/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.3544256]

How do I punctuation in dialog? Does it depend of where I'm from or where I'm writing?

For example, Americans write things like:

>“We are ready when you are, Sir,” he said.

Brits go like:

>'We are ready when you are, Sir,' he said.

Spanish is more like

>—We are ready when you are, Sir —he said.

And some Youro countries do

>«We are ready when you are, Sir», he said.

Then there's folks like Saramago of McCarthy who give no fucks.

>We are ready when you are, Sir, he said.

So what do?

[Anonymous No.3544280]

Is that really a British distinction? I always prefer to use the inverted comma.

[Anonymous No.3544290]

>;We, when you are, are ready: sir; - He said.

[Anonymous No.3544296]

>“We are ready when you are, Sir,” she said.

[Anonymous No.3544305]

Difference between McCarthy and Saramago is that McCarthy makes line breaks for dialog while Saramago buries it within walls of text.

[Anonymous No.3544310]

The objectively correct is the one you call American way.

"He told me 'The book was called <<The Great Gatsby>> if I remember correctly' so I'm not sure."

[Anonymous No.3544325]

>>3544310

That should be "he said to me". When you use "told me" you are reporting, not quoting.

[Sun No.3544329]

>>3544256
>>“We are ready when you are, Sir,” he said.

[Anonymous No.3544339]

>>3544325
The end period for the first sentence should be inside the quotes.

[Anonymous No.3544378]

>>3544339

I thought that was only when the entire sentence begins in quotation marks? Like, the difference between

"He told me to move in."

He told me to "move in".

[Anonymous No.3544386]

> <>We are ready when you are, sir <> He said.

[Anonymous No.3544389]

«—"We are ready when you are, Sir"—» He said.

[Anonymous No.3544399]

>>3544389
I like this; I like this alot.

[Anonymous No.3544404]

Seriously, do whatever the fuck you want.
That is what style is. If you just like the way it looks on paper then it's good enough.

That's the difference between theory and practice. theoretical frames give you a toolbox but when it comes to creating don't be afraid.

I'm a french native and if you use anglo/american convention in a school paper prepare your C minus.
When I first got into reading in english, I was surprised as fuck to see a brilliant ignorance for conventions I thought were set in stone.

Also, english lit tend to use "he said" a shitload. Like 99% of the time. French literature hates this kind of repetition. You will rarely find more than 2 or 3 "he said" in a dialogue. Our writers love all kinds of differents verbs to precise the tone of the dialogue.
It is generally considered bad taste in english literature.

If the postmodernism taught me anything, it's the violation of stylistic rules to shape a character in a certain way.

[Anonymous No.3544407]

>>3544404
>Seriously, do whatever the fuck you want.
>if you use anglo/american convention in a school paper prepare your C minus.

[Anonymous No.3544423]

>>3544407
>I am a huge fucking retard, please rape my face

[Anonymous No.3544425]

>>3544378
No

[Anonymous No.3544429]

>>3544399
>uses ; and period at the end but spells "alot"

The most obvious mark of pretense if I've ever seen on

[Anonymous No.3544434]

>>3544423
>Use whatever method you want
>Here's a reason not to use whatever method you want

[Anonymous No.3544461]

>>3544434
>Use whatever method you want, just don't use it when you're handing in a paper for some shit tier teacher that will fail you for it

Was that so hard to understand?

[Anonymous No.3544463]

>>3544429
What's wrong with using ;?

[Anonymous No.3544472]

>>3544463

Nothing, provided you use it correctly.

[Anonymous No.3544473]

>>3544472
It was used correctly

[Anonymous No.3544478]

>>3544463
I didn't say there's anything wrong with that

[Anonymous No.3544500]

>>3544256

Simple or double quotation marks have nothing to do with nations; you just choose which you prefer.

I personally choose doubles and only use singles for quotes within quotes.

"He called me a 'dim-witted homosexual' but I'm not even gay, I'm OP!" he said.

[Anonymous No.3544511]

>>3544509
I use double quotes just so I can use quotes inside the quote

[Anonymous No.3545346]

>>3544407
I implied conventions are respected to the letter by teachers in schools but don't really matter when you write a novel.

high school, academic paper: be autistic about the conventions in the language you write in

novel, creative writing: do what you want

I apologize if that wasn't clear.

[Anonymous No.3547028]

^^>we be ready when ye are, sir,<^^ eh sayd.

[Anonymous No.3547040]

: ) We are ready when you are, sir : ) he said : P

[Anonymous No.3547075]

>>3544404
What's with all the French guys on /lit/? I'm French too and I meet countrymen all the fucking time on this board.

[Anonymous No.3547107]

You forgot the German way.