Punctuating dialogue is straightforward, and follows the punctuation rules outlined earlier. In addition, there are some issues writers must keep in mind.
Punctuation of complete sentences goes inside the quotations. Always.
“What did he say?”
“Aaarghh!”
“Pardon?”
“That’s what he said.”
If what follows the dialogue line is a tag, we punctuate the dialogue with a comma.
“He fell,” Lazar said.
If what follows the dialogue line is a non-speech attribute, description, or anything else, we punctuate the dialogue with a period.
“That’s what he said.” Cain looked crestfallen.
“María said you were nothing but trouble. She’s the queen of understatements.” Desmond drew one hand to his forehead, feeling faint.
If what follows a dialogue line ending with a question mark or exclamation point is a tag, or speech attribute, we use lowercase, unless what follows is a proper noun.
“And then?” he demanded.
“Aaarghh!” Cain grunted.
If we insert description, narrative, or attributions in a line of dialogue, the interrupted dialogue must be separately surrounded by quotation marks.
“That man stepped back toward the phone there.” Lazar nodded to a narrow table on thin legs, like a ballerina on tiptoes. “Then he stopped, clutched his chest, said something, and fell.”
If we write uninterrupted dialogue by the same speaker and insert a paragraph break, we should omit the closing quotation on the end of the line before the break.
Surreal. Desmond swallowed. “So, after breaking in, instead of heading for the safe you stopped at the kitchen, drank a gallon of milk and raided the cookie tin. Then you climbed up here and scared the man to death.
“María said you were nothing but trouble. She’s the queen of understatements.” Desmond drew one hand to his forehead, feeling faint. “Any cookies left?”
Altogether, these are the norms for correct dialogue punctuation. The excerpt from which we’ve drawn the examples is reproduced below.
Crouched on the floor by the bed, a plump porcelain chamber pot decorated with colorful peonies was followed by a velvet slipper and a handsome foot attached to a leg and a sprawled plump body wrapped on a brocade housecoat, its outstretched hands still grasping a double-barreled gun.
“What happened to him?” Desmond nodded to Gordon Tyler’s corpse.
“He fell,” Lazar said.
“I can see that,” he whispered.
“He was standing there with his gun.”
“What did you do?”
Lazar and Cain lowered their heads.
“Well?”
Cain stretched both arms over his head. “We raised our hands.”
“And then?” he demanded.
“That man stepped back toward the phone there.” Lazar nodded to a narrow table on thin legs, like a ballerina on tiptoes. “Then he stopped, clutched his chest, said something, and fell.”
“What did he say?”
“Aaarghh!” Cain grunted.
“Pardon?”
“That’s what he said.” Cain looked crestfallen.
Surreal. Desmond swallowed. “So, after breaking in, instead of heading for the safe you stopped by the kitchen, drank a gallon of milk and raided the cookie tin. Then you climbed up here and scared the man to death.
“María said you were nothing but trouble. She’s the queen of understatement.” Desmond drew one hand to his forehead, feeling faint. “Any cookies left?”[1]
Punctuating dialogue is straightforward, and follows the punctuation rules outlined earlier. In addition, there are some issues writers must keep in mind.
“María said you were nothing but trouble. She’s the queen of understatement.” Desmond drew one hand to his forehead, feeling faint. “Any cookies left?”[1]