How To... Punctuate Dialogue

This short 'How to...' is adapted and expanded from replies I made to a thread in The Authors' Hangout, which was about a writer having their work rejected for poor punctuation. I'm sure other people have published similar articles, but this is my one.

Of all the things you can get your wonderful Literotica story rejected for, dialogue punctuation errors are probably the easiest to fix. The rules around this area can seem a bit weird, and even illogical at times, but they aren't really so very complicated. If you stick to just the basics - trailing and leading dialogue tags - it's super simple.

I'll also try to cover some of the more recherché cases here. But this brief essay is not intended to be comprehensive. I may even have made some errors in the text (please tell me in a comment or PM and I'll revise). Either way, for more information, or to check when you think that I've got it wrong, Google is your friend!

Let's start with an admission. If you scanned my stories - and why wouldn't you? they are so awesome! - you'd probably find multiple examples of me screwing up the punctuation of dialogue. We all do that. It's human to err.

Occasional typos are not going to get your story sent back to you. This only happens if you systematically ignore punctuation conventions. There is no fix but to revise your text to adhere to them.

This isn't some stifling creativity thing. It's about making your text easy to read. People are used to conventions, breaking them is jarring and distracts from the wonderful cunnilingus scene you wrote. There are already enough reasons for a reader to click away from a page as it is, poor formatting of dialogue is one that can be avoided with a little bit of effort.

Let's start with some simple stuff:

Trailing Dialogue Tags

"Hello, dear reader," Frances said.

This is dialogue with a simple trailing tag. The tag is the 'Frances said' bit. The dialogue is between the pair of double quotation marks. If you don't know what double quotation marks are, maybe do some Googling and then come back here.

The rule here is: 1) add a comma before the closing double quotation mark.

Please note that 'Frances' is capitalized as it's a proper noun. If I use a common noun, or pronoun, they wouldn't be capitalized. The text would be written:

"Hello, dear reader," the author said.

or

"Hello, dear reader," she said.

Leading Dialogue Tags

She then added, "It's not so very complicated to learn proper dialogue punctuation."

'She then added,' is the tag, you remember what the dialogue is, right?

The rules here are: 1) add a comma at the end of the leading tag, and before the opening double quotation mark. 2) start the dialogue with a capital letter.

That was easy enough, wasn't it? I hope you are taking notes, there will be a test at the end!

Let's consider some complexities.

Dialogue tag mid-sentence

"Trust me," she continued, "there's not that much to it."

Here the rules are: 1) comma after the first dialogue clause, 'trust me,' and before the first closing double quotation mark. 2) the tag itself, 'she continued,' is all lower case. 3) the tag finishes with a comma before the second opening double quotation mark. 4) the second dialogue clause within double quotation marks, 'there's not much to it,' doesn't start with a capital letter as it's part of the whole sentence.

As an aside, see how the same types of rules apply to single quotation marks as well.

Dialogue tag before a new dialogue sentence

Frances wondered to herself how best to illustrate the point she was trying to make. "Hmm... this was tough," she said under her breath. "Aha! Maybe I could provide some examples of the different cases you might have to deal with."

Here the new rules are: 1) period after 'breath' as it's the end of one sentence. 2) capitalize 'aha!' as it's the start of a new one.

Different speakers

In the last example, we had two pieces of dialogue within the same paragraph. But note that it's the same speaker. If a second speaker joins the conversation, they get a new paragraph.

"How are you today, Scott?" asked Frances.

Scott replied, "I'm doing great, thanks."

If you combine what Frances and Scott say in one paragraph, this may lead to reader confusion and / or story rejection.

Note also in Frances's dialogue that - although a question mark is equivalent to a period in normal use - if it's included in quotation marks then any following dialogue tag is not capitalized. Yeah, this one is confusing.

Skipping dialogue tags

Dialogue without tags is fine if it's clear who is speaking. Here the new paragraph for a new speaker rule also helps.

"I hope this is helping you, Sabrina," Frances said.

"I guess so."

"Not so much?" asked Frances. "What could I be doing differently?"

But don't rely on the new paragraph rule, unsupported by any tags, for more than a few lines of dialogue. It just loses the reader much too easily.

Actions between dialogue

"OMG! Am I not finished writing this essay yet?" Frances shook her head in disbelief. "Well at least we are getting close to the end."

The text starting 'Frances...' is not a traditional dialogue tag, it's a stand-alone sentence. But it can serve a similar function to a dialogue tag, which brings us to...

Avoiding dialogue tags

You can also skip formal tags altogether and have dialogue segue into the general text.

"I'll try to explain this now." Frances wasn't sure how good a job she was doing of being a punctuation teacher. She was worried that she'd get something wrong. Still she was doing her best.

Or...

Frances began to think that maybe sticking to simple dialogue is a good idea when a writer is starting out. But how to say this without sounding patronizing? Hmm... "Maybe just focus on the trailing and leading tags for now. You can always branch out later."

Dialogue spanning more than one paragraph

This might be some major speech by your protagonist at a critical juncture. It's all very Shakespearian and so [with adaptation and endless apologies]...

"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; or close the wall up with our English dead. In peace there's nothing so becomes a man as modest stillness and humility: but when the blast of war blows in our ears, then imitate the action of the tiger; stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage.

"Then lend the eye a terrible aspect; let pry through the portage of the head like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it as fearfully as doth a galled rock o'erhang and jutty his confounded base, swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean. Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide, hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit to his full height.

"On, on, you noblest English. Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof! Fathers that, like so many Alexanders, have in these parts from morn till even fought and sheathed their swords for lack of argument.

"Dishonour not your mothers; now attest that those whom you call'd fathers did beget you. be copy now to men of grosser blood, and teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman, whose limbs were made in England, show us here the mettle of your pasture; let us swear that you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not.

"For there is none of you so mean and base, that hath not noble lustre in your eyes. I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, straining upon the start. The game's afoot: follow your spirit, and upon this charge...

"Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'"

Here the rules are: 1) each paragraph of dialogue starts with an opening double quotation mark. 2) only the final paragraph has a closing double quotation mark.

Unless your nickname is 'The Bard,' I'd suggest using the above with some discretion.

But perhaps it's also interesting to note the single quotation marks nested between double quotation marks at the very end.

Beyond these observations, once more, Google is your friend. Good luck writing!

Lit Editor's Note: Writers, please please please, put a space before the opening and closing dialogue quotes.

A far too common error is as follows:

"Trust me,"she continued,"there's not that much to it."

It should be:

"Trust me," she continued, "there's not that much to it."

Kindly notice the spaces around dialogue quotes.

Also you can use either single quote or double quotes as long as you are consistent throughout the text.

Thanks and have a great writing! :)

THE END