Hello all -

Some of you know that one of my pet peeves about writing is incorrectly
punctuated speeches.  Since I've seen quite a bit of this lately I thought
it might be time to repost something that I've found useful.

This was originally posted on this list back in December.
******
Date: Tue, 12 Dec 1995 17:15:01 -0500 (EST)
From: Sailor Gallifrey <omega@io.org>

Hi!

	Yes, quoted dialogue that does not end a sentence uses a comma 
instead of a period.  As in:

	"But I don't like commas," he said.

	Only periods are replaced, not question or exclamation marks. As in:

	"I prefer to use exclamation marks, you bastard!" he screamed.

	When the order of the sentence is reversed (when the description 
starts before the quote) the comma is used when the description connects
the dialogue. As in:

	He screamed, "I said that already!"
			or
	He then scratched his head and said, "I really need some sleep."

	Otherwise, it's just a simple sentence. As in:

	He scratched his head again.  "Where's my bed?"

That's all for today's class.  There will be a test tomorrow! ^_^

--Omega



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Jeanne Hedge

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