by Sandra Petersen

Created on: August 19, 2008   Last Updated: July 01, 2010

Dialogue is one of the most important components of good fiction. The dialogue between characters in a novel or short story will convey as much about what a character feels and thinks as what he does in the fictional work. Correct punctuation of dialogue follows certain rules.

Quotation marks set apart what a person says from what is known as a dialogue tag, the "he said" or "she said" you may find in a story. When figuring out where the quotation marks go in a character's speech, remember to place a quotation mark at the beginning of what he says and again at the end. Do not place quotation marks around any words not spoken aloud in the story. Here is an example: "I can't help what others do with that information," Bridget muttered, shifting her gaze toward the closed office door.

In many word processing programs and print materials, the quotation marks look as if they cup the quoted words between them. On the internet and in some other print media, the quotation marks are represented as two short straight lines.

To show what purpose was intended by a character's sentence, other punctuation marks are utilized at the end of each spoken sentence. If the character's spoken sentence is declarative (stating a fact or opinion), use a period or comma, depending upon what follows the sentence. If the sentence is interrogative (asking a question), use a question mark. If the sentence is exclamatory (saying something with strong emotion), use an exclamation point. If the sentence is imperative (giving a command), use either a period or comma, or exclamation point, depending upon how strong the feeling is behind the command.

If what the character says stands alone without a dialogue tag, the quotation marks are placed right before the first word spoken and immediately after the period, question mark, or exclamation mark at the end of the last word spoken. Here is an example: "How could you?"

There are special rules on where to put commas, periods, question marks, and exclamation points when a dialogue tag appears at the beginning, middle, or end of the dialogue.

If the dialogue tag appears in front of the character's spoken words, place a comma immediately after the last word of the tag, leave a single space, then place the quotation marks at the beginning of the character's sentence. Capitalize the first word of the spoken sentence. Here is an example: Amanda blurted, "He made me tell!" Note that the exclamation point appears just before the end quotation marks. If

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