Do you know what grammatical duo are complete bullies? Quotation marks and punctuation. I hold this to be true because I feel like my editing journey can sometimes be entirely derailed by the gaslighting they provide. There are 6-ish rules for using them. There are 15-ish situations where you may have to stop and think about what you are doing and what the punctuation is saying. Here I’ll talk a little more about the ones that are most relevant to my day-to-day writing.

The first word in a direct quote should be capitalized, even when it doesn’t look like the punctuation suggests it should be. For example,

It was hardly a whisper, “Did you hear that?”

Except when you are splitting it up, of course, and are continuing a quotation already started earlier in the sentence.

“I was just thinking,” it was more to himself than her, “we’re not very well hidden.”

To boot, the above example also illustrates another point. When you are breaking up someone talking to interject additional information or context, induce a mental pause for people by slapping a comma at the end of the break. More clearly:

“Could you,” slowly the idea was coming to her, “reach behind that box,” her nod indicated which one she was talking about, “and get that board loose?”

Okay, okay, it’s not the most eloquent I’ve ever been, but it belabours the point and repetition is the key to remembering.

The comma continues to take the spotlight as we continue. When you have a direct reference to the person speaking, even if you think you want to use a full stop, it is not a full stop. It’s only a full stop after your preferred synonym for ‘said’.

“I think so,” he replied.

This comma rule *might* not apply if you are using the quotations for when the speaking character is quoting another character – quoteception, if you will. In this case, it’s entirely possible that there’s no punctuation at all until you are well away from whatever the quote within a quote is.

“Are you serious? There’s no ‘I think so’ about it! Yes or no!”

Now that I’ve spent an obnoxious amount of time talking about commas, let’s shift gears for a little bit. Let’s talk about more specialized punctuation, like question marks.

A question mark! Where do you put it? Always inside the quotation marks? Where all good punctuation gets tucked in? Not always.

If the speaker is asking specifically about a quote, then the question mark goes on the outside of the quote. So, what if you are questioning or seeking clarification about a question?

“Wasn’t it you that said ‘How bad could it be?’?”

Look how stupid that looks. I regret typing it with my own fingers. Luckily, that is not proper. Not the capitalization part, that’s proper, because ‘How bad could it be’ is a full and complete sentence by itself. If it was a fragmented thought or a partial quote, then it would NOT be capitalized. So, to accommodate the proper punctuation, it should have been:

“Wasn’t it you that said ‘How bad could it be’?”

The punctuation at the end, because it would legitimately be a double question mark, is just removed. If the quotation ends the speaking line, then typically, as a courtesy, you would end the quotation with the single quotation, leave a space, then end with the double quotation mark. Are you with me still? There are three things I want to talk about left, and I promise I’ll tie it up in a neat bow after.

“I can’t believe you’re blaming me! YOU’RE the one who suggested it! ‘It’ll be fun,’ you said!”

See that there? You thought we were done with commas, but they really are the star of the show here.

She adjusted herself as best she could against her bindings, and peered out through the slatted closet door. “Of course I said it would be fun! I was flirting with you! I was happy you seemed receptive!
“Besides. Don’t you think it’s kind of romantic to go somewhere scary? With someone you like, who offers to protect you from anything bad that might happen?” There was a chill to her tone.

When you’re splitting a person’s speech over a paragraph break, you leave the initial paragraph with open double quotations and begin the next paragraph with quotation marks again. This, as far as I can tell, is a simplified indicator to the reader that it is still the same person droning on. Like when you have them delivering an evil villain speech.

The last point is something I want to be careful about. Using quotation marks to indicate something’s name, or to indicate sarcasm. Too many times, people use quotation marks to emphasize things. Please never use quotation marks for emphasis. A great man said that. Weird Al Yankovic. If you go against those wise words, it makes people think there’s something wrong with the thing you are emphasizing.

“I can’t help it if my ‘friend’ hyped it up! She said it was popular! ‘Teen Scene’ ran a whole article on it,” his cries echoed loudly. Footsteps, heavy on the old wooden floors, started approaching.

When you read that, you didn’t think that the person who recommended this was *really* a friend, did you? ‘Friend’ being in quotations immediately implies sarcasm. Hopefully, I can hammer home my point with the following example:

If you put out a cup of bucatini (a long spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running all the way down the middle) in a cup, it would be perfectly acceptable to label it “straws” WITH quotation marks. Why? Well, they sure as hell AREN’T straws, but they’ll work like a straw!

The difference between single and double quotation marks is for reasons of clarity. Since things within the speaking line still need punctuation to indicate that it is a quote or emphasized within the line, using the single markings is common practice.

Now! Remember when I said I would tie it all up for you in a nice little bow? This whole thing makes a passage. It includes most instances of quotation marks and their associated punctuation frequently used in creative writing exercises.

It was hardly a whisper, “Did you hear that?”
“I was just thinking,” it was more to himself than her, “we’re not very well hidden.”
“Could you,” slowly the idea was coming to her, “reach behind that box,” her nod indicated which one she was talking about, “and get that board loose?”
“I think so,” he replied.
“Are you serious? There’s no ‘I think so’ about it! Yes or no!”
“Wasn’t it you that said ‘How bad could it be’?”
“I can’t believe you’re blaming me! YOU’RE the one who suggested it! ‘It’ll be fun,’ you said!”
She adjusted herself as best she could against her bindings, and peered out through the slatted closet door. “Of course I said it would be fun! I was flirting with you! I was happy you seemed receptive!
“Besides. Don’t you think it’s kind of romantic to go somewhere scary? With someone you like, who offers to protect you from anything bad that might happen?” There was a chill to her tone.
“I can’t help it if my ‘friend’ hyped it up! She said it was popular! ‘Teen Scene’ ran a whole article on it,” his cries echoed loudly. Footsteps, heavy on the old wooden floors, started approaching.

So tell me! Is something like this helpful? Do you have your own ways of remembering the many rules of punctuation and quotation mark bullies? If you have a clear way of explaining the dreaded colon and semi-colon, I’m looking forward to hearing it!

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