Do you puzzle over where to put the punctuation when you write speech or conversation? Double or single quotes? Commas or colons?
If you find this a source of existential angst, you’re not alone. As an editor, it’s one of the most pervasive problems I see. But you can get it right, and this is how.
First, the disclaimer
OK, yes, there are multiple different ways to punctuate dialogue, several of which are “correct”. Different nationalities and even different publishers have different styles regarding how they like dialogue punctuated.
And you’ll often read a proper, professional book where the writer has gone a little off-the-reservation punctuationally speaking, and it’s regarded as witty and debonair rather than Wrong.
If your publisher has asked you to punctuate dialogue in a specific way, always follow their instructions in preference to anything I have said here. Don’t annoy them or waste their time!
The format I’m about to show you is a good basic style, which will communicate your meaning effectively without offending anyone, and is easily edited if your publisher wants something slightly different.
And if you decide to deviate into Witty Punctuation later, you can do that from the basis of knowing what effective punctuation looks like. This is a good principle for all writing. If you know how to do it “right”, then you can break as many rules as you like, and do it with panache.
So why does it matter where I put the commas and stuff?
One word: MEANING.
Readers are accustomed to established conventions for how to understand who’s speaking to whom, when they paused, what they sounded like, and a whole range of other issues to do with speech. They absorb these even without necessarily being aware of exactly where each punctuation mark appears. If you put the punctuation in the wrong place, it confuses the reader’s eye, and they may lose track of your meaning, or worse still, give up on your book altogether.
How we punctuate dialogue affects meaning, and also our chances of successful publication
(Image via Bigstock/lcs813)
The flow-on effects are these:
- An agent or publisher is less likely to take on your book if the punctuation is a mess — they don’t want the bother of fixing it (and in these very tight economic times for publishing, they can’t afford the bother of fixing it).
- If you throw the first draft together thinking, “Oh, I’ll fix that later,” when you edit it yourself you will wish you had punctuated the dialogue correctly from the start. Trust me on this. It’s an absolute pain to put it in later. Get it right now. It’s not that hard and you’ll be very glad you did.
- If you are self-publishing, you will pay a lot less for editing if you have the punctuation right to begin with. Most editors charge by the hour, and fixing punctuation is one of those fiddly little tasks that consume vast amounts of time. So punctuation-fixing-time is money. Your money.
- If you are self-publishing and hoping your beta readers will do copy-editing for you, they will be your friends for longer if you give them a basically “clean” manuscript. If they have to fix all 5,975 instances of mis-punctuation in dialogue, they will go nuts!
- If you are self-publishing and you don’t edit it at all, and you publish with dodgy, messy dialogue in your book… well I’m sure you can work out the cost of that for yourself. Loss of reputation, loss of readers. People notice and they are not kind in their reviews.
The basics
Ready? Here we go. This is the punctuation I first learned as a journalist, waaay back, and I still default to it today. You’ll find it in most newspapers, online or printed, and many book publishers use it too.
1. Use double quotes… [“] not [‘]
“But-but-but!” I hear you say. “I’ve seen single quotes in lots of books!”
Yes indeed. In both the UK and Australia, single quotes are the norm, whereas in the US, double quotes are used.
If you are absolutely rock-solid certain that your publisher wants single quotes, go ahead and use them.
In every other case, I recommend going for double quotes. And this is why: They are easily changed to single quotes. Yes, that’s right, even though it might sound a little prosaic or even odd.
I can change every double quote in an entire manuscript into a single quote in approx 10 seconds, using the Find/Replace command in Word. All you do is enter a double quote [“] in the Find field, and a single quote [‘] in the Replace field, and click Replace All. Voila! Single quotes throughout, and it will even convert them to Smart Quotes for you (the curly ones instead of the straight-up-and-down ones).
This technique doesn”t work in reverse, because you”ll change all your apostrophes to double quotes too, and then you”ll be very sad. 🙁
If you didn’t understand any of that Find/Replace malarkey, just absorb the important point: if you don’t know what your publisher wants, default to double quotes, because it’s more versatile and easier to change later.
![If a book you're editing contains a mix of straight and curly quotes, and you want all curly quotes (smart quotes), change them all at once with Find/Replace. Change singles and apostrophes first, by entering ['] in Find and the exact same thing in Replace. Then click Replace All. Repeat the process with ["] if you're using them. All done!](https://smallbluedog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/power-tip.png){kind=small}
If a book you’re editing (your own or someone else’s) contains a mix of straight and curly quotes, and you want all curly quotes (smart quotes), change them all at once with Find/Replace in Word. Change singles and apostrophes first, by entering [‘] in Find and the exact same thing in Replace. Then click Replace All. Repeat the process with [“] if you’re using them. All done!
2. Use a comma, not a colon or semi-colon or some other thing I haven’t thought of
A comma is the plain vanilla punctuation to place near the [he said/she said].
When the [he said] bit is BEFORE the speech, the comma goes immediately after [said].
He said, “I’m going to learn how to punctuate dialogue.”
When the [he said] bit is AFTER the speech, the comma goes INSIDE the quotation marks for the US.
“I’m going to learn how to punctuate dialogue,” he said. (USA)
In the UK and Australia, OFFICIALLY (that is, according to the Oxford and Australian Style Manuals) the placement of the comma depends on whether the pause belongs to the SPEECH, or the SENTENCE. (Getting a headache yet? Yes, I know, me too. Let’s have a cup of tea.) So, take a look at where the comma is below.
“I’m going to learn how to punctuate dialogue”, he said. (UK, Australia — officially, but not always in practice)
But then compare it to this one.
“I’m going to learn how to punctuate dialogue,” he said, “and then people will take me seriously as a writer.”
That’s because if [he said] was removed, the speech would need a comma because there’s a pause there: “I’m going to learn how to punctuate dialogue, and then people will take me seriously as a writer.”
Adding to the fun, if you’re a journalist, you always put that later comma inside, no matter where you are in the world. 😉 (confused yet?)
I’m going to suggest something mischievous here. Unless you are writing an academic work for Australia or the UK, place that comma the American way. That’s because fiction and popular non-fiction often ignore the Style Manuals and follow those conventions anyway. And readers know how to read it.
3. Put the full stop/period inside the quotation marks
When the whole sentence is a piece of dialogue, the full stop/period always goes inside the quotation marks, no matter where you are in the galaxy. Nice to know we can rely on some things!
“I’m going to learn how to punctuate dialogue.”
4. Multiple sentences can go inside one set of quotation marks
This is a confusion I’ve seen before, where people start new quotation marks for each sentence. In a paragraph, they can all go in one set, if it’s the same person speaking.
“I’m going to learn how to punctuate dialogue,” he said, “and then people will take me seriously as a writer. The use of punctuation in dialogue seems to really, really affect meaning. Really. Have you noticed that?”
5. You don’t have to use attribution all the time
At the beginning of an exchange, it’s a good idea to identify who’s talking. But then, if there are only two speakers, the reader can follow back and forth. Just keep your eye on it so that the exchange doesn’t go on too long without an attribution. You don’t want your readers getting lost. It’s all about meaning!
“I’m going to learn how to punctuate dialogue,” said Rupert.
“What a great idea!” said Griselda.
“Do you think I’ll find it hard?”
“There’s a learning curve at the beginning, but once you’re in the habit, it comes easily.”
6. Long speeches can be divided into multiple paragraphs
If someone has a lot to say, you can divide it into multiple paragraphs. The usual convention is to leave the closing quote off the end of the paragraph, to signify that the speech is continuing. This could go on for several paragraphs if you had a real talker on your hands! And then the final paragraph of their speech would conclude with a closing quotation mark. This signifies to the reader that the speaker has finally put a sock in it. 😉
You don’t need to keep adding [he said] — the speech can just flow.
Personally, I tend to write in such a way that I can avoid these run-on paragraphs. That’s not because it’s in any way wrong to do this. It’s purely because it’s easy for a reader not to notice that the closing quotation mark isn’t on the end of the paragraph, and so they get confused as to who is speaking, and have to go back and check. Feel free to choose for yourself.
7. But it’s a good idea not to have more than one speaker per paragraph
Some writers will switch between several speakers, all in one paragraph. It is possible to make it clear that the speaker is changing. However, I prefer to avoid this, as it makes it harder for the reader to follow. It’s all about meaning. (Have I said that before?)
So it’s a good idea to begin a new paragraph for each new speaker. No extra charge for a new paragraph, so go on, hit Enter!
Where to find an authority
If you’re still not confident and you really want to make sure you are getting it right technically, check out the Style manual for your region. There’ll be one!
These are the main three that I consult regularly. (They are expensive because they are specialist books, but I find them worth it. They have lots of useful things in them about a whole range of publishing issues, not just punctuation!)
USA: The Chicago Manual of Style (often abbreviated CMoS). CMoS is now also available online if you prefer. It’s $35 a year, compared to the one-off price of around $40 for the book of 1026 pages.
UK: Oxford — New Hart’s Rules: The Handbook of Style For Writers and Editors is the brief version, and the 880 page New Oxford Style Manual is New Hart’s Rules with an added dictionary for writers and editors. I buy mine from BookDepository.co.uk as it has free shipping worldwide. Just go to Book Depository and enter the book name into the search window. From $20-$40 (ish) depending on whether you go for the small one or the comprehensive one.
Australia: Style Manual: For Authors, Editors and Printers (previously known as The Australian Government Style Manual) is 550 pages of Style-ish goodness and costs around $40 (Australian).
How to decide regional differences on a global book
If you are self-publishing for a global audience, which country’s preferences should you follow?
My own decision is to follow primarily US conventions for globally self-published books. The US is a very large English-language readership. Also, UK and Australian readers are accustomed to reading books with US punctuation, because many of them find their way onto our shores, whereas the reverse is not necessarily true. Most US readers won’t have seen many UK/Australian books, and will find the “funny punctuation” jarring and possibly confusing.
Since I have to fall one way or the other, I choose to follow the US conventions for the most part, with fiction and popular non-fiction. (Academic and technical works are different — invest in a Style Manual!)
If you are self-publishing, the decision is up to you. Deciding Style issues is one of the responsibilities of the publisher, and that’s who you are! Scary, huh? 😉
What are your experiences with punctuating dialogue? Is it something you’ve struggled with, or did it come easily? Tell me how it’s been for you, and share any useful tips that have made it easier for you.
Great article. I’m new to your blog and I’m finding it really helpful. I wonder how you punctuate a thought. Do you italicize it? Use the single quotation mark? Do nothing and write it as regular text? Another question: Let’s say there’s a person speaking, then there’s some description about what the person is doing, and then the same speaker speaks again. Should that all be in one paragraph? Or, when the speaker speaks again, should that be a new paragraph? Thank you!
Great question, Laura. There are a lot of different ideas about how to punctuate or display thoughts. Some people say that with “deep third person” point of view, the thoughts can just be part of the narrative, because you are already inside that person’s head. However, I find that doesn’t sit well with me, as I often want to write thoughts in present tense, whereas the narrative is usually in past tense. So on the first occurrence in the book I italicise the thought, without any quotation marks, and add “he/she thought”, to make it clear to the reader that this is the style for this particular publication. Then all thoughts after that I just italicise. You can work out your own “style” with thoughts, and so long as it’s clear and consistent, many editors will let you get away with it. 😉
As for dialogue/action/dialogue, I often put it in one long paragraph when the same person is still speaking. Then when there’s a change of speaker I have a new paragraph. Again, this tends to come down to a matter of preference. But I personally think it’s confusing for a reader when a new paragraph starts and it’s the same speaker — can cause a reader doubletake as they try to figure out who’s talking.
Best wishes with your writing. 🙂
Awesome Article Belinda. It’s really helped me since I started writing non-fiction stories as I used to write only academic articles so keep it up!
Lara, academic articles do tend to follow different conventions. You’re probably familiar with the Australian government style manual (now published by Wiley). Fiction writers and writers of popular non-fiction tend to follow different style!
All very headache-inducing, but I say if you are consistent and it’s meaningful for the reader, go for it! 🙂
Thanks and no I don’t know that manual! I usually just ask my friends to help me!
I was working with my friend on a non-fiction story and we were both really stuck on the comma before or after the dialogue since she is American and I’m Australian! So thanks for the help!
Now for something completely different:
I Use speech and thought, intermingled. Is this wrong?
“I use speech…”
‘,,,At least, I think I do…’
“…But, then, I might be wrong…”
‘…Don’t think I am though.’
Nothing wrong with intermingling speech and thought as far as I can see. One thing to think about though is that your readers might not notice the difference between the single and double quotes, and therefore become confused as to what’s being said aloud and what’s internal. I’ve seen lots of different things used to indicate thought rather than speech. I’ve personally adopted italics for thought in my own writing, without any quotation marks at all on the thought sections. Best wishes for your book!
In Greek publications, punctuation follows the Australian way: both comma and full-stop outside the quotation marks. As a translator from English into Greek and vice versa, I’m so used to switching from one way to another, I don’t even think about it. Practice makes perfect! But I have a hard time teaching the difference to my students who mess their punctuation marks and, as you say, this might be the sole reason why a manuscript (or a translation) will not be accepted.
Great post as always!
How interesting that the Greek way is like the Australian and British. For translators, I can imagine punctuation opening up a whole new area of potential hassles. Thanks so much for your insights! 🙂
Belinda,
Your “Dialogue” explanation has ‘nipped it in the bud’ for me.
I have been reading all sorts of blogs and articles about “Dialogue”.
Your Article is the only one that really addressed each Dialogue problem with a good example.
I’m going to do it your way. The USA way.
Considering that most Publishers are in USA then it would seem obvious to write in their language.
I used to write in the Australian Language with Australian Spelling which is close to the UK language, but not exactly.
My Teachers at school [50 years ago in Western Australia] would be horrified at the American Writing Style. I can even feel the “rap on the knuckles with a ruler” for spelling words the American way [Australian= ‘specialise’ USA= ‘specialize’].
Thanks Belinda, I’m a “Convert” to the American Writing Style. . . . . . . . .
Oliver Scott
Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia.
So glad you found it handy, Oliver. I also find it hard sometimes to write with a “z” instead of an “s”, and all the other various conventions! Sometimes it’s easier to just do it as a spellcheck at the end.
For self-publishers today especially, the market is global, so it’s important to write to communicate to whichever market is your target. Best wishes in your writing! 🙂
Very helpful. It sounds like I’m doing pretty good in this department. A few years ago I took a Communications course from UoP. It covered punctuation, grammar, etc. in all forms of written communications. I learned a lot in that class, and soon realized how many mistakes I’d picked up since my school days. Thanks.
Sounds great, Ronda. Was that an online course? If so, feel free to share a link so others might be able to check it out. 🙂
Belinda, this brings back to me the pain of having to go through my whole novel and fix the punctuation around my dialogue, after a member of my writing group alerted me to my misuse of commas in instances such as below. I was trying to avoid he said/she said by using an action verb to indicate who was talking and didn’t realise a full stop was needed, rather than a comma. Now that I know better, the text below looks ridiculous!
‘I really don’t want you to go,’ Amy twirled her hair around her finger.
(Should be ‘I really don’t want you to go.’ Amy twirled her hair around her finger.)
Ah yes, Helen, I’ve seen that one before, you’re definitely not the first one to do it! It’s great that a member of your writing group noticed it for you so you could pick it up. And, how much easier will the second novel be, now that you’re alert to that one?! Thanks so much for sharing your experience, and also providing a good tip for other readers. 🙂
Great article, as usual, Belinda. Fortunately I generally find that punctuation flows fairly easily for me, and I could no more consider writing without punctuation (unless purposefully as in a poem) than, dare I cliché?, fly to the moon. Now that’s actually a piece of punctuation I’m not too sure about! Never mind. I found your description of the UK Australian style of punctuating dialogue with the comma after the quotation marks quite interesting as I have neither noticed nor used it. However all else made perfect sense to me and it is always a pleasure to refresh by reading articles written with such clarity, and humour. Thanks. 🙂
Thanks for the kind words, Norah. Glad you enjoyed the post.
That messy little comma outside the quotation marks always annoys me, to be honest. I think it’s because I began as a journalist, so I learned the other way of placing it during my Formative Years. So I tend to do a bit of eye-rolling when I have to place one outside the quotes (eg for academic work), but I grit my teeth and do it anyway, like a good little editor. 😉