Dialogue Punctuation

[Cia]

I know this is posted in several places but I wanted to share a cheat sheet I found online about punctuation, especially as it pertains to dialogue. This is probably the #1 issue I see authors having ... and was guilty of doing myself as a newbie.

 

 

 

1. Use quotation marks to begin and end a direct quotation. Separate the quoted material

from the dialogue tag by commas. Do not use quotation marks to set off an indirect

quotation.

I said, “The fable by James Thurber will surprise you.”

I said that the fable by James Thurber would surprise you.

 

2. If a question mark or an exclamation point occurs where one of the separating commas

should be used, omit the comma and use the question mark or exclamation point to separate

the quoted material.

“Don’t be late!” Bill warned.

 

3. The speaker’s words are set off from the rest of the sentence with quotation marks, and the first word of the quotation is capitalized. When the end of the quotation is also the end of the sentence, the period falls inside the quotation marks.

He said, “We’ll discuss the fable in one hour.”

 

4. Both parts of a divided quotation are enclosed in quotation marks. The first word of the

second part is not capitalized unless it begins a new sentence.

“This fable,” our teacher said, “is a twist of an old tale.”

 

5. When writing only a part of a quoted sentence, do not begin the quotation with a capital

letter unless the person you are quoting capitalized it or it is the first word in your sentence.

A film critic has called the movie “a futile attempt by the director to trade in his reputation as a

creator of blockbusters” (Anderson 74).

 

6. Quotes within quotes: If you need to have one character directly quoting another character, then use double quotes for your main dialogue and single quotes for the quote-within-aquote.

“And then he said, ‘Mind your own business.’ The nerve!” she said.

 

7. MSF rules

 

a. Periods and commas ALWAYS go inside quotation marks.

“I think you’re wrong,” Dan said.

 

b. Colons and semicolons ALWAYS go outside quotation marks.

Dan said, “I think you’re wrong”; he was asking us to re-examine our information.

 

c. Question marks and exclamation marks go EITHER inside or outside the quotation

mark depending on the situation. They go inside when the question or exclamation is

part of what is quoted.

She asked, “Who did it?” or Did she say, “I’m quitting”?

 

d. When the sentence, as well as the quotation at the end of the sentence, needs a question

mark (or an exclamation point), use only ONE question mark (or exclamation point),

and place it inside the closing quotation marks.

Did she ask, “Is this fair?”

 

If you are questioning an exclamation, do it like this:

Is it true he yelled, “No!”?

 

8. When you write dialogue, begin a new paragraph whenever the speaker changes.

“Videotape is the wave of the future,” declared Clarissa. “There’s no doubt about it! Not

only is it a popular medium for today’s artists, but it has practical applications as well.”

 

“You’re right,” Angela agreed. “Video has been a boon to us on the swimming team—even

when we don’t like what we see! When we see ourselves on tape, however, we see immediately

where our shortcomings are: a kick that’s uneven or too much time lost at the turn.”

 

“I work with emotionally disturbed children,” mused Carmen,“and, now that you mention it,

perhaps videotaping the teachers at work would be helpful. It would give us a chance to study our interaction with the children and see where we might improve or change our approach.”

 

“Well, I guess we have our work cut out for us,” Clarissa said. “If we all become masters of

the video camera, we’ll be on the road to success.”

 

9. Use a pair of dashes to indicate an abrupt break in thought or speech or an unfinished

statement or question.

 

“First of all,” he said, “if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better

with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his

point of view—”

 

“Sir?”

 

“—until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

 

10. If you have the same speaker saying things that are separated by descriptive passages, you may choose to keep everything in one paragraph or separate parts into their own

paragraphs. Make this decision using the same criteria you would use in deciding to start a

new paragraph without dialogue. In other words, if you have more than one topic, give each its own paragraph. Just make sure it is clear that the dialogue belongs to the same speaker.

“If I didn’t go to school tomorrow, you’d force me to.”

 

“Let us leave it at this,” said Atticus dryly. “You, Miss Scout Finch, are of the common folk.

You must obey the law.” He said that the Ewells were members of an exclusive society made up

of Ewells. In certain circumstances the common folk judiciously allowed them certain privileges

by the simple method of becoming blind to some of the Ewells’ activities. They didn’t have to go

to school, for one thing. Another thing, Mr. Bob Ewell, Burris’s father, was permitted to hunt and trap out of season.

 

“Atticus, that’s bad.” I said. In Maycomb County, hunting out of season was a misdemeanor

at law, a capital felony in the eyes of the populace.

 

11. Sometimes, one speaker’s words run for more than one paragraph. When this happens, use quotation marks at the beginning of the quotation, at the beginning of each subsequent

paragraph, and at the end of the whole quotation.

“I read a spell-binding mystery yesterday,” Agnes said. “It gripped me on the first page,

and I couldn’t put the book down until I had finished.

 

“The plot is simple, almost classic. Five people are sitting in a room watching home movies.

When the lights come on, one of the people is dead. Who did it? How was it done?

 

“Of course, no one has entered or left the room during the movies; thus, one of the other four

people in the room has done it. I, of course, thought of poison—but that was wrong.

 

“Well, the detective arrives, and the questioning begins. As the story unfolds, you learn that

everyone has a motive. The plot thickens. The mystery isn’t solved until the last page, and it had

me fooled. Whew! I’m exhausted from the suspense!”

 

12. ELLIPSIS POINTS: Use three spaced ellipsis points (. . .) to indicate a pause in written

dialogue. Ex. “Well, . . . I don’t know,” Sarah answered. When someone’s words “trail

off,” you also use 3 ellipsis points. (Be sure to space in between each one.) If the ellipsis

points appear at the end of a sentence, you will need a fourth “dot” for the sentence period.

 

“Mr. Ewell shouldn’t do that—”

 

“Of course, he shouldn’t, but he’ll never change his ways. Are you going to take out your

disapproval on his children?”

 

“No, sir,” I murmured and made a final stand: “But if I keep on goin’ to school, we can’t

ever read any more. . . .”

 

“That’s really bothering you, isn’t it?”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

When Atticus looked down at me, I saw the expression on his face that always made me

expect something. “Do you know what a compromise is?” he asked.

[Thorn Wilde]

6. Quotes within quotes: If you need to have one character directly quoting another character, then use double quotes for your main dialogue and single quotes for the quote-within-aquote.

“And then he said, ‘Mind your own business.’ The nerve!” she said.

 

Thought I'd add, if you're using the British standard of single quotes, it's the other way around. So:

 

'And then he said, "Mind your own business." The nerve!' she said.

 

Edited June 5, 2013 by Thorn Wilde

[Graeme]

The only thing there that I don't agree with is the spaces between the periods for an ellipsis. Most modern word processors have an auto-correct function that will convert three consecutive periods into an ellipsis character, and putting the spaces between them will stop this feature from working. Modern word processors will also convert two hyphens into a dash automatically, too.

 

So, use two hyphens when a dash is required (as Cia indicated above in item 9), but use three periods without spaces when an ellipsis is required.

 

Just my view

[Thorn Wilde]

I've heard so many different things when it comes to ellipses. Like the thing about four periods at the end, I have from some sources that you should do that and from others that you shouldn't. I know for a fact that I've read a lot of published fiction that doesn't add the fourth period. So, I don't know. I once had someone tell me that there are no official rules for ellipses at all and to just go with what you think looks best.

[Graeme]

My editor agreed with the rules that Cia posted - that if the ellipsis is at the end of the sentence, you need an extra period. That is, you have an ellipsis character (the three dots) followed by a period to end the sentence. That makes sense to me. You just have to think of the ellipsis as a single special character (…), not three periods (... or . . .).

Edited June 5, 2013 by Graeme

[Thorn Wilde]

So, here's what I found in one place:

 

 

Ellipsis (…)

In dialogue, the ellipsis (that’s how these: … are called) will be used to indicate trailing off, pausing, or stuttering. The ellipsis—like the em dash—does not have an added space before or after it, and it consists ofonly three dots.

 

Correct: “The ship…oh God…It’s sinking!”

Incorrect: “The ship, oh God, it’s sinking!”

Incorrect: “The ship, oh God. It’s sinking!”

When using ellipses in your dialogue, there is a slight difference in the punctuation between a dialogue tag and an action beat.

Correct: “I…I don’t…I don’t know what to say.”

Incorrect: “I …I don’t…. I don’t know what to say.”

Incorrect: “I, I don’t, I don’t know what to say.”

 

 

A Dialogue Tag:

The quote will end with a comma.

There will be no spaces before or after the ellipsis.

The dialogue tag will be in lowercase.

 

Correct:  “I didn’t see…,” he trailed off.

Incorrect:  “I didn’t see…” he trailed off.

 

Correct:  “I wonder…,” he said. “Do you have any duct tape?”

Incorrect:  “I wonder…” he said. “Do you have any duct tape?”

An Action Beat:

The quote will end with the ellipsis or with a question mark orexclamation mark.

There will be no spaces before or after the ellipsis.

The action tag will be capitalized.

 

Correct: “I didn’t see…” He hung his head in shame.

Incorrect: “I didn’t see….” He hung his head in shame.

 

Correct: “Is he going to…?” He smirked and shook his head. “You know what? I don’t want to know.”

Incorrect: “Is he going to …?” He smirked and shook his head. “You know what? I don’t want to know.”

 

This in another:

 

 

Stories and novels use ellipses to a very different effect. An ellipsis can demonstrate a pause in dialogue, a pause in narrative, or a character or a narrator trailing off. “I’m not sure what to do…” he stammered” is a perfectly acceptable use of an ellipsis in such a case because it demonstrates the inability of the character to make up his mind. Similarly, a narrator might say of a character, “He was without hope… Desolate, empty… The epitome of a broken heart.” The format of these ellipses is not subject to formal guidelines; three dots followed by a space is usually appropriate. A pause in text appears much the same way. “She wasn’t angry … she was just tired.” This case uses an ellipsis similar to what would be used in a piece of news writing, but it is understood that the character who is speaking is merely pausing for emphasis or thought. No words were omitted from his or her dialogue.

 

Here's a source that in part supports what Cia wrote but not quite. And the wikipedia article about ellipses is horribly confusing and full of contradictions because different sources say such different things.

 

This could all be a British standard vs. American standard thing, of course. I follow British standard in my writing. 

 

Seems like a lot of people are saying that it's a stylistic question, though, and not subject to grammar rules at all, at least not in informal writing such as fiction. *shrug*

 

EDIT: I just skimmed my favourite book in search of ellipses. No extra periods there. If it's good enough for Neil Gaiman it's good enough for me.

Edited June 5, 2013 by Thorn Wilde

[sat8997]

This can never be posted too often. Nothing pisses me off faster than crappy dialog punctuation. These are hard and fast rules, not negotiable wishy washy maybes. If you're unclear about punctuation usage find and bookmark a website that clearly lists them or print a cheat sheet and keep it next to you when you write. Use it all the time. Authors that consistently screw up dialog punctuation, expecting someone else to fix it for them, are lazy.  

 

Sentences only end three ways: period, exclamation point, or question mark. So you would need one of the three after an ellipsis.

[Thorn Wilde]

Sentences only end three ways: period, exclamation point, or question mark. So you would need one of the three after an ellipsis.

 

Again, there does not appear to be consensus on this particular matter, and a lot of published literature has sentences ending in only ellipses, both within dialogue and without. With that in mind, I believe I shall continue to use ellipses the way I always have.

[Graeme]

I'm not sure, but I think Thorn Wilde is correct - this is an American/British difference. I've just checked my copy of Eats, Shoots & Leaves by the very English Lynne Truss. It doesn't make a definite statement on ending a sentence with an ellipsis, but it implies it's legitimate:

 

... is always a good way to end anything, of course -- in an intriguing manner. When you consider the power of erotic suggestion contained in the traditional three-dot chapter ending ("He swept her into his arms. She was powerless to resist. All she knew was, she loved him ...")...

 

page 166, Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss, 2003 edition

 

To me, that strongly implies that she considered a three dot ending of a chapter to be legitimate - it didn't need the period.

 

Not conclusive by any means, I know, but...(.)

Edited June 6, 2013 by Graeme

[Cia]

I think, if you're British and you're writing for a British publisher ... you use what conventions are usual for your area, like the single quotations that Thorn mentioned. What the Chicago Manual of Style, or CMoS, states that I've seen repeated elsewhere is that when you're following the rules regarding using single and double quotes, you simple apply consistency to their use. If you single quotation marks  for dialogue you would use the double quotation marks when doing quotes within quotes and vice versa, of course.

 

Small inconsistencies are also mentioned for the ellipses. The CMOS also allows for either the spaced ellipses or non-spaced. Word is geared to editing them to non-spaced, and there is even a keyboard shortcut for them to prevent the ellipses from breaking up at the end of a sentence wrap in a paragraph if you don't use the insert symbol method. (Control/alt/period if you were wondering) I do, however, ascribe to the method of adding a period after the ellipses if the speaker does not continue speaking yet the sentence is complete. It's a readily visible way to indicate that event and the less guesswork the reader is doing about who is speaking/how they're speaking/who is speaking next the better; it means they can be more consumed by the story as they pick up, but somewhat gloss over, the small techniques like this one.

 

I have never had my Word connect hypens into a 'dash' which is a long hyphen, essentially. These should be added either using the insert/symbol/dash through Word's editor options, or the shortcut control, alt, minus key (from the number keys, not the hyphen/underscore)

 

All in all, there are many small differences in 'English' grammar,  punctuation especially. Even American publishers don't always follow the same style; that's something you'll find prevalent in online e-publishers as well. Each has an 'in-house style'. However, you'll find that most follow a handbook, usually the CMoS. The rules for things vary, of course, but you're typically pretty safe if you at least attempt to follow the style for your region.

 

That being said, make sure you to use reputable sources. If you want to know what style is the most legitimate for your region contact a local publisher and ask what they use to edit purchased manuscripts. Even if you're not going to publish, there is no reason not to produce the most polished story possible. There are websites that you can find that are reputable, like the Blue Book of Grammar or Purdue's O.W.L. among others. Please don't ever use random sources like Wikipedia ... any site where anyone, regardless of actual expertise or experience, can share their so called 'knowledge' isn't very valid.

 

If you're interested in finding different websites that have more of this type of information check out  the site we've set up called Net Writers' Resource. If you have a reputable site that fits in with the others that isn't shared, please let us know so we can add it. Knowledge is always better than ignorance when you're trying to produce something for public consumption.

[Former Member]

When I was the editor in chief of my high school writing magazine, my advisor, who spent nearly 40 years as a freelance writer and editor essentially kicked the sh*t out of ellipsis.  So even if it's technically incorrect to NOT use them, I never use them.  Ever.  She said that a good placement of ellipsis is like finding a needle in a haystack.  Granted I've moved away from her ideology since I am no longer required to be a heartless b*tch when editing poor first years attempts at writing, but I still shy away from them in my own writing.  There was a time when I was reading three words ellipsis, three words ellipsis for about five pages.  It wasn't pretty.

 

Moral of the story (in my opinion) ellipsis should be used like cinnamon in applesauce.  Just a dash, or else it'll get all gritty and gross.  

[Cia]

Of course he would.  Journalism, professional, scientific writing, etc ... all have their own style manuals too.

 

Ellipses have their place; all punctuation does. One thing I found very telling when writing, to know what to use, is to speak your text aloud. If you use a short pause you would typically add a comma (though damn, commas have a LOT of rules) a longer pause would be an ellipses or a dash. For me, the dash indicates an 'aside' that needs to be set apart and emphasized or indicates an interruption. A lot of online writers use brackets of some form to do the asides and, in fiction, that drives me bonkers. Ellipses are for when characters are being introspective or hesitant for whatever reason. Too much of a good thing becomes disruptive to the reader, however, or causes unnatural pacing.

 

I remember absolutely loathing the Fenring's scenes in Dune. His speech mannerism, which clearly used to a purpose, was disruptive and hard to read with all the different length hmm, ahhh, um,  hmmmmm's.

[Mark Arbour]

This is an interesting discussion, but I think it ignores the greater message in the original post. 

 

Stories on GA are not going to go unread because the author neglects a period after an ellipsis.   While our editors work frantically to polish our work, many of our stories have no editing (or perhaps they have bad editing), and reading them can be like nails on a chalkboard.  I think if writers would try to follow the simple rules in the original post, even if they may not be entirely indisputable, we'd all be better off.  And that was probably Cia's point in the first place.

 

That being said, here is an interesting summary, detailing the use of ellipses in APA and MLA formats.

[Cia]

 

 I think if writers would try to follow the simple rules in the original post, even if they may not be entirely indisputable, we'd all be better off.  And that was probably Cia's point in the first place.

 

It was, Mark. I see a lot of online fiction since I clear the mod queues, and I also read a lot. GA authors are, collectively, better at writing than a lot of authors I see on other sites. A big part of that is many of us connect and share what we know or have learned about writing, from the basics like puncutation to the complex like deciding on whether or not to use a stream of consciousness in first person pov versus using a second person pov for a story. However, there are a lot of people who don't know what they're doing wrong until they are shown.

 

How an author writes is just as important as what the author writes. Knowing the rules is vital to knowing when they can or shouldn't be broken. The tips I shared in my first post are a basic start of learning how to punctuate a story, and are by no means an absolute or totally complete, but they can be very helpful to authors learning how to write properly.

[Former Member]

It was, Mark. I see a lot of online fiction since I clear the mod queues, and I also read a lot. GA authors are, collectively, better at writing than a lot of authors I see on other sites. A big part of that is many of us connect and share what we know or have learned about writing, from the basics like puncutation to the complex like deciding on whether or not to use a stream of consciousness in first person pov versus using a second person pov for a story. However, there are a lot of people who don't know what they're doing wrong until they are shown.

 

How an author writes is just as important as what the author writes. Knowing the rules is vital to knowing when they can or shouldn't be broken. The tips I shared in my first post are a basic start of learning how to punctuate a story, and are by no means an absolute or totally complete, but they can be very helpful to authors learning how to write properly.

 

Granted, that's IF they want to learn at all.  I've come across more than a few stubborn-as-mules writers who think they sh*t gold but can't write a damn word.  They won't listen to anyone and take any criticism as a cry for war.  I'm so glad that GA is not that kind of community.  Most can take constructive feedback and for that I am truly happy to be a part of this community!

[The Pecman]

I generally go with the Chicago Manual of Style:

 

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/facsimile/CMSfacsimile_all.pdf

 

And they go with the four period thing. But to me, adding another punctuation mark to an elipse or a quoted sentence that ends with an em-dash just looks goofy. I'm not gonna do it. For one thing, a sentence that ends with an ellipse is not a complete sentence, so screw it.

 

A lot of this stuff actually gets changed by the typesetter (forgive me, I'm old school and have actually dealt with typesetters) or the art director, so it's not always up to the writer as to what gets in print. Guaranteed, if you're Stephen King or J.K. Rowling, they won't alter a semicolon without your approval. The rest of us don't that freedom in commercial publishing.

[Former Member]

Okay, legit question.  When using quotes within quotes, just a couple words or a phrase that ends a sentence, should the punctuation go inside the second set or between the inside and outside quotes?

 

EX: "What do you mean 'rules'?"  <--- is THIS correct, or should it be: "What do you mean 'rules?'"

 

Thanks!  MYI

[Cia]

The punctuation always goes at the very end of the sentence, which is different from the punctuation for emphasis. You're emphasizing just the word rules, so that would be the word you surround with quotes and then place your punctuation at the end of your sentence as usual.

[Former Member]

Okay, thanks so much.  That's how I normally do it anyhow, but it's been nagging at me for the past few days so I wanted a more........defined type rule thing. Thanks Cia!

[Zombie]

This can never be posted too often. Nothing pisses me off faster than crappy dialog punctuation. These are hard and fast rules, not negotiable wishy washy maybes. If you're unclear about punctuation usage find and bookmark a website that clearly lists them or print a cheat sheet and keep it next to you when you write. Use it all the time. Authors that consistently screw up dialog punctuation, expecting someone else to fix it for them, are lazy.  

 

Sentences only end three ways: period, exclamation point, or question mark. So you would need one of the three after an ellipsis.

 

 

Hmm, just picked these books off the shelf at random. They cover more than 50 years of publishing:

 

Kingsley Amis - Lucky Jim [Penguin Books ed 1961]

Ch15 last page

'Don't be ridiculous, I ...'

'But ...'

[and throughout the novel]

 

Alan Hollinghurst - The Line Of Beauty [Picador 2004]

Ch6 p174

'Darling, none of it's mine ...'

[and throughout the novel]

 

Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time [Jonathan Cape 2003]

Ch12 p8

'I am going to ask you once again ...'

[and throughout the novel]

 

Michael Cunningham - By Nightfall [Fourth Estate 2011]

Ch2 p24

“Do you mind JoJo? The food’s good, and there’s nothing really close to the Met . . .”

[and throughout the novel]

This author is American and the UK book is published with the original US spelling and punctuation e.g. spelling , spaced ellipses and 'Dialogue'.

 

None of them uses a full stop / period after the three ellipses. If I had to choose between any website's wise words and the published works of successful authors of considerable repute from major publishing houses I would go for the latter every time Like in so many things there's often more than one way; and here it's clearly a matter of choice. It's certainly not something to be dogmatic about, fight over or get "pisse(d) ... off" with

 

I make loads of errors in writing but, as Cia says, "rules" can be broken - like ending the previous sentence with a preposition - so long as you don't do it too often Cia makes another excellent point - read it aloud, and if it sounds right then it probably is

 

Edited July 4, 2013 by Zombie

[LJH]

Personally, I don't use the ellipsis too often..., (see the comma at the end - looks clunky) and I rarely, if ever, use an ellipsis at the end of a chapter. Also, some publishers ask that editors close the gaps ...  between two sentences that use the ellipsis...like this. I would think it's okay to use the ellipsis any way you want in your own private writing, but if a work is to be published, then I suggest you accept the publishers rules regarding the ellipsis.   

[Thorn Wilde]

I too went and had a look in books I own to see how authors I like use ellipses. Sooo many different ways. . . So I went with what I think looks the nicest, which just so happens to be how they look in the 10th anniversary edition of American Gods, my copy of Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats and The Complete Hitchhiker's Guide. It's how I use them in L&G. 

[Former Member]

Let's just all agree to disagree on ellipsis!

[LJH]

Well, it is like this: ellipses are meant to be soft pauses. They are meant to stop a sentence or train of thought in mid sentence. They are naughty buggers because they can occur anywhere anytime. Lol. I don't like them but i use them.

 

Now rules. Eish. Sure, break the rule if you understand the rule. But first understand the rule. If it makes your writing exciting, if it makes your writing dance, then by all means do it. Many main stream authors do it, but then their publishers don't mind. They are going to make a lot of money out of the author anyway.

 

Matthew Reilly breaks the rules beautifully. So does Mr King and Ms. Anita Shreve. But they get paid to break the rules. However, if you are writing a literary Thomas Hardian masterpiece, or a William Faulkner masterpiece, or an E L Doctorow, then i suggest you/ we stick to the rules . . . Not for my sake, but for the same of your potential publisher. And if you are writing for yourself, dang, throw the rule book away.

 

Hope you like my ellipsis

 

Shall we jive? I love jiving. Well, it's one for the money, two for the show, three for the rythm now go cat go but don't you, step on my blue suede shoes . . .

[Sasha Distan]

my inner editor is in pain now...

 

i always use "double quotes" for speech even though i am english.

i never put a forth dot on the end when i tail off speaking...

and when using fancy quotes (ie the curly ones) when ever you get cut off -" they end up facing the wrong way round. 

 

so many things i am doing wrong...