Quotation Marks - When to or not to use them

You can use them or you can use the ' apostophy on either side' to show a thought as well.
Or you can write so and so thinks to himself, then the thought.

DwayneA said:

Do I use quotation marks just for speech? What else can they be used for? What about expressing direct thoughts that are not spoken?

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My understanding is that you never, ever, ever do this.

I'd say use quotation marks. Makes it much easier to tell when someone's talking.

I only use quotes for dialog.

I prefer quotation marks for dialogue only and underline for direct, unspoken thoughts.


*holds breath and hopes a "quotation marks are old fashioned and nobody needs 'em anymore debate doesn't break out*

Soccer Mom said:

*holds breath and hopes a "quotation marks are old fashioned and nobody needs 'em anymore debate doesn't break out*

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That's one reason I found Cold Mountain a difficult read.

Shouldn't this go into Grammar for Grasshoppers?

She was from "The City" and she never let anyone forget it.

Moving this thread to Grammar y'all; hang on to your hats.

Well, whatever you do, don't use them as decoration!!!

Here's a light-hearted look at the subject: the "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks

Or you can write so and so thinks to himself, then the thought.

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Thought to himself is redundant. Unless the character is telepathic, who else is he going to think to?

I'm writing in close third, so I don't even use "he thought." I underline the thought (to indicate italics). If it's a long thought, I italicize only the first sentence, and let the reader assume the rest is thought too.

I use quotation marks only for dialogue.

I don't even italicize or attribute thought in close third (or first, which I use more often). It's pretty obvious the content is coming from the POV character's brain.

I use standard double quotation marks for dialogue and nothing else, and single quotation marks for a word used differently than its normal meaning. (If I remember right, in the UK that usage also requires doubles, but I'm not sure.)

Maryn, who still misses reph

Maryn said:

I don't even italicize or attribute thought in close third

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Me neither, but that's because italicized thought in my work indicates telepathy.

Pedantic rant:

Quotation marks should be limited to dialogue or titles or quotations of text.

Examples:

Joe said, "My favorite poem is the one that begins 'Under the spreading chestnut tree.'"

"My mom told me, 'If you use that word again inside this house you won't have a home!'"

In those sentences the speakers' words are in quotes, but since they are quoting someone (or something) else, the words they quote need to be in quotes, too. If you're already inside double quotes, anything quoted needs to be in single quotes--unless that quotation also contains a quotation, in which case you return to double quotes.

Um...we don't really need to get that complicated.

Textual quotations can be handled in more than one way. They can simply be placed between quotation marks. Alternatively--especially when they are long--they can be set as a paragraph with different margins from the main text or in a different font size from that of the main text. Typographical choices like those are usually handled by someone at a publishing house.

Titles of stories and poems and other short works are usually placed between quotation marks, while titles of books or other long works are usually italicized, but style books differ on those issues.

If you're writing fiction, using quotation marks for anything other than dialogue or titles or someone else's text is gauche. At least I can't think of any instances where it is appropriate.

Therefore, avoid:

They watched the game from the stands of fabled "Yankee Stadium."

Sometimes he could almost "sense" what his opponent was going to do next.

She became suspicious of Roderick. He was clearly "someone to watch out for."

They arrived in Paris, "the City of Light."

Some might argue that the last example is debatable, since the writer is quoting words that originated with others. However, epithets like "the City of Light" have been part of the language for eons. The quotation marks are unnecessary.

When it comes to indicating a character's thoughts, there seem to be a variety of acceptable methods, as others have noted here. When I write fiction, I rarely italicize thoughts. Depending on the wording, I find that roman type can just as effective. For me, italics--especially a lot of them--are annoying. I guess it's a matter of personal preference.

End of pedantic rant.

I've been italicizing thoughts in my wip, but as it's first person, I'm only italicizing things she wants to say outloud but doesn't. For example:

"Are you from around here?"
"No, I'm from the US." What, the white skin and blue eyes didn't give it away?

I've confused myself a few times deciding what to italicize in longer inner monologues but I think my end result works.

ETA: I just found an example in my wip that uses a couple examples:

When our half hour was up we piled back into the car and traveled the rest of the way to Urupan and this forest that's "just so incredible." Please, I'm from Michigan, land of many trees, I'll decide how fabulous it really is.

The other people in the car kept saying the forest was incredible so the quote is attributed to the whole group. Since it's not a common phrase like City of Lights, I kept it in quotes.

If it's first person, isn't EVERYTHING a thought?

I tend not to use italics or underlining to indicate thought in first person, like zo:

"I was a married man, nothing much scares us."

"Was?" Did she just lean in closer?

I nodded. "I'm a widower."

"Oh, I'm sorry." She reached across the island and took my hand. "How did she...?" She left the question hang in the air.

"An accident." It was the truth, but it was also a lie of omission. My wife's death is something I don’t even like to think about. Discussing it with someone I just met? No way.

Double quotes for dialogue, titles of books, plays, magazines, etc,. Also for direct quotations, unless it's ten lines or more, in which case you can set it off by indenting all lines 1.0" and omit the quotation marks.

Single quotation marks for quotes within dialogue or quotes. example: She said, "Mom always tells me, 'clean your room.'"

Don't use quotation marks around indirect quotes, to emphasize slang, disown trite expressions or indicate humor.

That's all I can think of this morning, hope that helped.

ETA: None of this counts if you're in the U.K., the rules are all switched around and I'm not sure what applies where other than the general rule is single quotes around dialogue.

Soccer Mom said:

I prefer quotation marks for dialogue only and underline for direct, unspoken thoughts.

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Seconds this. I'm writing in first person lately, so the italics don't need a "thought to himself"; in third person, I throw in a "he thought" (or something to that effect) the first time and here and there afterwards. No "to himself" included.

Hmm, if telepathy is involved, how do you differentiate between a private and a broadcasted thought? Just curious.

BarbJ said:

Seconds this. I'm writing in first person lately, so the italics don't need a "thought to himself"; in third person, I throw in a "he thought" (or something to that effect) the first time and here and there afterwards. No "to himself" included.

Hmm, if telepathy is involved, how do you differentiate between a private and a broadcasted thought? Just curious.

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I've seen that mentioned on other threads and I think it comes down to your preference. The other person used italics for telepathic communication, which means you can't use it for anything else.