Punctuating dialogue
- 1. PUNCTUATING DIALOGUE Rules to live by, if youre writing dialogue.
- 2. I saw a spider. Her name is Kelly. She is not afraid of spiders.
- 3. I saw a spider, said Kelly. Quotation marks around her words A comma used instead of a period said is left lower-case Period at the end Other option: Kelly said, I saw a spider.
- 4. I saw a spider! Her name is Lisa. She is afraid of spiders.
- 5. I saw a spider! said Lisa. Exclamation point instead of comma said remains lower case Period at the end Other option Lisa said, I saw a spider!
- 6. I saw a spider? His name is Pete. He has amnesia, so he doesnt remember seeing the spider.
- 7. I saw a spider? said Pete. Question mark instead of comma said remains lower-case Period at the end Other option: Pete said, I saw a spider?
- 8. I saw a spider, so I squished it. His name is Frank.
- 9. I saw a spider, said Frank, so I squished it. Comma at the end of the first phrase no matter what Second half of phrase begins with a lower- case letter Period (or other punctuation) goes inside the quotation marks
- 10. Dialogue in a story Each speaker starts a new paragraph Narration/Description can go in the same paragraph as the speaker, if they are related Unrelated narration/description should have its own paragraph
- 11. Practice! I dont like the looks of this said John. He used his flashlight to illuminate the walls of the cave. Dont be a baby Kevin responded its not like bats are real vampires. Oh man, I wasnt afraid of that before, but now I am! The boys went further into the cave. Ironically, they were attacked by a vampire, who had no relation to any bat. Well dang it said Kevin. Told you said John.
- 12. This is how it should look! I dont like the looks of this, said John. He used his flashlight to illuminate the walls of the cave. Dont be a baby, Kevin responded, Its not like bats are real vampires. Oh man, I wasnt afraid of that before, but now I am! The boys went further into the cave. Ironically, they were attacked by a vampire, who had no relation to any bat. Well dang it, said Kevin. Told you! shouted John.