Quotation Marks
Once upon a time, there was a man named Quotation Mark. He lived in a house with his partner, the Enter key.
One day, Quotation Mark and Enter Key decided they wanted to create new little dialogues together so, they got a new paragraph room for each of their children...
The abuse of the quotation mark is starting to get to me. Seriously. Even good fan fic authors are starting to do it. So...I decided to preach to the choir.
Apparently children aren't being taught basic grammar beyond capitalizing the first word in a sentence and using a period anymore. Frankly, it pains me.
Blame it on the internet or the celebrities or whomever you want, but it's getting a little scary. I mean we're raising a generation of children that thinks the word cent is plural because of 50 Cent. And don't get me started on the kids that try to 'spell' words in internet code and turn in these papers to college professors.
And what is with people that have no clue how to use a cent sign? (50¢ -- notice that it goes after the number, and that there is no decimal point whatsoever.)
But, getting back to the subject at hand--quotation marks.
When you're writing dialogue, you want to keep a couple of things in mind:
When a new character speaks, start a new paragraph
Written a fictional text is a lot like a script. In fact, take out all the sensory input (smells, sounds, tastes, movement) and that's exactly what you have.
You know from seeing a script that, when it's time for a new character to start talking, there's a break in the script, and the character's name appears above the text. But, for the sake of clarity, here is an example:
Character 1:
Do you really think you'll accomplish anything with this? You know...other than wasting your own time and amusing the handful of people that actually read your blog?
Me:
[glares at Character 1]
Even if it doesn't, it will help me exercise my internal rant.
Just as in a script form, when you're writing a story and a new person beings to speak, you should start a new paragraph.
If the same character is speaking on the same subject, keep it together.
This includes when dialogue is split up with action. For example:
"You make up the best stories like Daddy does...only your stories are about castles and princes and Daddy's are 'bout twinks and the dance land called Babylon," Gus said, wrinkling up his nose before continuing. "Michael usually tells JR stories about Captain Astro or Rage and Zeph...Zeph..."
"Zephyr," Justin supplied.
Notice how it's all connected the a central idea (stories) and that the second part is completing the first. If your text isn't centered around a central idea, air on the side of caution, and put it in a new paragraph.
Speeches
The last major area is speeches. If your character monopolizing the conversation and switching from one topic to another, you've run into a special rule. It's like the i before e except after c rule.
When moving between paragraphs of dialogue, you don't include a closing quotation mark at the end of the paragraph.
Example:
"Oh, no, you asked me to talk to you. You begged me to fucking communicate with you. Well, this is what you fucking get. I mean, seriously, you thought that picking up and moving from a much larger, much more comfortable house, good jobs, and the rest of the family just to be safe would be a good idea? How fucked is that? [Notice the lack of a closing quotation mark and the opening mark on the next paragraph.]
"Things got a little rough and you got a little scared and you ran. Justin got fucking bashed in the skull and he nearly died in that fucking bombing, and what did he do? He stayed put. He fought for what he believed in. Yeah, he might not have always made the wisest choices, but who's message is better? My Mommies who run when things get rough or my fathers who stand and fight," Gus said, stalking towards his mothers' wide eye stares.
Quotes within quotes.
These appear when your character is quoting someone else or using a word or phrase sarcastically.
Ex:
"What did she say to you?"
Gus rolled his eyes. "She said I was 'an ungrateful little shit.'"
I believe that covered the major fic centered ones. The rest you can figure out on your own when you're playing with MLA and Turabian.
All story clips (with the exception of the script) were stolen from the Healing series.
For those of you on that filter-- I am working on the last few chapters. The mill just grinds slowly.
For those of you not on that filter-- I'll eventually unflock it. I just want to finish it first and do a light editing. Until then, please be patient.
One day, Quotation Mark and Enter Key decided they wanted to create new little dialogues together so, they got a new paragraph room for each of their children...
The abuse of the quotation mark is starting to get to me. Seriously. Even good fan fic authors are starting to do it. So...I decided to preach to the choir.
Apparently children aren't being taught basic grammar beyond capitalizing the first word in a sentence and using a period anymore. Frankly, it pains me.
Blame it on the internet or the celebrities or whomever you want, but it's getting a little scary. I mean we're raising a generation of children that thinks the word cent is plural because of 50 Cent. And don't get me started on the kids that try to 'spell' words in internet code and turn in these papers to college professors.
And what is with people that have no clue how to use a cent sign? (50¢ -- notice that it goes after the number, and that there is no decimal point whatsoever.)
But, getting back to the subject at hand--quotation marks.
When you're writing dialogue, you want to keep a couple of things in mind:
When a new character speaks, start a new paragraph
Written a fictional text is a lot like a script. In fact, take out all the sensory input (smells, sounds, tastes, movement) and that's exactly what you have.
You know from seeing a script that, when it's time for a new character to start talking, there's a break in the script, and the character's name appears above the text. But, for the sake of clarity, here is an example:
Character 1:
Do you really think you'll accomplish anything with this? You know...other than wasting your own time and amusing the handful of people that actually read your blog?
Me:
[glares at Character 1]
Even if it doesn't, it will help me exercise my internal rant.
Just as in a script form, when you're writing a story and a new person beings to speak, you should start a new paragraph.
If the same character is speaking on the same subject, keep it together.
This includes when dialogue is split up with action. For example:
"You make up the best stories like Daddy does...only your stories are about castles and princes and Daddy's are 'bout twinks and the dance land called Babylon," Gus said, wrinkling up his nose before continuing. "Michael usually tells JR stories about Captain Astro or Rage and Zeph...Zeph..."
"Zephyr," Justin supplied.
Notice how it's all connected the a central idea (stories) and that the second part is completing the first. If your text isn't centered around a central idea, air on the side of caution, and put it in a new paragraph.
Speeches
The last major area is speeches. If your character monopolizing the conversation and switching from one topic to another, you've run into a special rule. It's like the i before e except after c rule.
When moving between paragraphs of dialogue, you don't include a closing quotation mark at the end of the paragraph.
Example:
"Oh, no, you asked me to talk to you. You begged me to fucking communicate with you. Well, this is what you fucking get. I mean, seriously, you thought that picking up and moving from a much larger, much more comfortable house, good jobs, and the rest of the family just to be safe would be a good idea? How fucked is that? [Notice the lack of a closing quotation mark and the opening mark on the next paragraph.]
"Things got a little rough and you got a little scared and you ran. Justin got fucking bashed in the skull and he nearly died in that fucking bombing, and what did he do? He stayed put. He fought for what he believed in. Yeah, he might not have always made the wisest choices, but who's message is better? My Mommies who run when things get rough or my fathers who stand and fight," Gus said, stalking towards his mothers' wide eye stares.
Quotes within quotes.
These appear when your character is quoting someone else or using a word or phrase sarcastically.
Ex:
"What did she say to you?"
Gus rolled his eyes. "She said I was 'an ungrateful little shit.'"
I believe that covered the major fic centered ones. The rest you can figure out on your own when you're playing with MLA and Turabian.
All story clips (with the exception of the script) were stolen from the Healing series.
For those of you on that filter-- I am working on the last few chapters. The mill just grinds slowly.
For those of you not on that filter-- I'll eventually unflock it. I just want to finish it first and do a light editing. Until then, please be patient.