A Brief Guide On How To Punctuate Dialogue
A brief guide on how to punctuate dialogue
Punctuation in dialogue is one of the easiest things to get wrong in writing, and, frustratingly, it can be hard to find decent teaching resources. So if you’re struggling to tell whether to use a comma or a period, this guide is for you.
1) Every time a new character speaks, the first line of their dialogue must be set apart by a paragraph break.
Right:
“I think Jeff Bezos might be a lizard,” said Bo.
“Not this again,” I replied.
Wrong:
“I think Jeff Bezos might be a lizard,” said Bo. “Not this again,” I replied.
2) Only direct dialogue needs quotation marks. Direct dialogue is used when someone is speaking. Indirect dialogue is a summary of what was said.
Direct:
“Come on, Jeff, get ‘em!”
Indirect:
He told Jeff to go get ‘em.
3) Punctuation always goes inside quotation marks.
Right:
“What would you prefer?”
“A goat cheese salad.”
Wrong:
“What would you prefer”?
“A goat cheese salad”.
4) If you follow or start a quote with a dialogue tag, you end the quote with a comma.
Right:
“Welcome to the internet,” he said.
She asked, “Can I look around?”
Wrong:
“Welcome to the internet.” He said.
She asked. “Can I look around?”
5) But, if you follow or start a quote with an action, you use a period.
Right:
“Welcome to the internet.” He smiled.
Her eyes flicked to the screen. “Can I look around?”
Wrong:
“Welcome to the internet,” he smiled.
Her eyes flicked to the screen, “Can I look around?”
6) When breaking up dialogue with a tag, use two commas. Or, if the first piece of dialogue is a complete sentence, use a comma and then a period.
“Yes,” he replied, “an avocado.” (split sentence)
“I hoped it wouldn’t come to this,” she said. “I loved that avocado.” (full sentence)
7) You may have noticed there are two different quotation marks ( ‘ and “). And when putting a quote inside a quote, you need to use the opposite style of quotation.
Roger looked up. “And then he said, ‘I didn’t steal the avocado.’”
Or:
Roger looked up. ‘And then he said, “I didn’t steal the avocado.”’
(Using ‘ or “ often depends on personal choice. Although Brits like to use ‘ and Americans tend to use “ for their main dialogue)
So that’s my short guide to the main rules when punctuating dialogue! If you have any questions about less common rules, let me know.
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