1. Giving Your Character and Story Life Through the Spoken Word
Punctuating Dialogue
Giving Your Character and Story Life
Through the Spoken Word
Copy the Notes and 1 example from each slide

2. Rules for Using Quotation Marks
Use quotation marks to enclose a direct quotation – a person’s exact words.
Example:
Our team leader says, “I try to practice every day.”
“Let’s go home,” Jeanne suggested.
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3. A directly quoted sentence begins with a capital letter. Example:
Mrs. Talbot said, “Please get a pencil.”
Kristina asked, “Is it my turn?”
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4. Quote at the Beginning…
If a quotation mark comes at the beginning of a sentence, a comma, question mark, or exclamation point will follow it.
NEVER a period
Example:
“Dogs make better pets than cats do,” said Jared.
“Have you ever had a cat?” Emily asked.
“No, and I never will!” he replied.
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5. Quote at the end…
If a quotation comes at the end of a sentence, use a comma before it (between the speaker-tag and the quote).
Example:
Terra asked, “What makes you say that?”
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6. Split Dialogue
If a quoted sentence is divided, a comma usually follows the first part and comes before the second part.
Example:
“Oh,” Donna commented, “he’s probably just saying that because he’s never had a cat.”
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7. Split dialogue
When the speaker-tag interrupts a quoted, the second part of the quotation begins with a lowercase letter.
Example:
“Will you take care of my lawn and pets,” asked Mr. Franklin, “while I’m on vacation next month?”
* The expression identifying the speaker is called a speaker’s tag.
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8. Punctuation inside Quotes
A period or a comma should always be placed inside the quotation marks.
Example:
“I can’t wait to see Shirley Caesar’s new video,” James said. “It’s supposed to come out next week.”
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9. The Exception to the Rule
A question mark or an exclamation point should be placed inside closing quotation marks when the quotation itself is a question or an exclamation. Otherwise, it should be placed outside.
“What time will you be home from work, Mom?” asked Michael.
Who said, “All the world’s a stage”?
“Stop!” yelled the crossing patrol.
What a surprise to hear Susana say, “We’re moving back to Puerto Rico in June”!
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10. Don’t Be Afraid to Use Dialogue in Your Writing!
Just be sure to use it thoughtfully. Make every word a character says count. Never overuse dialogue. It should be supplemental to the description, and not take over the whole composition.
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11. Dialogue #1 Rule
In a conversation between multiple characters:, you must indent every time there is a new speaker.
Example:
  “Call me tomorrow,” said Mary as she got into her car.
“Okay,” Frank replied, “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”            
Notes:  
each piece of quoted material starts as a new paragraph, indented and on a new line

12. Review: Capitalizing Quotes Capitalize the 1st letter of quotes that:
Are complete thoughts and follow a speaking-word and a comma
Follow a colon
In most cases, capitalize the 1st word of a quoted sentence even if it starts (is introduced) in the middle of a sentence.
Exception: Do Not Capitalize quotes that are not complete thoughts or complete sentences

13. Direct Quotes vs Flow Quotes
Direct quotes show the exact words of a speaker and are introduced with a speaking word, such as:
said yelled shouted
sang thought wondered
asked announced claimed
exclaimed whispered cried

14. Direct Quotes vs Flow Quotes
Flow quotes are different—they naturally blend ingto the text and do not need commas or capitlaization.
Flow quotes often follow words like:
if whether
that whenever
when

15. Using Colons Before Quotes
Only use a colon if BOTH halves of the sentence can stand alone as a complete thought
If using a colon, capitalize the 1st word in the quotation
Remember, if the word just before the quote is a speaking word, use a comma