What's correct... comma vs. period

"It's nice to meet you," she said.

"Hello, I'm Bob," Bob said. But in this case you probably don't really need the tag at all.

"It's nice to meet you," she said.

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As long as the line is followed by he/she said, you use a comma instead of a period. Let me make this a teensy bit more complicated, but hopefully understandable. This is how I understand it, anyway. Real grammar people might know actual rules haha.

"It's nice to meet you," she said. "Have you been in town long?"

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"She said" isn't really a sentence on it's own. It goes along with the previous part so you use a comma. In this case you have a sentence, "she said" (just remember always a comma there), and then another complete sentence.

Let's say you want to break up a single sentence around "she said." Then it would look like this:

"So if I push this button," she said, "the entire building blows up?"

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Because you're breaking up a single sentence, you need a comma after "said" as well. If the part in quotes on either side of "she said" are already complete sentences, you'd just do as it's done in the first example.

Lastly, if you put an action in between a bit of dialogue, then you'll want to use a period instead of a comma.

"Nice to meet you." She shook his hand. "Have you been in town long?"

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The part after the dialogue is a complete sentence on it's own, so you'll use a period.

That sounds pretty confusing, doesn't it? I hope this makes sense, though.

Actually, Kaitie, your last example could use a period or a comma.
Quote:
"Nice to meet you." She shook his hand. "Have you been in town long?"

You could write "Nice to meet you," she said, shaking his hand. "Have you been in town long?"

anotherday12 said:

Thankfully I have English today so I might ask my professor. Although he would most likely look at me and ask how the hell I got into college

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At least yours didn't say 'You sure English is your first language?' I've never friggin lived that down...

This question is easily answered by looking at the published novels you have lying around the house. Open one and see how a professional punctuates dialogue. Compare it with another few novels to make sure there's consistency. I bet they're doing it right.

RJK said:

Actually, Kaitie, your last example could use a period or a comma.
Quote:
"Nice to meet you." She shook his hand. "Have you been in town long?"

You could write "Nice to meet you," she said, shaking his hand. "Have you been in town long?"

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That goes with my prior "always a comma with a "she said" rule, though, so I didn't count it.

To the OP, don't worry about it. I used to be a writing tutor in college, and we literally had students who couldn't write a complete sentence. A lot of people were never taught writing, or had incompetent teachers (particularly in small communities where you basically have one teacher for the same subject every year), or had teachers who just didn't care about teaching the rules (mine was one of those). There's nothing wrong with not knowing as long as you ask and can find out the answer. This kind of thing takes a little while to get the hang of, but once you do it'll be second nature and you won't even have to think twice.

I despair. And, yes, I think we should worry about it. Kudos to the OP for asking and wanting to get it right, but I'm baffled at not just the lack of knowledge but the lack of skills to locate that knowledge. Why are people so quick to "ask someone" instead of going to the source or using other methods of research? Why is the first instinct to ask on a public Internet forum or go to the professor when the answer is right in front of you?

I, too, am glad the OP asked but I also find it astonishing that the poster had to resort to posting the question when the simplest way to find the answer is to look in any book or magazine or even a newspaper. Or even browse the SYW forum here - in which the poster has already submitted work. I'm frankly amazed at this question being posted.

I wonder what the professor's response would be if he knew this was how the answer was obtained.

And a novel has apparently been partially completed by the poster, who is seeking beta readers!!

I have to agree with CaroGirl here. Knowing how to research is one of a writer's basic tools. If one isn't sure of a grammar rule or word usage or something, researching it properly is a good way to hone two skills at once. If, after researching it, one still doesn't understand, a forum is a great place to ask for clarification.

To the OP, get your hands on a good dictionary and a good grammar book. A usage dictionary can be really helpful, too. Keep these at your fingertips. Refer to them when you're not sure of something. They will probably answer 80-90% of your questions.

As far as dictionaries go, there are a number of good ones, but don't just pick up any ol' 'Websters'. Anyone can use 'Webster' and it doesn't mean anything. For American English, I personally prefer Merriam-Webster, which also has a wonderful section covering grammar and punctuation, and for British English, I prefer the Oxford Concise, but there are other reputable ones. (I have to write in both for my job, so I have to know punctuation use for both, too.)

Considering you could have googled, "Dialogue grammar rules" and probably would have gotten a million hits or so. There are a ton of grammar sites online. Google is your friend.

CaroGirl said:

I despair. And, yes, I think we should worry about it. Kudos to the OP for asking and wanting to get it right, but I'm baffled at not just the lack of knowledge but the lack of skills to locate that knowledge. Why are people so quick to "ask someone" instead of going to the source or using other methods of research? Why is the first instinct to ask on a public Internet forum or go to the professor when the answer is right in front of you?

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Let me clarify--my "don't worry about it" wasn't "don't worry about screwing up." It was don't worry about asking the professor and him being all, "How'd you make it to college!?" because it's better to go ahead and ask and find out the answer. I agree completely that it's important to know how to do this correctly and that's why I responded with examples earlier. I just wanted to let the OP know that she's far from alone and that as long as she's willing to find out and learn how to do it there's nothing wrong with not knowing right now.

Sorry, but if one claims to read 'any romance author one can get one's hands on' it isn't a question of being alone - it's a question of at least bothering to check if what one is writing bears any resemblance to what one is reading.

anotherday12 said:

It does sound pretty confusing but I'm going to let it roll around in my mind a bit and hopefully it'll make sense.

Thankfully I have English today so I might ask my professor.

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Haha, I understand what you mean. When I started my current novel I was confused, too, and had to reread some novels to see how the authors did it. I didn't have this problem when I attempted my first (failed) novel when I was in the early years of college, but I definitely needed the refresher years later.


Edit: Bleh @ some of the answers. I guess it's Scold the newbie for asking a basic writing question in the "Basic Writing Questions forum" day.

CaroGirl said:

I despair. And, yes, I think we should worry about it. Kudos to the OP for asking and wanting to get it right, but I'm baffled at not just the lack of knowledge but the lack of skills to locate that knowledge. Why are people so quick to "ask someone" instead of going to the source or using other methods of research? Why is the first instinct to ask on a public Internet forum or go to the professor when the answer is right in front of you?

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A-effing-men. This goes for the endless series of "How many pages in a novel?" kinds of questions that pop up here. Do people never even look at other books anymore?

caw

kangolNcurlz said:

Edit: Bleh @ some of the answers. I guess it's Scold the newbie for asking a basic writing question in the "Basic Writing Questions forum" day.

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And then there are those of us who believe the old adage that if you give someone a fish, you feed them for a day, but if you teach them to fish, you feed them for a lifetime.

Well, in cases like this, a writer can learn ten times easier, and probably ten times as fast, but just opening a published book. It's easier because he can see it for himself, and faster because there's no one to argue about it.

Terie said:

And then there are those of us who believe the old adage that if you give someone a fish, you feed them for a day, but if you teach them to fish, you feed them for a lifetime.

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That still doesn't mean you should be rude about it. If you think it's a stupid question then why answer? You can easily ignore it if you feel he can research it on his own rather than ridiculing him because he didn't do what you think he should have done. Some people comprehend better by having others explain it to them compared to just "seeing" how it's done in a book..

It's a very well established practice of this site not to ridicule members for asking writing-related questions. Or just about any question, for that matter. Members who have been here long enough should know better, and those who haven't should be made to understand that folks here are free to make inquiries without fear of condescension or being made to feel that their questions are not legitimate.

It's pretty simple, really, and this applies to most discussions: If you don't have anything helpful to add, then resist the urge to be flippant and move on to other threads where, hopefully, you'll find something useful to contribute.

anotherday12 said:

...I rather be the idiot asking a stupid question and getting an answer then be the idiot standing in the corner not knowing the answer.

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Well, you're obviously not an idiot, and your question isn't stupid at all. It's merely something that is vexing you at the moment, and you came here to seek answers. Nothing wrong with that, and in fact that's what this forum is all about, a place where anyone seeking guidance should feel comfortable asking for direction.

kangolNcurlz said:

That still doesn't mean you should be rude about it. If you think it's a stupid question then why answer? You can easily ignore it if you feel he can research it on his own rather than ridiculing him because he didn't do what you think he should have done. Some people comprehend better by having others explain it to them compared to just "seeing" how it's done in a book..

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Where exactly in my post (below) was I rude? Where did I ridicule the OP? If you reread my post, you might notice that I commented on the importance of a writer learning how to research and pointing the OP to a few worthwhile tools that all writers should have handy. You know, teaching someone how to fish.

Terie said:

I have to agree with CaroGirl here. Knowing how to research is one of a writer's basic tools. If one isn't sure of a grammar rule or word usage or something, researching it properly is a good way to hone two skills at once. If, after researching it, one still doesn't understand, a forum is a great place to ask for clarification.

To the OP, get your hands on a good dictionary and a good grammar book. A usage dictionary can be really helpful, too. Keep these at your fingertips. Refer to them when you're not sure of something. They will probably answer 80-90% of your questions.

As far as dictionaries go, there are a number of good ones, but don't just pick up any ol' 'Websters'. Anyone can use 'Webster' and it doesn't mean anything. For American English, I personally prefer Merriam-Webster, which also has a wonderful section covering grammar and punctuation, and for British English, I prefer the Oxford Concise, but there are other reputable ones. (I have to write in both for my job, so I have to know punctuation use for both, too.)

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Bufty said:

I, too, am glad the OP asked but I also find it astonishing that the poster had to resort to posting the question when the simplest way to find the answer is to look in any book or magazine or even a newspaper.

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Not quite ANY book - 99.999 percent do dialog the correct, standard, universally accepted way, but James Frey's "A Million Little Pieces" does not.