When I edit for clients, I go to the latest Chicago Manual of Style. Here's what they have to say:
Hope this helps!
To use quotation marks or not?
That is the question.
I have a single chapter with some 85% dialogue. I thought about starting quote marks at the beginning of one long story encompassing several paras and closing them at the end. Alternatively placing quotes around each and every para of dialogue, which is what I did. It looks extreme.
I've read books recently where quote marks are done away with completely even though there is plenty of dialogue.
Any thoughts about this? I may have to go back and delete each and every quote mark if I go with the last option. YEeech!
I have a single chapter with some 85% dialogue. I thought about starting quote marks at the beginning of one long story encompassing several paras and closing them at the end. Alternatively placing quotes around each and every para of dialogue, which is what I did. It looks extreme.
I've read books recently where quote marks are done away with completely even though there is plenty of dialogue.
Any thoughts about this? I may have to go back and delete each and every quote mark if I go with the last option. YEeech!
1 - 20 of 22 Posts
Perhaps I'm not considered "well-read," but I've never read a book that didn't use quotation marks for dialogue. To me,quotation marks are invisible--my mind registers that they're there, and that someone is speaking, but they don't get in the way and are really not even noticeable.
What are your readers--or readers in your genre--used to? If they're comfortable with the "no quote" format, then maybe you can go that route. But I'm not sure such books are commonplace enough for a general audience to be familiar with it.
What are your readers--or readers in your genre--used to? If they're comfortable with the "no quote" format, then maybe you can go that route. But I'm not sure such books are commonplace enough for a general audience to be familiar with it.
Unless you're Cormac McCarthy, I wouldn't try it. Quotation marks around every paragraph of speech is the norm.
^I agree with JessicaHolland. If you're putting in several paragraphs from one person, include the opening quotes to remind the audience someone is still talking. If it's back and forth dialogue, then close and attribute every paragraph, or confusion is likely to ensue about who's talking.JessicaHolland said:When I edit for clients, I go to the latest Chicago Manual of Style.
Properly used, quotation marks let you know when one person has finished speaking and another has started. If one of them is speaking at length, with changes that require new paragraphs, how would you know it's the same person if there are no quotation marks? Proper punctuation is about making sense for the reader, not about arbitrary rules.
Yep. What Jessica said.JessicaHolland said:When I edit for clients, I go to the latest Chicago Manual of Style. Here's what they have to say:
Hope this helps!
^^That's what I do, and what I've seen in most trad pub books I've read with long dialogues.JessicaHolland said:When I edit for clients, I go to the latest Chicago Manual of Style. Here's what they have to say:
Hope this helps!
Removing quotation marks will change the feel of your story in a pretty big way, giving it a more "literary" feel (and you'll probably find that you need a rewrite to make it work). It wouldn't take long to do a few pages' worth and see how it works for you, though.
If you keep the quotation marks (and depending on your genre and the type of story you're writing, you might probably should), use the Chicago Manual of Style rule posted above for dialogue that spans multiple paragraphs.
Another option is to intersperse exposition to break it up. When it's your POV character talking, or if you're writing in omniscient, you can summarize some parts of the story that's being related. No idea if that would work for your specific piece, but I've seen it done.
If you keep the quotation marks (and depending on your genre and the type of story you're writing, you might probably should), use the Chicago Manual of Style rule posted above for dialogue that spans multiple paragraphs.
Another option is to intersperse exposition to break it up. When it's your POV character talking, or if you're writing in omniscient, you can summarize some parts of the story that's being related. No idea if that would work for your specific piece, but I've seen it done.
If you're writing poetry or literary fiction with an avant-garde edge, you can play with leaving out quotation marks and other aberrant approaches to punctuation. If you're writing something aimed at the average reader, follow standard punctuation practices. What Jessica quoted from Chicago is the standard approach in fiction, so far as I know.
Agreed. Yet I've always loved his response to questions about it, which are usually like this one:Abderian said:Unless you're Cormac McCarthy, I wouldn't try it. Quotation marks around every paragraph of speech is the norm.
"There's no reason to blot the page up with weird little marks. I mean, if you write properly you shouldn't have to punctuate."
http://www.openculture.com/2013/08/cormac-mccarthys-punctuation-rules.html
Apart from all the good formatting advice already given, you might also consider if you really want long unbroken stretches of dialog with no action or internal dialog to break them up, just someone talking on and on without interruption. I'm not saying don't do it - John Galt's famous speech in Atlas Shrugged goes on for pages and pages and pages - but it better be good or you might lose the reader.baldricko said:That is the question.
I have a single chapter with some 85% dialogue. I thought about starting quote marks at the beginning of one long story encompassing several paras and closing them at the end. Alternatively placing quotes around each and every para of dialogue, which is what I did. It looks extreme.
I've read books recently where quote marks are done away with completely even though there is plenty of dialogue.
Any thoughts about this? I may have to go back and delete each and every quote mark if I go with the last option. YEeech!
Unrelated to the question, but if you're using Word, this is an easy fix. Find and replace quotes with a space, and then find and replace two spaces with one space. Quick and easy.baldricko said:Any thoughts about this? I may have to go back and delete each and every quote mark if I go with the last option. YEeech!
And the rules aren't arbitrary. It's the people who haven't learned them (or, to be fair, have never been taught them) who think that they are.Catana said:Proper punctuation is about making sense for the reader, not about arbitrary rules.
This is what I was going to say, too.dahillauthor said:...consider if you really want long unbroken stretches of dialog with no action or internal dialog to break them up, just someone talking on and on without interruption. I'm not saying don't do it - John Galt's famous speech in Atlas Shrugged goes on for pages and pages and pages - but it better be good or you might lose the reader.
Isn't Cormac McCarthy the one that uses those awful take me out of the story dashes to mark dialog?
I was reading a book the other day. Kinky Friedman was quoting Willie Nelson. In the quote Willie Nelson quotes someone else. The quotation in the quotation had single quotes. Willies quote was the double.
Now I am on a tablet and this is a family site or I would quote most of that quote because it applies to authors as much as songwriters.
Go read the foreword to Roll me up and Smoke me.
I was reading a book the other day. Kinky Friedman was quoting Willie Nelson. In the quote Willie Nelson quotes someone else. The quotation in the quotation had single quotes. Willies quote was the double.
Now I am on a tablet and this is a family site or I would quote most of that quote because it applies to authors as much as songwriters.
Go read the foreword to Roll me up and Smoke me.
How about when a dialogue paragraph starts with quotations but ends without them? I haven't seen it in a while, part of that evolving of the "rules" maybe, but I have in the past. Always wondered about it.
Sounds like an application of the rule for multi-paragraph quotations Jessica explained above. If not, then it's just a mistake.D.L. Shutter said:How about when a dialogue paragraph starts with quotations but ends without them? I haven't seen it in a while, part of that evolving of the "rules" maybe, but I have in the past. Always wondered about it.
Jessica is referring to where a single speaker's speech covers several paragraphs - that's the standard way to show quotes.
This reminds me of a Greek epic, where, when the two combatants met, they would first give a speech for a couple hundred lines before battling each other.
This reminds me of a Greek epic, where, when the two combatants met, they would first give a speech for a couple hundred lines before battling each other.
1 - 20 of 22 Posts
- This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Kindle Forum
A forum community dedicated to Amazon Kindle owners, authors, and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about publishing, audio, troubleshooting, models, styles, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Recommended Communities
