I'm seeing books with and without them for dialogue. It looks less cluttered to omit them, but it gets confusing. And if so, ' or "
I'm seeing books with and without them for dialogue. It looks less cluttered to omit them, but it gets confusing. And if so, ' or "
I'm not aware of many novels published in English that don't use quotation marks. Is it something they do in literary fiction more?
I just finished a UK-edition Jonathan Kellerman novel which used single quotes for dialogue. (All spelling was US, FWIW.) I don't recall him doing that in the US books in the same series, but it's been a while since I read one. I'm away from home and cannot check.
In general, the "rule" is that until you're a big enough deal to have some publishing clout, you follow the standard rules for grammar and punctuation. (Your characters can use terrible grammar in dialogue, of course--but you're the one doing the punctuation for them.)
Maryn, on the road
A lot of authors are using single quotation marks now. I don't see the point - why not use the standard double?
I thought you didn't read books.
And if you want to write a novel there are far more important things to consider than whether to use single or double quotes or no quotes.
A lot of authors are using single quotation marks now. I don't see the point - why not use the standard double?
I'm not aware of many novels published in English that don't use quotation marks. Is it something they do in literary fiction more?
In British English, the main body of dialogue is enclosed in single quotation marks, and a "quote inside a quote" is in double quotation marks.
I seem to recall that South African Alan Paton uses what amounts to an em-dash to precede each line of dialogue, with no use of any form of quotation mark otherwise.
I just finished a UK-edition Jonathan Kellerman novel which used single quotes for dialogue. (All spelling was US, FWIW.) I don't recall him doing that in the US books in the same series, but it's been a while since I read one. I'm away from home and cannot check.
Not necessarily. I'm British and I was taught double-quotes at school (starting in 1969) and that's what I use to this day. I've seen UK-published books that use double quotes too.