How to write dialogue within dialogue?

[goatpiper]

I've come to a part in my WIP where one character is telling another a story. The story has dialogue in it. How do I format this? Do I give each line of dialogue it's own quotes, or do I use italics for the dialogue? I'm at a bit of a loss, here.

I'm interested in the proper professional format, not a discussion on the varying ways it could be handled. Thanks ahead of time.

[alleycat]

Use single quotation marks for dialogue within dialogue. I think that's what you're asking.

[Talynn]

Mary sipped at her drink before continuing, "So, then he came up behind me and whispered in my ear, 'You wanna go upstairs?' Well, I almost fell right over."

[kct webber]

Use single quotation marks for dialogue within dialogue. I think that's what you're asking.

Mary sipped at her drink before continuing, "So, then he came up behind me and whispered in my ear, 'You wanna go upstairs?' Well, I almost fell right over."

Yes. On both counts.

[Mumut]

I'm interested in the proper professional format, not a discussion on the varying ways it could be handled. Thanks ahead of time.


If you let us kniw where you come from it would be easier. In Australia it is the other way round. Normal conversation is in single quotes and quoted conversation is in double quotation markes.

[rugcat]

Mary sipped at her drink before continuing, "So, then he came up behind me and whispered in my ear, 'You wanna go upstairs?' Well, I almost fell right over."And, notice they way the quotes go at the end if you end a sentence with a quote:

Mary sipped at her drink before continuing. "So, then he came up behind me and whispered in my ear, 'You wanna go upstairs?'"

And yes, it's the other way around in the UK and Australia. And other places, I would imagine.

[GLAZE_by_KyrstinMc]

"So then John said, 'Leave me alone', and I haven't seen him since!"

[Bufty]

Nope - same over here as far as I'm aware.

And, notice they way the quotes go at the end if you end a sentence with a quote:

Mary sipped at her drink before continuing. "So, then he came up behind me and whispered in my ear, 'You wanna go upstairs?'"

And yes, it's the other way around in the UK and Australia. And other places, I would imagine.

[kuwisdelu]

Other than the quotation mark rules, there's no "proper format." As already said, for internal dialogue, you just use a single quote ('this') if you've been using double quotes ("this") or double quotes if you've been using single quotes. As for the rest, it really just depends on how your character speaks, e.g., for a high school kid, it might go something like this:

"So then I stabbed his banana with the dissection pin," said Charlie. "I didn't know it was his banana! So then Mr. Schulz comes up to me, and he's like 'Why did you stab my banana with the dissection pin? Those things are dirty!' And I said 'Sorry, man, I didn't know it were your banana!' And he like, 'But that was my lunch! Now I can't eat it anymore!' And then he gave me a detention."

[dpaterso]

"So then I stabbed his banana with the dissection pin," said Charlie. "I didn't know it was his banana! So then Mr. Schulz comes up to me, and he's like, 'Why did you stab my banana with the dissection pin? Those things are dirty!' And I said, 'Sorry, man, I didn't know it were your banana!' And he like, 'But that was my lunch! Now I can't eat it anymore!' And then he gave me a detention."
Don't forget the commas! :)

The single/double quotes for dialogue debate comes up quasi-regularly, UK publishers may print novels using single quotes for dialogue (this annoying change happened sometime in the '70s) but the submission standard (unless an individual publisher's guidelines say otherwise) is still double quotes for dialogue. That's probably because smart quotes aren't standard, yet, and (obviously) because it's kinda tough to tell apostrophes apart from closing single quote marks.

-Derek