Rachel Paige
Dec 6, 2019
Updated: Dec 16, 2019
Dialogue is tricky at first and there's several punctuation rules you cannot break. The following are the most common errors I see. When in doubt, pick up a published book and see how its dialogue is formatted.
-Should have a comma, exclamation point, or question mark before the ending quotation marks. Never a period.
Ex:
"I'm not going," he said.
"I'm not going!" he said.
"I'm not going?" he asked.
-Use a comma after it and normal punctuation at the end of the quote.
Ex:
He said, "I'm not going."
-May end with a period.
Ex:
"I'm not going." He crossed his arms.
"I'm not going!" He slammed his fist on the table.
"I'm not going?" He looked at his shoes.
-Follows normal punctuation rule.
Ex:
He crossed his arms. "I'm not going."
"I'm not going."
-Use an em dash
Ex:
"I don't want--"
"We're going."
-Use an ellipsis
Ex:
"That's not what I..."
-Use a new paragraph.
-The actions and dialogue of a single character should be together.
Ex: (correct)
He looked at his shoes. "I'm not going?"
"I'm sorry," I said. "I can't take you with me this time." I hugged him and said goodbye.
He kept his eyes on his shoes. "Okay."
Ex: (incorrect)
He looked at his shoes. "I'm not going?"
"I'm sorry," I said. "I can't take you with me this time."
I hugged him and said goodbye. He kept his eyes on his shoes.
"Okay."
-Use single quotation marks.
Ex:
I picked up the paper. "It says 'be home at nine.'"
"She said 'the blue octopus has it.' Do you know what that means?"
Ex:
I picked up the paper. "It says be home at nine."
"She said the blue octopus has it. Do you know what that means?"
-Quoting something that isn't yours, like a famous work or quote.
Ex:
"The first line is, 'hope is the thing with feathers.'"
1. Don't make multiple characters talk in the same paragraph.
"I'm not going?" I asked. "Sorry, I can't take you this time," I said. He looked at his shoes. "Oh."
2. Never put punctuation outside of quotation marks.
Ex:
"I'm not going", I said.
Write a short conversation between two of three characters. Try to use dialogue tags, action beats, and multiple types of punctuation.
Find all the errors in the following:
I slipped my shoes on and started towards the door. He followed me and had his shoes on too. "I already told you," I sighed.
He looked at his shoes, "I'm not going"?
I shook my head.
"But I want to..."
'Sorry Buddy, I can't take you with me this time.' He kept his eyes on his shoes. "But next time I will," I said
"Promise?" He took a step back. "Promise," I said.
There are 11 errors, did you find them all? The revised section is below. Changes are in bold and underlined.
I slipped my shoes on and started towards the door.
He followed me and had his shoes on too.
"I already told you." I sighed. (sighed is an action)
He looked at his shoes. "I'm not going?"
I shook my head.
"But I want to--" (should be an em-dash)
"Sorry Buddy, I can't take you with me this time."
He kept his eyes on his shoes.
"But next time I will," I said.
"Promise?" He took a step back.
"Promise," I said.