Does dialogue syntax confuse or elude you? A clear and concise explanation of the quotation and apostrophe.?
Question by Jachel Rauss: Does dialogue syntax confuse or elude you? A clear and concise explanation of the quotation and apostrophe.?
Ahoy there, aspiring novelists and writers!
As a fore-note, I would like to explain the reason for my posting of this question — or rather, this explanation. I’ve browsed through many an excerpt and sample of this section’s writers in my time — the past three years, as it were — and during my assisting of the fellow writer, I have happened across a recurring problem.
How often have you seen, or been the culprit of, dialogue like the following?
“Get out” I shout.
“You first”.
“After you”!
If you didn’t catch the problem, I urge you to keep reading, as sentence structure similar to the above is something that will immediately place your writing into the amateur category.
The problem itself is incorrect usage of the quotation mark in dialogue. This is something that even experienced writers can be guilty of, but for the sake of all of us here, let us explore the correct and not-so-correct usage of the apostrophe (‘) and quotation mark (“).
Incorrect version of the quotation mark (the mark indicating either speech or personified sound in creative writing):
“Hello, Mary”.
Correct version:
“Hello, Mary.”
The difference: notice the period at the end of the sentence. In the correct version, it falls before the end of the quote. Inversely, the incorrect version has the period after the quotation mark. Notice, now, that in practice, the usage of a correct quotation is as you would read in a novel.
Applied grammar:
“Hello, Mary,” I said. (Notice that the comma falls before the second quotation mark. This adds a nice flow to the sentence.)
“Hey there.” (This is the usage of a period at the end of dialogue. It shows the end of the sentence, adding finality.)
Now, the same holds true for the apostrophe (which is quoting something within a quote, as in repeating what someone has said, or one character mocking another). The apostrophe, of course, holds other uses in writing (such as in the phrases “It’s fine,” and “Dave’s sword”), but for now let us focus on its use in dialogue.
Correct usage of an apostrophe in dialogue:
“I told him, ‘shove off, prat.’ The guy looked at me like I was touched in the head!”
Incorrect usage of an apostrophe:
“I told him, ‘shove off, prat’. The guy looked at me like I was touched in the head!”
Again, notice the usage of the punctuation. The apostrophe is not before the period in the correct usage, but after. This holds true for any punctuation after the quote, be it a period, colon, or semicolon.
All of this grammar gobbledygook comes together to form the following, which you see in most all popular literature:
“Where you headed?” I said.
“North. Past the river,” Mary said. “There’s a colony stationed there. The last colony.”
“Times have changed, I suppose,” I said. “I remember asking before, where the safest areas were. ‘Southeast Africa, North America, Southern France,’ they used to answer. Well, now we’re down to colonies, not regions.”
The same above, of course, can follow a different flow of using the word “said” (the preferred form outside of American literature):
“Where you headed?” I said.
“North. Past the river,” said Mary. “There’s a colony stationed there. The last colony.”
There difference lies in “said Mary,” opposed to “Mary said,” if I was unclear.
Well, that’s the brain-numbing grammar lesson of the day (abbreviated BNGLD) folks! Hope I helped some of you!
Humbly,
Jachel
PS: If some of this seemed familiar, a part was from a previous answer of mine to a proofreading request.
Best answer:
Answer by Gaylord Focker
Great tutorial/informative message.
It’s somewhat futile, though, because the very audience (consisting of preteens or amateur writers) you’re preaching to will most likely ignore you.
What do you think? Answer below!
