Dialogue grammar

[RadiantPower]

Dialogue Grammar

Harper doesn't detect incorrect punctuation within or out of dialogue. Both native and non-native speakers seem to struggle with this quite a bit.

• Dialogue tags are punctuated with a comma, question mark, or exclamation point.

• Dialogue tags should not be capitalized unless they start with a name or "I".

• All dialogue punctuation should go within the quotas.

• Action beats end with a period not a comma and should be capitalized.

• After the dialogue tag, if an action beat is used add a comma after the tag. This is not needed if the word "with" follows the tag.

• A comma should be used when addressing someone directly.

Right:

“Come here,” she said.

She said, "Come here"

“That was impossible!” the medical staffer said.

"This is over," he said

"That was pretty cool." He jumped on the spot.

"Don't be like that," he said, looking down.

"Don't be like that," he said with a frown.

"I suspect, Bob, you know why I'm here."

Wrong:

“Come here.” she said.

She said. "Come here"

“That was impossible!” The medical staffer said.

"This is over", he said

"That was pretty cool," he jumped on the spot.

"Don't be like that," he said looking down. (Missing a comma after said.)

"Don't be like that," he said, with a frown.

"I suspect Bob you know why I'm here." (Missing comma after direct address.)

More rules:

New speakers should be indicated with a paragraph break.

Correct:
"That happened," John said.
"Yeah, sure did," Mike said.

Wrong:
"That happened," John said. "Yeah, sure did," Mike said.

Dialogue tags in the middle:

• If the tag splits a single sentence, a comma should used after the tag. The second sentence should also be lower case.

"You better get here soon," Bob said, "the bus is about to leave!"

• If starting a new sentence a period is used instead of a comma after the tag.

"This is not working," Bob said. "Get out of my sight."

Interrupted speech should be indicated with an em dash or three periods.

“Go to hell—”

"Close that mouth of yours."

https://mybookcave.com/authorpost/punctuating-dialogue-tags/

https://www.rabbitwitharedpen.com/blog/writing-dialogue-tags-action-beats-punctuation

https://sandragerth.com/how-to-punctuate-dialogue-tags-and-action-beats-correctly/

https://writersrumpus.com/2019/09/27/dialogue-tag-punctuation-rules/

https://editorsmanual.com/articles/punctuate-dialogue/

[dormieriancitizen]

All dialogue punctuation should go within the quotas.

This varies between British and American English.

British English puts commas and periods (full stops) outside the quotation marks unless the quotation is also a complete sentence or the punctuation is part of the quotation.

• The UWSC says that British people write it "this way".
  American English puts commas and periods inside the quotation marks.
• The UWSC says that American people write it "this way."
  When it comes to other punctuation, both versions write it similarly. Colons and semicolons go outside quotation marks, and exclamation points and question marks depend on whether they're part of the quote or the sentence as a whole.
  - source

[hippietrail]

All dialogue punctuation should go within the quotas.

This varies between British and American English.

British English puts commas and periods (full stops) outside the quotation marks unless the quotation is also a complete sentence or the punctuation is part of the quotation.

See: #1 (comment)

[RadiantPower]

All dialogue punctuation should go within the quotas.

This varies between British and American English.

British English puts commas and periods (full stops) outside the quotation marks unless the quotation is also a complete sentence or the punctuation is part of the quotation.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe that applies when punctuating dialogue.

'We can only guess,' said Dumbledore. 'We may never know.'
— Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zhqh92p#zddj8hv