SINGLE QUOTATION MARKS

citymouse · Jan 17, 2012

Has anyone noticed single quotation marks, rather than double, used in dialogue lately?
A UK friend consistently does, and I was wondering if this is a UK / continental usage / trend, or just a personal tic. Anyone?

alleycat · Jan 17, 2012

Yes, single quotes are used in the UK.

citymouse · Jan 17, 2012

So I guess the next question would be, is it okay in the US, or would all editors automatically challenge them?

IceCreamEmpress · Jan 17, 2012

Every publisher has their own house style. I would be surprised if there were any US publishers that didn't follow standard US conventions of using double quotations for everything except quotations within quotations, but.

On the other hand, UK writers don't need to make those changes before submitting manuscripts to agents or publishers; those changes are made at the copy editing stage.

alleycat · Jan 17, 2012

If someone was submitting to a US agent or publication, I think it would generally be better to follow US conventions. We're had a few discussions about this before, and opinions vary somewhat; some say it doesn't matter, others feel it just makes the submission look better.

kuwisdelu · Jan 17, 2012

citymouse said:
So I guess the next question would be, is it okay in the US, or would all editors automatically challenge them?

As mentioned, single-quotes for dialogue are the convention in some regions, such as the UK. In US, the convention is double-quotes. Some regions have other conventions for dialogue such as em-dashes.

I'd say it's probably best practice to use the conventions for the market to which you are submitting, but it's probably not going to be The Thing That Decides Your Rejection.

amergina · Jan 17, 2012

citymouse said:
So I guess the next question would be, is it okay in the US, or would all editors automatically challenge them?

If you're in the US, from the US (that is, not an ex-pat from the UK), and submitting to US markets...

...why wouldn't use use double quotes?

citymouse · Jan 17, 2012

For the record, I use double quotes in all my published work. It was just something that struck me as I beta read for a UK author. I guess it never registered with me before now.

gothicangel · Jan 18, 2012

When I was doing my Lit degree, I was always taught that double quotations where only to be used for quotes within a quote.

Maybe it's an academic style, but it's now stuck-fast.

crunchyblanket · Jan 18, 2012

alleycat said:
Yes, single quotes are used in the UK.

Really? I was taught at school and at university that double quotes were correct for dialogue.

I'm sure it's not just a UK thing. I was reading Stephen King's 'The Stand' recently and he uses single quotes.

Vemy Paw · Jan 18, 2012

crunchyblanket said:
I'm sure it's not just a UK thing. I was reading Stephen King's 'The Stand' recently and he uses single quotes.

Is the book published by a UK press?

I have a Shopaholic book that uses double quotes for dialogues, but isn't Sophie Kinsella from England? Maybe where or by which press the book is published determine which quote it will use. Mine is from The Dial Press, which is US based.

Terie · Jan 18, 2012

crunchyblanket said:
Really? I was taught at school and at university that double quotes were correct for dialogue.

I'm sure it's not just a UK thing. I was reading Stephen King's 'The Stand' recently and he uses single quotes.

If you have a UK edition of 'The Stand', it will use UK punctuation standards. Most books from UK presses uses UK standards.

It's not that 'he' (Stephen King) uses single quotes any more than he uses UK spellings; it's that the UK publisher switched them to follow UK standards. This is true of the majority of US books that are published in UK editions. Some UK publishers use the US files intact, but most don't.

aurinko · Jan 18, 2012

My UK edition of Fever Crumb uses double quotes, my UK edition of Burnt Shadows uses single quotes, my UK edition of Life of Pi uses double quotes, and my UK edition of War and Peace uses single quotes.

So... yeah.

jaksen · Jan 18, 2012

And some writers do not use quotation marks at all.

LynnKHollander · Jan 19, 2012

kuwisdelu said:
As mentioned, single-quotes for dialogue are the convention in some regions, such as the UK. In US, the convention is double-quotes. Some regions have other conventions for dialogue such as em-dashes.

~~Are the em-dashes used with English or with another language? Where are they used with English?

Bufty · Jan 19, 2012

I was educated in the UK and it would never cross my mind to use single quotes for dialogue.

SINGLE QUOTATION MARKS

citymouse

fantasy dweller

alleycat

Still around

citymouse

fantasy dweller

IceCreamEmpress

Hapless Virago

alleycat

Still around

kuwisdelu

Revolutionize the World

amergina

Pittsburgh Strong

citymouse

fantasy dweller

gothicangel

Toughen up.

crunchyblanket

the Juggernaut of Imperfection

Vemy Paw

Terie

Writer is as Writer does

aurinko

I should be writing.

jaksen

Caped Codder

LynnKHollander

This space intentionally left blank

Bufty

Where have the last ten years gone?