"." Is used to speak!
'.' Should be used for thoughts!
, is a slight pause.
. Is an of a sentence.

Remember to space your paragraphs as well so they aren't clumped together.

"When you talk in a big paragraph like this, minds tend to try and quickly summarize it and miss important details and actions because of lack of order!" I announced. "This can be avoided by simply pressing return at certain spots to organize your paragraphs in an orderly fashion."

That's all for now!