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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I'm developing a story in my head and I'm thinking about writing it down. The thing is, I have it in my head like a tv show, each episode something new happens and it has a theme around it (It will be a detective story, each episode there is a new crime and new things revolve around it) but if I want to write it down. The chapters will be so short and it will be hard to keep up with it. Do you have any idea to basically how to turn a tv show (in my head) to a novel with decent chapters. TIA!
Turning Episodic Ideas (Like a TV Show) Into a Novel
Guide: All About Story Arcs in Television and Novels
In order to tackle this question, I think it would be helpful if we dive into the concept of “arcs” and what they mean in television vs what they mean in books. Because as much as it may seem so at times, TV dramas are almost never only episodic. Each episode ties to the rest of the episodes through various types of story arcs.
What is a Story Arc?
Story arcs are a series of events centered around a particular conflict or theme that plays out from the beginning to end of a specified time period. In TV, that time period may be an episode or a few episodes, a season, or the entire series. In books, that period may be a part/act, book, or series. Both books and television juggle these different kinds of arcs simultaneously.
Story Arcs in Television
Episode arcs are the story arcs that play out from the beginning of a TV show episode to its end. So, in a detective show, it would be whatever crime they’re solving in that episode. The crime is introduced at the beginning of the episode, investigated throughout the episode, and solved by the end of the episode.
Season arcs are the story arcs that play out from the beginning of a season to the end of the season. In many TV dramas, this conflict revolves around a “big bad” that will be defeated by the end of the season. The “big bad” is typically introduced at the end of the previous season, is battled throughout the season, and is defeated by the end of the season.
Series arcs are the story arcs that play out from the beginning of a series to the end of the series. This is the conflict at the heart of the show, that is introduced at the beginning, plays out throughout the entire series, and is resolved at the end. In speculative fiction shows like The X-Files, Once Upon a Time, or Lost, this conflict revolves around the mythology behind the story. Such as the alien conspiracy Mulder and Scully are constantly up against in The X-Files, the curses and battle between light and dark in Once Upon a Time, and the Jacob vs The Man in Black/light vs dark conflict that tie together the fates of the characters in Lost. In contemporary drama, such as family dramas or crime dramas, the series arc may be based on the overall story’s mythology (such as with This is Us or Blindspot) or it may be situation/character based, as in something like Designated Survivor.
Character arcs are the arcs that center around the internal conflict of each main character.
Story Arcs in Novels
Section arcs are conflicts that are specific to a section of the book, such as a part or an act. In a heist story, the section arc of part one might revolve around the conflict related to planning the heist and recruiting the crew. In Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows, for example, it was breaking Mattias Helvar out of Hellgate because they needed him for the bigger heist. Not all books have section arcs.
Story arcs are what we call the arc of the whole book/story (book one, book two, book three, etc.) that is introduced at the beginning of the book, plays out through the book, and is resolved by the end of the book.
Series arcs, in books just as in TV, are the story arcs that play out from the beginning of the series to the end of the series. In George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones series, the series arc was the conflict of getting “the rightful ruler” on the Iron Throne.
Character arcs (just as in television) are the arcs that center around the internal conflict of each main character.

Turning Episodic Ideas Into a Novel
So, now that we’ve had a recap of different kinds of story arcs, we can tackle the heart of your question, which is how to turn episode-like ideas into a story with chapters.
The answer is this: you need to figure out a story arc to tie all of these “episodes” into a bigger picture, and if you want this book to be a series of books, you’ll want a series arc, too. And, whether you do a stand alone or a series, you’ll need to figure out some internal conflicts for your main characters so you can have character arcs, too.
These arcs are what take your individual “episodes” and ties them into a bigger story that spans the book from beginning to end. You could choose to make the story arc and your protagonist’s character arc one and the same if you want something more character-centric. Or, you might choose a “big bad” who is somehow behind all of the episodic conflicts, even if indirectly. You might even go with a situational conflict, like cleaning up crime in a particular part of the city and/or overthrowing a corrupt police chief.
I hope this helps!
ETA: golden-apple said: Or making it an anthology of short stories
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