• Punctuating Dialogue

    When you revise dialogue, be sure to punctuate it correctly so that your readers can see who is talking and where a line of dialogue begins or ends. The rules for using quotation marks, commas, and end marks of punctuation are listed below.
    • Use quotation marks before and after a character's exact words. Place a period inside closing quotation marks.
      "Peter and Esteban are joining us."
    • Use a comma to set off the speaker's tag (he said) from the beginning of a quotation. Place the comma inside closing quotation marks when the speaker's tag follows the quotation.
      Harry said, "Come on, Ray. It'll be fun."
      "Let's go," Gilda said.
    • Use quotation marks around each part of a divided quotation. Remember to set off the speaker's tag with commas.
      "I'm not sure," said Ray, "that I feel like it."
    • Place a question mark or an exclamation point inside the quotation marks when it is part of the quotation.
      "When will we be back?" Ray asked.
      "Hooray!" said Debbi.
    • Start a new paragraph when you move from one speaker to another.
      "How long a hike is it?" Ray asked. "I don't know whether I have the energy."
      "I think," said Iris, "that it's about seven miles to the top."

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