Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Welcome to Writers Talkback. If you are a new user, your account will have to be approved manually to prevent spam. Please bear with us in the meantime
Grammar questions - Is it really a UK vs US thing?
Sorry, another couple of questions from me!
When writing dialogue, do you use single or double quotation marks? When I was at school, we were taught to use double marks. When I went to university, everyone used single marks, so I used them too, and have stuck with that ever since.
Same with punctuation being inside or outside quotation marks. I have used both methods. I have been googling it today, and it seems to come down to a UK vs US thing, although it seems a mixed bag on both sides of the Atlantic.
So how do you all prefer to write, and indeed read, quotation marks and punctuation in relation to quotation marks?
When writing dialogue, do you use single or double quotation marks? When I was at school, we were taught to use double marks. When I went to university, everyone used single marks, so I used them too, and have stuck with that ever since.
Same with punctuation being inside or outside quotation marks. I have used both methods. I have been googling it today, and it seems to come down to a UK vs US thing, although it seems a mixed bag on both sides of the Atlantic.
So how do you all prefer to write, and indeed read, quotation marks and punctuation in relation to quotation marks?
Comments
Punctuation should always be inside the speech marks. I have no idea if the US sometimes does it differently, but in the US magazines I've seen they have also been inside.
(It can be different if speech marks are being used to denote quotes from text, but this is relating to dialogue.)
It is a US/UK thing, I think, but also might vary from pub to pub.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0199570027/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=569136327&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0198610416&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=0Q8T2N883JBMVR59D7R1
You will always find house styles that vary, but the starting point is usually Hart's.
If you're submitting to American agents/publishers, have a look at this one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Chicago-Manual-Style-Publishers/dp/0226104206/ref=pd_sim_14_6?ie=UTF8&dpID=31InmkgEXxL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR107,160_&refRID=155GG7WVFPTWEF3HBPJG
Because publishers establish their own style, it's never a right/wrong answer. Just be consistent. Self-publishing authors have the freedom to create their own. However, if you're publishing more than one book, carry the style through to all the books.
I've never read a traditionally-published US novel that put the punctuation outside the speech marks. I have come across commas being used outside inverted commas in unedited work:
"I wouldn't do that if I were you", Arthur said.
But if you apply that to other forms of punctuation, it looks completely wrong:
"I wouldn't do that if I were you"! Arthur said.
"Would you really do that"? (No, I wouldn't!)
"Well, I don't know. Would you do that"? That implies that the whole thing inside those inverted commas is a question, and it's not.
In dialogue, everything within the i.c's is the spoken word, and so the punctuation that relates to it - the exclamation mark that tells you how the words in that phrase are spoken, for instance - should be within those marks too.
If you use " " for speech, use ' ' for quotes, and vice versa. If you write for a publication, check out the house style and use it. The double inverted commas are more prevalent in the US, but again, it's down to house style and personal choice. Just be consistent.
Mrs Bear, I read your 'words under one roof' blog this morning, and thought it was excellent. So informative and helpful, but written in a quirky, friendly style. It's now in my bookmarks, and I will be referring to it when I finally come to edit my first draft.