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Writing dialog is one aspect that many aspiring writers have trouble with. Namely, the punctuation used for dialog is different from one sentence to the next even though the grammar usage should be the same for each. For instance, a person could have two sentences (same sentence, different punctuation) in the same piece written like this:

Correct: "Hey Bill," said Jimmy.

Incorrect: "Hey Bill." Said Jimmy.

Sometimes the capital letter for said is lower case as well. Regardless, the first sentence is a correct usage of punctuation.

Here's another example of what regularly occurs with incorrect dialog punctuation to further explain what was mentioned in the first paragraph:

Correct: "Hey Bill," said Jimmy.

Incorrect: "Hey Jimmy." Said Bill.

The two sentences are different but they should follow the exact same rules as each other, yet repeatedly, people write in the same manner as above. Again, the first example is correct. Or they will do this:

Correct: "Hey Phil," said Dan.

Incorrect: "Hey Dan. You saw the game earlier?" asked Phil

Note the last sentence. There is no full stop at the end, yet there is in the first. Despite the question mark, shouldn't they both follow the same rule? The answer is yes and the first example is correct. Never end a sentence following speech without the full stop.

Another example of what happens at times in dialog with aspiring writers is that they will have dialog without punctuation within the tags and then they will have some within the tags all within the same piece. An example:

Correct: "Going out tonight? It'll be fun," asked Dan.

Incorrect: "I thought I'd leave it" answered Bob.

The first example is correct. It isn't clear why people have random punctuation in writing, but regardless it's a great idea to get it right.

Another culprit with regards to errors regarding dialog is the punctuation outside the speech tags. The punctuation should always be within the speech tags. So an example:

Incorrect: "Where are you going"? asked Mum.

Incorrect: "Out".

Correct: "Where are you going?" asked Mum.

Correct: "Out."

Simply move the punctuation within the speech tags and you have perfectly fine dialog.

Now that the basics are out of the way, there is one element of dialog punctuation that isn't too clear. How do you handle dialog when a speaker speaks for more than one paragraph without closing the speech marks and having someone else talk?

The only difference is that when you end the first paragraph, you make sure that the closing speech tag is left off

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