How to format reading aloud

Elladog said:

Is there another way?

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One possibility:
Dale

"'Go three steps to the left and open the door'," I read.

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This question is one I've never had occasion to think about. My gut reaction is to not like the nested quotes when they encompass the whole thing. I'd be inclined to make it clear in exposition that you're going to be reading something, and then punctuate it as normal dialog. I have no idea whether that's correct, though, because you definitely would have to use the nested quotes if what was being said was part original speech and part reading aloud.

I read the instructions aloud. "Go three steps to the left and open the door."

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In any event, I don't think the comma would go in between the quotes. I'm pretty sure it would have to go all the way inside.

"'Go three steps to the left and open the door,'" I read.

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Dale Emery said:

One possibility:

The crumbling paper said, "Go three steps to the left and open the door."​

Dale

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... that's a good one! I like it!

There's also the danger that too much of this quoted stuff is going to end up sounding repetitive or boring. Especially when it's basic instructions like, "Go three steps to the left and open the door." Vary the delivery and up the content whenever possible, is all I'm suggesting. Feeling a little foolish, I took three steps to the left, as Grandfather said in his letter. Only then did I see the door, hidden in shadow. Might not fit, but you get the gist.

-Derek

Would a headline have single quotes around it?


The story on page one caught my eye, "Hey, listen to this! 'Bank robbers caught after stop at Dunkin Doughnuts' Two men suspected of robbing the east street bank..."

Posted by hammerklavier:The story on page one caught my eye, "Hey, listen to this! 'Bank robbers caught after stop at Dunkin Doughnuts' Two men suspected of robbing the east street bank..."

According to what I've been able to dig up online, your punctuation looks good. However, if the sentence beginning "Two men suspected..." is also part of the article being read, it would need to be in quotations as well.

The story on page one caught my eye, "Hey, listen to this! 'Bank robbers caught after stop at Dunkin Doughnuts. Two men suspected of robbing....' Can you believe that?"

There is a section on the Chicago of Manual of Style webpage that covers quotes within quotes, but alas, I am not a subscriber. Best of luck.