Bill Conrad's Blog - Posts Tagged "quotes"
Integrating Quotes
Quoting dialog in a story should be an easy task. Put quotation marks around a spoken sentence and bam! “Hi there.” Done. It turns out that there are several accepted methods for integrating quotes. Each approach has benefits and I’ve learned there is no correct method.
Hold on, there is a correct method and everybody agrees on it. This “correct method” is widely documented in many books like The Chicago Manual of Style, Garner's Modern English Usage, The Copyeditor's Handbook, Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace. Yeah, not so much. All these “golden standards” mostly agree on the grammar rules and then an author may adapt the rules to their personal taste.
As I bumbled along my writing journey, I settled on a quote integration method that I like. I feel this compromise on all the quoting options reduces and streamlines the editing process. Let’s explore some methods of incorporating dialog:
Method 1 (no quotation marks) James walked up to Bob. I will be late tonight. That’s fine. James walked away. For me, this dialog integration is difficult to follow. Is somebody speaking? Who are they speaking to and when did they stop speaking?
Method 1a (Improved no quotation marks). James walked up to Bob and spoke. I will be late tonight. That’s fine. James walked away. A better method, but the reader still gets confused.
Method 1b (No quotation marks with after thoughts). Bob walked up. I will be late tonight, said James. That’s fine, and he walked away. That is certainly compact and clean. However, this method still leaves the reader confused.
Method 2 (Quotes stuck in) James walked up to Bob. “I will be late tonight.” “That’s fine.” James walked away. This is better than method 1, but the reader cannot tell who is speaking. The reader must make the leap to understand the sentence began with James’s spoken words.
Method 3 (forward hints) James walked up to Bob and said, “I will be late tonight.” James replied, “That’s fine.” James walked away.
Method 3a (forward hints with breaks) James walked up to Bob and said, “I will be late tonight.”
“That’s fine.”
“I need to see my sister.” James walked away. This is the same as 3, but line breaks are added to distinguish between speakers. This is the method I settled on. I feel this is the most straightforward method and readers can easily understand who is talking to who. Before speaking, the reader knows the subject person and the target person. I feel it is the best compromise between all the options. However, it loads the document up with lots of “said,” Of course, I mix it up with: “answered,” “asked,” “continued,” “yelled,” “whispered,” etc.
Method 4 (The afterthought) James walked up to Bob, “I will be late tonight.” Said, James. “That’s fine.” Replied Bob as James walked away. Many people feel this method is the golden standard, looks the most professional and most books use this method. The issue I have with this method is that the reader does not get to learn who is speaking until the end of the sentence. I feel this method trips up the reader and disrupts the flow.
Method 4a (Integrated afterthoughts) James walked up to Bob. “I will be late tonight.” Said, James. “I need to see my sister.” “That’s fine.” Replied Bob. “Go see her first.” James walked away. This method is a combination between 3 and 4. Right after or during the first sentence of dialog, the reader is informed who is speaking. Overall, this method reads well, but it falls apart during snappy short sentence dialog.
Method 5 (separate) James walked up to Bob.
“I will be late tonight.”
“I need to see my sister.”
James walked away. In this method, the dialog is separated from the description and this leaves the reader unsure who is speaking.
To make matters more complex, the rules for double quotes and single quotes aren’t set in stone. I settled on a single clear rule. Single quotes go inside double quotes. “What’s going on Bob?” “Kelly told me to ‘Pick up dinner on my way home.’ Sound good?” This seems straightforward but there is a rule for single words in single quotes. Bob said, ‘Hello.’ I like the way this reads, but I ignore this rule and use double quotes.
Quoting get interesting when a character is thinking about something. An author cannot use the word “said” and they need to replace it with the word “thought.” For example. Bob thought, “I bet she is mad because I forgot dinner.”
Writers have an additional trick they can use. We can put thoughts into italics. Unfortunately, this blog format does not allow me to write in italics. Thus, I must improvise. Kelly walked in and stared at Bob. (Italics begin) I bet she is mad because I forgot to get dinner. (Italics end) We can also do a combination. Kelly walked in and thought, (Italics begin) I bet she is mad because I forgot to get dinner. (Italics end) I have since learned this latter method does not read well.
My upcoming book, Pushed To the Edge of Survival, I have introduced a new technique to allow telepathic characters to interact. I replaced “quotation marks” with Bob thought to Kelly, I think this method reads well and adds a new dimension.
This simple topic should be straight forward. Humans have been speaking and writing English for a long while. One would think this basic topic would have established rules and be universally accepted. For my part, I will do my best to write up great dialog and hopefully, readers can follow some of the dialog.
Hold on, there is a correct method and everybody agrees on it. This “correct method” is widely documented in many books like The Chicago Manual of Style, Garner's Modern English Usage, The Copyeditor's Handbook, Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace. Yeah, not so much. All these “golden standards” mostly agree on the grammar rules and then an author may adapt the rules to their personal taste.
As I bumbled along my writing journey, I settled on a quote integration method that I like. I feel this compromise on all the quoting options reduces and streamlines the editing process. Let’s explore some methods of incorporating dialog:
Method 1 (no quotation marks) James walked up to Bob. I will be late tonight. That’s fine. James walked away. For me, this dialog integration is difficult to follow. Is somebody speaking? Who are they speaking to and when did they stop speaking?
Method 1a (Improved no quotation marks). James walked up to Bob and spoke. I will be late tonight. That’s fine. James walked away. A better method, but the reader still gets confused.
Method 1b (No quotation marks with after thoughts). Bob walked up. I will be late tonight, said James. That’s fine, and he walked away. That is certainly compact and clean. However, this method still leaves the reader confused.
Method 2 (Quotes stuck in) James walked up to Bob. “I will be late tonight.” “That’s fine.” James walked away. This is better than method 1, but the reader cannot tell who is speaking. The reader must make the leap to understand the sentence began with James’s spoken words.
Method 3 (forward hints) James walked up to Bob and said, “I will be late tonight.” James replied, “That’s fine.” James walked away.
Method 3a (forward hints with breaks) James walked up to Bob and said, “I will be late tonight.”
“That’s fine.”
“I need to see my sister.” James walked away. This is the same as 3, but line breaks are added to distinguish between speakers. This is the method I settled on. I feel this is the most straightforward method and readers can easily understand who is talking to who. Before speaking, the reader knows the subject person and the target person. I feel it is the best compromise between all the options. However, it loads the document up with lots of “said,” Of course, I mix it up with: “answered,” “asked,” “continued,” “yelled,” “whispered,” etc.
Method 4 (The afterthought) James walked up to Bob, “I will be late tonight.” Said, James. “That’s fine.” Replied Bob as James walked away. Many people feel this method is the golden standard, looks the most professional and most books use this method. The issue I have with this method is that the reader does not get to learn who is speaking until the end of the sentence. I feel this method trips up the reader and disrupts the flow.
Method 4a (Integrated afterthoughts) James walked up to Bob. “I will be late tonight.” Said, James. “I need to see my sister.” “That’s fine.” Replied Bob. “Go see her first.” James walked away. This method is a combination between 3 and 4. Right after or during the first sentence of dialog, the reader is informed who is speaking. Overall, this method reads well, but it falls apart during snappy short sentence dialog.
Method 5 (separate) James walked up to Bob.
“I will be late tonight.”
“I need to see my sister.”
James walked away. In this method, the dialog is separated from the description and this leaves the reader unsure who is speaking.
To make matters more complex, the rules for double quotes and single quotes aren’t set in stone. I settled on a single clear rule. Single quotes go inside double quotes. “What’s going on Bob?” “Kelly told me to ‘Pick up dinner on my way home.’ Sound good?” This seems straightforward but there is a rule for single words in single quotes. Bob said, ‘Hello.’ I like the way this reads, but I ignore this rule and use double quotes.
Quoting get interesting when a character is thinking about something. An author cannot use the word “said” and they need to replace it with the word “thought.” For example. Bob thought, “I bet she is mad because I forgot dinner.”
Writers have an additional trick they can use. We can put thoughts into italics. Unfortunately, this blog format does not allow me to write in italics. Thus, I must improvise. Kelly walked in and stared at Bob. (Italics begin) I bet she is mad because I forgot to get dinner. (Italics end) We can also do a combination. Kelly walked in and thought, (Italics begin) I bet she is mad because I forgot to get dinner. (Italics end) I have since learned this latter method does not read well.
My upcoming book, Pushed To the Edge of Survival, I have introduced a new technique to allow telepathic characters to interact. I replaced “quotation marks” with Bob thought to Kelly, I think this method reads well and adds a new dimension.
This simple topic should be straight forward. Humans have been speaking and writing English for a long while. One would think this basic topic would have established rules and be universally accepted. For my part, I will do my best to write up great dialog and hopefully, readers can follow some of the dialog.
My Favorite Quotes
I have been collecting quotes for a few years, and I thought it would be interesting to share my favorites.
** “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” -Arthur C. Clarke
** “When the boss is a dope, everyone under him is a dope or soon will be." -Jacob Rabinow
** "The probability of success varies inversely with the rank of the observers." -Jacob Rabinow
** "The opposition to a new idea is directly proportional to its novelty." -Jacob Rabinow
** Lenard Nimoy asked Phillipe Halsman a photographer Life magazine about how he got involved with photography. "My career is rather like the story about the prostitute. When someone asked her how she got into her business, she said, 'First I did it to please myself, then I did it to please my friends, then I did it for the money.'"
** "All we are is dust in the wind. Dude." -Ted Theodore Logan (Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure)
** “So it's sorta social. Demented and sad, but social.” -John Bender (The Breakfast Club)
** “Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.” -The Dread Pirate Roberts (The Princess Bride)
** “This is pure snow! Do you have any idea what the street value of this mountain is?” Charles De Mar (Better Off Dead)
** "Life without you was like a broken pencil. Pointless." Edmund Blackadder III
** "As Cunning as a Fox Who's Just Been Appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University." Edmund Blackadder III
** "Never have so many people understood so little about so much." -James Burke
** “There are things known and things unknown, and in between are the doors.” -Jim Morrison.
** "One likes to believe in the freedom of music, but glittering prizes and endless compromises shatter the illusion of integrity." Neil Pert
** "He's old enough to know what's right, but young enough not to choose it. He wise enough to win the world, but fool enough to lose it." Neil Pert
** ”The only women I understand are the ones I invent for my books, and half the time, I don’t understand them, either.” John Steinbeck
** “The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair.” -Douglas Adams
** “I don’t do magic. I do science. One takes brains. The other takes dark eyeliner.” -Pickle Rick
** “The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.” -Neil DeGrasse Tyson
** "Tip #268: Don't feel insecure or inferior! Remember, you're ORGANIC! You could win an argument with almost any rock!" -Firesign Theater
** “The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance.” -Albert Einstein
** “Don’t listen to the person who has the answers; listen to the person who has the questions.” -Albert Einstein
** “Stay away from negative people. They have a problem for every solution.” -Albert Einstein
** “There is a race between mankind and the universe. Mankind is trying to build bigger, better, faster, and more foolproof machines. The universe is trying to build bigger, better, and faster fools. So far the universe is winning.” -Albert Einstein
There are millions of quotes to choose from and what does my selection say about me? Clearly, I am a snarky individual who enjoys science.
I have written once quote that stands out. “Writing a book is 99% self-promotion and 1% other.” Granted, that is a rip-off of Edison. “Inventing is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration.” Still, I will claim credit, which is an appropriate way to end a blog full of other people’s work.
** “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” -Arthur C. Clarke
** “When the boss is a dope, everyone under him is a dope or soon will be." -Jacob Rabinow
** "The probability of success varies inversely with the rank of the observers." -Jacob Rabinow
** "The opposition to a new idea is directly proportional to its novelty." -Jacob Rabinow
** Lenard Nimoy asked Phillipe Halsman a photographer Life magazine about how he got involved with photography. "My career is rather like the story about the prostitute. When someone asked her how she got into her business, she said, 'First I did it to please myself, then I did it to please my friends, then I did it for the money.'"
** "All we are is dust in the wind. Dude." -Ted Theodore Logan (Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure)
** “So it's sorta social. Demented and sad, but social.” -John Bender (The Breakfast Club)
** “Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.” -The Dread Pirate Roberts (The Princess Bride)
** “This is pure snow! Do you have any idea what the street value of this mountain is?” Charles De Mar (Better Off Dead)
** "Life without you was like a broken pencil. Pointless." Edmund Blackadder III
** "As Cunning as a Fox Who's Just Been Appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University." Edmund Blackadder III
** "Never have so many people understood so little about so much." -James Burke
** “There are things known and things unknown, and in between are the doors.” -Jim Morrison.
** "One likes to believe in the freedom of music, but glittering prizes and endless compromises shatter the illusion of integrity." Neil Pert
** "He's old enough to know what's right, but young enough not to choose it. He wise enough to win the world, but fool enough to lose it." Neil Pert
** ”The only women I understand are the ones I invent for my books, and half the time, I don’t understand them, either.” John Steinbeck
** “The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair.” -Douglas Adams
** “I don’t do magic. I do science. One takes brains. The other takes dark eyeliner.” -Pickle Rick
** “The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.” -Neil DeGrasse Tyson
** "Tip #268: Don't feel insecure or inferior! Remember, you're ORGANIC! You could win an argument with almost any rock!" -Firesign Theater
** “The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance.” -Albert Einstein
** “Don’t listen to the person who has the answers; listen to the person who has the questions.” -Albert Einstein
** “Stay away from negative people. They have a problem for every solution.” -Albert Einstein
** “There is a race between mankind and the universe. Mankind is trying to build bigger, better, faster, and more foolproof machines. The universe is trying to build bigger, better, and faster fools. So far the universe is winning.” -Albert Einstein
There are millions of quotes to choose from and what does my selection say about me? Clearly, I am a snarky individual who enjoys science.
I have written once quote that stands out. “Writing a book is 99% self-promotion and 1% other.” Granted, that is a rip-off of Edison. “Inventing is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration.” Still, I will claim credit, which is an appropriate way to end a blog full of other people’s work.
