Notes from a Copy Editor: Punctuating Dialogue

Dialogue: it’s a crucial element of fiction that can develop character, advance the plot, and add style (among other things). But just as dialogue has many roles to play in your manuscript, it has many rules regarding punctuation and formatting—rules that can be confusing! But don’t worry, this copy editor is here to help you figure them out.

Errors in punctuating dialogue are some of the most common mistakes I see when editing manuscripts. But the rules are actually pretty easy to follow, once you learn them. So here are nine rules to keep your copy clean!

(Two technical notes. First, this guide applies to American English—the Brits use other rules! And second, I used the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, as my grammar guide.)

1) When dialogue is followed by a tag like “Mom said,” you use a comma before the closing quotation mark instead of a period. Example:

“Don’t forget to wash your hands,” said Mom.

2) When the dialogue tag comes first, you use a comma after the dialogue tag and end the dialogue with a period. Example:

Mom said, “I mean it, don’t touch that bread with your dirty fingers.”

Think of the basic tag rule like this: the tag and the dialogue together make one complete sentence. The period always goes at the end of the sentence, and the comma goes in between the tag and the dialogue (or between the dialogue and the tag).

3) Dialogue tags combined with a separate action are always separated by a comma. Example:

“I know you’ve been playing with the dog,” Mom said, wagging her finger.

BUT: “I know you’ve been training the dog,” Mom said with a smile. (No comma because “with a smile” modifies said—there’s no verb!)

4) If you describe an action in the midst of dialogue instead of using a dialogue tag (like said), the dialogue ends with a period instead of a comma. Example:

“That dog was probably in the garbage again.” Mom pointed to the sink. “And please use soap!”

WARNING: Advanced grammar ahead!

5) Single quotation marks are only used inside dialogue when your speaker is quoting someone else, or to indicate air quotes. Example:

“By no standard could you call those hands ‘clean.’ Try again,” Mom said. “As Grandma always says, ‘Clean hands, happy tummy!’”

6) To indicate trailing off thought in dialogue, use a 3-dot ellipsis with no space before it. Ellipses to indicate a pause in the middle of a sentence use 3 dots and have spaces on either side. (The 4-dot ellipsis is used in nonfiction and academic writing, to indicate part of a quotation is missing. In dialogue we always use 3 dots.) Examples:

“What will happen if you don’t wash your hands? Let me think… You could catch salmonella, dysentery, cholera, PLAGUE,” Mom said.

“Dessert options include brownies or ice cream … but only for children with clean hands.”

 7) When someone’s dialogue is interrupted, use an em-dash inside the quotation marks. Example:

“Mom, I washed my hands last—”

“Don’t want to hear it. Wash them again.”

8) But if the author interrupts dialogue to show action, the break belongs to the surrounding sentence rather than the dialogue—and thus the em-dashes go outside the quotation marks. Example:

“You will wash your hands”—Mom thrust the soap at me—“because we don’t want to get sick again!”

9) Periods, ellipses, and commas always stay inside quotation marks, both double and single, no matter whether it’s dialogue or not. (See previous examples). Question marks and exclamation points that are part of the dialogue also stay inside the quotes. But when using quotation marks to indicate things like song titles, question marks and exclamation points stay outside unless they’re part of what’s being quoted. Examples: 

“Mom, I hate that Frozen brand soap, it smells like berries!” [exclamation point is part of the dialogue, it stays inside]

Mom sang Barney’s awful “Clean Up Song”: “Clean up! Clean up! Everybody everywhere!” [the colon is not part of the title—it goes outside. The exclamation points are part of the song/dialogue, they stay inside.]

I wish Mom would just “Let It Go”! But she wouldn’t, so my hands smell like strawberry. [The exclamation point is not part of the title, so it goes outside.]

Now you can go forth and create dialogue that’s as clean as those hands Mom wants you to wash!

Diane has been known to debate the impact of a single comma with her clients, and loves talking grammar. She is available for proofing, copy editing, and developmental editing, Or to eat Mom’s home-cooked meals—she promises to always wash her hands first.