January 6th, 2010 / 8:07 pm
Craft Notes
Lily Hoang
Craft Notes
Quotation Marks
Do you use quotation marks when writing dialogue? Why? Why not?
I find myself justifying their use or non-use with some regularity. Sometimes, I use them. Sometimes, I don’t. When I don’t, I don’t for the aesthetic value and/or because I find it disrupts the text. When I do, I do because I feel like it. And for no other reason. Only rarely does it have anything to do with grammar or clarity.
Tags: grammar
similarly me. punctuation lately comes out in the same stream of conscious bucket the words come out in so if the first bit of dialogue happens to carry quotes, the rest will, if not not, and there’s no real reason other than miracle flow cream.
similarly me. punctuation lately comes out in the same stream of conscious bucket the words come out in so if the first bit of dialogue happens to carry quotes, the rest will, if not not, and there’s no real reason other than miracle flow cream.
i don’t like the way quotation marks look on the page. also, i feel like it makes me write better dialogue to leave them out. it forces me to make a very clear distinction between the prose/narrative, etc, and when people are speaking. i like when a writer can write a line without a quotation mark and with no dialogue tag and i still know it’s a spoken line. at the same time it doesn’t bother me too much to see them either.
would anyone who opts not to use quotes put them back in if an editor asked for it? always been curious about that.
i don’t like the way quotation marks look on the page. also, i feel like it makes me write better dialogue to leave them out. it forces me to make a very clear distinction between the prose/narrative, etc, and when people are speaking. i like when a writer can write a line without a quotation mark and with no dialogue tag and i still know it’s a spoken line. at the same time it doesn’t bother me too much to see them either.
would anyone who opts not to use quotes put them back in if an editor asked for it? always been curious about that.
if i’m writing standard fiction, i almost feel obligated to use quotation marks. i’m not sure why. it feels different when i’m writing poetry. i generally use italics when i want to include dialogue in a poem. feels like i have more liberties when i’m writing a poem.
i guess it all depends on what you think the reader will perceive as “normal” or “familiar”
then again, sometimes i don’t care what the reader will perceive as “normal” or “familiar”
i guess i’m the same. sometimes i use them. sometimes i don’t.
if i’m writing standard fiction, i almost feel obligated to use quotation marks. i’m not sure why. it feels different when i’m writing poetry. i generally use italics when i want to include dialogue in a poem. feels like i have more liberties when i’m writing a poem.
i guess it all depends on what you think the reader will perceive as “normal” or “familiar”
then again, sometimes i don’t care what the reader will perceive as “normal” or “familiar”
i guess i’m the same. sometimes i use them. sometimes i don’t.
i do think dialogue looks less appealing with quotation marks
especially in a very dialogue-driven piece
i do think dialogue looks less appealing with quotation marks
especially in a very dialogue-driven piece
Some people flip their shit over this question. Personally, I like using quotation marks, but I don’t “hold it” against someone who does not.
Tastewise, some people may just not like it regardless of situation. As for me, there are times I like quotations and times I don’t. It depends on the story.
Some people flip their shit over this question. Personally, I like using quotation marks, but I don’t “hold it” against someone who does not.
Tastewise, some people may just not like it regardless of situation. As for me, there are times I like quotations and times I don’t. It depends on the story.
I agree with Nate–it depends on the story. But really, I think it depends on the voice of the story.
I agree with Nate–it depends on the story. But really, I think it depends on the voice of the story.
i feel the “disrupts the text” reason. i don’t want the flow of the language from one word to the next to suffer from quotations.
when i do it’s because i can’t think of a reason not to.
i feel the “disrupts the text” reason. i don’t want the flow of the language from one word to the next to suffer from quotations.
when i do it’s because i can’t think of a reason not to.
i agree, you shouldn’t need the marks to know it’s dialogue. and if it’s unclear without them, it’s probably not good enough. personally, i can do without them. and i don’t use them. but if someone asked to put them in, i wouldn’t be opposed.
i agree, you shouldn’t need the marks to know it’s dialogue. and if it’s unclear without them, it’s probably not good enough. personally, i can do without them. and i don’t use them. but if someone asked to put them in, i wouldn’t be opposed.
I like a number of stories/writers who don’t, but I love clarity so goddamn much, I can never let go of them.
I like a number of stories/writers who don’t, but I love clarity so goddamn much, I can never let go of them.
i hate when someone talks a whole paragraph with quotes and then keeps talking into a second paragraph and the quotes don’t close, but there is another OPEN quote at the beginning of the 2nd paragraph
it is so infuriating
it’s reason enough not to use them in my opinion
i hate when someone talks a whole paragraph with quotes and then keeps talking into a second paragraph and the quotes don’t close, but there is another OPEN quote at the beginning of the 2nd paragraph
it is so infuriating
it’s reason enough not to use them in my opinion
FUCK YOU IM CORMAC MCCARTHY!
FUCK YOU IM CORMAC MCCARTHY!
It depends. Not using them can make both myself & the reader work harder. But there are times where that isn’t the point.
It depends. Not using them can make both myself & the reader work harder. But there are times where that isn’t the point.
amen
amen
I use it when I don’t want the reader to think about the use of quotation marks and pay attention to the damn story.
I use it when I don’t want the reader to think about the use of quotation marks and pay attention to the damn story.
I used the Lead Pipe in the Conservatory. I killed Colonel Mustard!!
I used the Lead Pipe in the Conservatory. I killed Colonel Mustard!!
A few years ago in undergrad I turned in a story to a fiction workshop class that didn’t use quotation marks because hey what the hell. Out of the returned, marked-up copies, three fourths of the class put quotation marks around EVERY SINGLE PIECE of dialogue, like I wouldn’t get it after the first few or something. One girl who didn’t appreciate my honest feedback (I swear I wasn’t mean) even wrote You’re Not Cormac McCarthy on my copy. (If we hadn’t read The Road in that class, she would have no idea who he was) I think if someone turns in an 8-page ss without quotation marks, they probably had a reason for it!
A few years ago in undergrad I turned in a story to a fiction workshop class that didn’t use quotation marks because hey what the hell. Out of the returned, marked-up copies, three fourths of the class put quotation marks around EVERY SINGLE PIECE of dialogue, like I wouldn’t get it after the first few or something. One girl who didn’t appreciate my honest feedback (I swear I wasn’t mean) even wrote You’re Not Cormac McCarthy on my copy. (If we hadn’t read The Road in that class, she would have no idea who he was) I think if someone turns in an 8-page ss without quotation marks, they probably had a reason for it!
I tend to use these – for dialogue and sometimes direct thought. I use line breaks for dialogue.
I like breaking up the text so that you get that progression of a conversation, they’re a good way to represent very small increments of time between people. You can really feel the punchline with a good line break. I don’t use quotation marks because they’re almost, graphically, too clumsy looking or something and they imply something outside of the text that i dont necessarily want to be there…as if they were just dumped in whole sale from a region outside the rest of the style. OR something.
I tend to use these – for dialogue and sometimes direct thought. I use line breaks for dialogue.
I like breaking up the text so that you get that progression of a conversation, they’re a good way to represent very small increments of time between people. You can really feel the punchline with a good line break. I don’t use quotation marks because they’re almost, graphically, too clumsy looking or something and they imply something outside of the text that i dont necessarily want to be there…as if they were just dumped in whole sale from a region outside the rest of the style. OR something.
I “prefer” to only use them arbitrarily.
I “prefer” to only use them arbitrarily.
After thinking about it, I guess I’m averse to them when I write in the 2nd person? Not sure why.
After thinking about it, I guess I’m averse to them when I write in the 2nd person? Not sure why.
Dialogue? Depends. Tho I tend to think like Stein did of the ? Not needed. On the other hand, I often love them when they’re not needed, as in Aaron Kunin’s COLD GENIUS:
http://www.thephysiocrats.com/kunin_cold_genius_excerpt.pdf
Good question, Lily. We’re counting down the weeks to your reading here.
Dialogue? Depends. Tho I tend to think like Stein did of the ? Not needed. On the other hand, I often love them when they’re not needed, as in Aaron Kunin’s COLD GENIUS:
http://www.thephysiocrats.com/kunin_cold_genius_excerpt.pdf
Good question, Lily. We’re counting down the weeks to your reading here.
lol. hilarious. there are rules in writing, called grammar. see that ‘full-stop’ i did there? that’s because there is a rule to close the sentence. in the same way, there is also a rule when quoting speech. and that rule involves ‘quotation marks’. amazing isn’t it?? :)
now, the rule with paragraphs of text is not to close the end of the paragraph, and to open the next para with quotes, showing the quotation continues.
now you morons might not like the rules, and you can do whatever you want: draw little aliens instead of quotation marks (“my writing looks better with aliens”), but those are the rules. debate the rules by all means, but don’t just say “i hate it when i have to put a comma. it’s so infuriating. i’m not going to use them because my writing looks better”. your writing may look better to another moron of equally low intelligence, but if you went to school, and learnt something about language, then you understand the rules, and you use them to communicate with others.
thomas appears to have enourmous trouble with periods. lol. i have trouble with capital letters, but hey, i’m also a moron.
“Out of the returned, marked-up copies, three fourths of the class put quotation marks around EVERY SINGLE PIECE of dialogue, like I wouldn’t get it after the first few or something”…
they are quotes. they require quotation marks. moron.
you are really funny. it’s like you’re being so hypocritical that it’s a form of meditation and you’re trying to reach nirvana. i think you’re almost there champ keep on truckin