Dialogue and Punctuation | elementediting

Speech Marks

The use of speech marks for dialogue is fairly universal, though of course there are exceptions to this (as there always is).

The type of speech marks used changes around the world, however. In Australia, we can use singles or doubles (‘x’ or “x”), while American English prefers doubles (“x”), and British English prefers singles (‘x’). To help clarify what’s done and why when it comes to dialogue and punctuation, I’ve included information for each kind of English mode, where they vary. The three modes are not the only modes of English on the planet, they’re just the three that I work in, and so they’re the ones I can help you with.

So, to recap:

Australian English: Can take doubles or singles – ‘x’ or “x”

US English: Prefers doubles “x”

British English: Prefers singles ‘x’

* Note that quotes within dialogue take the opposite mark (see more detail on this here).

Dialogue Tags

Dialogue tags help the reader know who is speaking. Regardless of English mode, these stay the same, except for the speech marks.

Said and asked are great dialogue tags, because the reader’s mind acknowledges the meaning without having to really process much, so they don’t slow the reader’s pace. That said, all verbs of utterance (whisper, yelled, murmured, etc.) are useful at times – it’s just that often these concepts will be conveyed by the characters, scene, or even within the dialogue itself. Keep it simple where you can, but know you can use other verbs of utterance, too.

Australian English:

‘I’m working toward finding the ship,’ she said.

“I’m working toward finding the ship,” she said.

US English:

“I’m working toward finding the ship,” she said.

British English:

‘I’m working toward finding the ship,’ she said.

Dialogue, Dialogue Tags, & Action Beats

You do not need a dialogue tag for every line, and adding one for every piece of dialogue can make your work seem amateurish, staccato, or even drastically slow the pace.

In scenes where there are only two characters, only the first two lines of dialogue need to be tagged (sometimes not even that many) to show who spoke first, and who next. This is because a conversation tends to be tit for tat, one person says something, and the other responds in some way, and so it goes. Where this pattern is interrupted for some reason, paragraphing and action beats (see below) can play a huge role in keeping the reader on track with who is speaking.

Ultimately characters should be developed strongly enough that it is clear to the reader who is speaking without a dialogue tag. Naturally this doesn’t happen straight away, and sometimes we need other ways to show who is speaking. This can also be done through the narrative, and by using action beats.

Dialogue and Action Beats:

An action beat is a small line of information on what the character is doing. Most commonly authors use He nodded. or She smiled. While it’s important to not rely on these short-form beats (which are often useless in context anyway), they do serve as a super quick example of what an action beat is when combined with dialogue. The action beat can come before or after the dialogue, and sometimes even in the middle of dialogue (see Interrupted Dialogue for that one). For these examples, I’ve placed the action beat before the dialogue.

Australian English:

Sofie slammed her hand down on the desk. ‘I’m working toward finding the ship.’

Sofie slammed her hand down on the desk. “I’m working toward finding the ship.”

American English:

Sofie slammed her hand down on the desk. “I’m working toward finding the ship.”

British English:

Sofie slammed her hand down on the desk. ‘I’m working toward finding the ship.’

Naturally you could have the action beat after the dialogue, too.

‘I’m working toward finding the ship.’ Sofie slammed her hand down on the desk.

This will depend on when you need that action to take place (before or after the words spoken).

Dialogue, Dialogue Tags, and Action Beats

If the name of the character performing the action is included in the action beat, then a dialogue tag isn’t necessary. If there’s a pronoun in use (in this case, She), then a dialogue tag using the speaker’s name could be needed.

Australian English:

She slammed her hand down on the desk. ‘I’m working toward finding the ship,’ Sofie said.

She slammed her hand down on the desk. “I’m working toward finding the ship,” Sofie said.

American English:

She slammed her hand down on the desk. “I’m working toward finding the ship,” Sofie said.

British English:

She slammed her hand down on the desk. ‘I’m working toward finding the ship,’ Sofie said.

Interruption of Speech

Sometimes we need to show that speech is interrupted. This can happen when a speaker is cut off in some way, but we also refer to dialogue divided by an action beat as being ‘interrupted’.

Let me show you what I mean.

Dialogue interrupted by another speaker:

‘I’m working toward finding the—’

‘Yes, I know! But you haven’t found it yet, have you?’

Here we can see that the first character (who we know from elsewhere is Sofie) is interrupted by a second speaker. The identity of this second speaker might be obvious from the narrative that would come before, or it might not be and need a dialogue tag or action beat.

Speech can also be interrupted by an external action:

Dialogue interrupted by an action:

‘Who’s out there? Whose com—’

James clamped his hand over his sister’s mouth as he listened carefully to the footsteps outside.

Note that this action was interrupted by James, not his sister. She likely didn’t start a sentence expecting to be interrupted, so the interruption does not come from her, but rather her brother’s actions. If she chose not to finish her sentence, this would be a trailing off of speech, which would take an ellipsis ( . . . ).

A small note on this: The narrative does not need to say James interrupted her directly after the interruption occurs. This should always be clear through paragraphing and content.

All interruptions in this vein take an em dash.

Dialogue can also be interrupted midsentence when you’re using a simultaneous action – that is, an action occurring at the same time as the dialogue.

In American English, this is done using unspaced em dashes:

“I was just saying that all of this’—he swept his arms wide at the state of the room—‘needs to be dealt with.”

In British English, this is done using spaced en dashes:

“I was just saying that all of this’ – he swept his arms wide at the state of the room – ‘needs to be dealt with.”

In Australian English, this can go either way, but the important thing (as with all things editing) is to remain consistent at all times.

Dialogue interrupted by self:

Sometimes, a speaker interrupts themself; this usually occurs when they have a sharp twist in dialogue, going from saying one thing, to abruptly changing their mind and saying something else.

‘I wasn’t— I was just going to— Nevermind.’

VOCATIVES IN DIALOGUE

A vocative is simply a name used in direct address.

Let’s quickly look at the difference between a name used in direct address (a vocative) and one that isn’t:

Vocative: “Cynthia, take this with you.” (Cynthia is being directly addressed/spoken to)

Not Vocative: “I told Cynthia to take it with her.” (Cynthia is being discussed, but not addressed)

Using vocatives is important, but only use them when needed. As you go through your day, consider when someone actively uses your name. If you’re with one friend, the use of your name would be low, but at a family event or in a group, the use would increase as people try to get your attention. Keep this in mind when writing dialogue.

So, how do vocatives display in dialogue? A vocative comes with a comma, and if it presents in the middle of dialogue, it comes with two commas (collect the set!).

Australian English:

‘They went that way, Tarod.’

‘Thanks, Kelly, I’ll see if I can catch up to them.’

‘Tarod, don’t forget to take your bag!’

“They went that way, Tarod.”

“Thanks, Kelly, I’ll see if I can catch up to them.”

“Tarod, don’t forget to take your bag!”

American English:

“They went that way, Tarod.”

“Thanks, Kelly, I’ll see if I can catch up to them.”

“Tarod, don’t forget to take your bag!”

British English:

‘They went that way, Tarod.’

‘Thanks, Kelly, I’ll see if I can catch up to them.’

‘Tarod, don’t forget to take your bag!’

QUOTES

I find a lot of authors can get stuck on using quotes in their manuscripts. Sometimes quoted speech occurs in the dialogue, sometimes in the narrative, and these are treated differently depending on that location within the text. On top of this, any surrounding punctuation can be treated differently depending on the content and mode of English being adhered to.

Quotes within Dialogue

Quotes within dialogue use the secondary or opposite speech marks that are being used. So, if you’re using “x” (doubles) for your dialogue, you need to be using ‘x’ (singles) for your quotes and vice versa. For correct location of punctuation, see below!

Australian English:

‘She said to Tarod, “don’t forget to take your bag”.’

“She said to Tarod, ‘don’t forget to take your bag’.”

American English:

“She said to Tarod, ‘don’t forget to take your bag.’” (note the different location of the period here!)

British English:

‘She said to Tarod, “don’t forget to take your bag”.’

Quotes in Narrative

Quotes in narrative take the primary speech marks in use for the mode of English you’re working in.

Australian English: ‘X’ or “X”

It was time to move, she knew, but hadn’t Jake said there was ‘plenty of time’?

American English: “X”

It was time to move, she knew, but hadn’t Jake said there was “plenty of time”?

British English: ‘X’

It was time to move, she knew, but hadn’t Jake said there was ‘plenty of time’?

Quotes: Punctuation Location – Inside or Outside?

Most of the time quotes are fairly easy to deal with on the whole, but the punctuation can get tricky! Sometimes, the quoted material (say, ‘I had to do it!’) will come with its own punctuation mark (in this case, the exclamation mark). In these instances, it’s important to take the most useful or strongest one and use that. Don’t use two.

Yes:

“But then he said that he ‘had to do it!’”

No:

“But then he said that he ‘had to do it!’.”

Because we’re dealing specifically with fiction here, you can use this to your advantage. Note that the following examples have different feels to them:

“But then he said that he ‘had to do it’.”

“But then he said that he ‘had to do it’?”

Australian English:

Generally, the punctuation goes outside the quoted material.

‘It was time, she said, “to put an end to it”.’

‘He said “No”, but the puppy didn’t listen.’

“It was time, she said, ‘to put an end to it’.”

“He said ‘No’, but the puppy didn’t listen.’

American English:

Generally, the punctuation goes inside the quoted material.

‘It was time, she said, “to put an end to it.”’

“He said ‘No,’ but the puppy didn’t listen.’

British English:

Generally, the punctuation goes outside the quoted material.

‘It was time, she said, “to put an end to it”.’

‘He said “No”, but the puppy didn’t listen.’

References:

Australian Government Style Manual https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/

Chicago Manual of Style Online https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/

New Hart’s Rules; The Oxford Style Guide (2nd Ed.)

Quotes