Dialogue: single or double quotes?

[sun_sea_sky]

Please forgive me if this has been asked before. I've read authors guidelines, FAQs etc. but can't find an answer to a simple question.

For direct speech, are double quotes required? eg,

John said, "Hello."

As opposed to:

John said, 'Hello.'

I've written a story which initially used double quotes for all dialogue, but a friend pointed out that most modern novels use single quotes. I checked assorted books, and it's true! So, I changed them to single quotes. Now it's not that hard to change them back (have to avoid changing apostrophes at the same time) but it can be done.

Does this site insist on double quotes? Or is either form acceptable? Thanks for any help.

 

[MagicaPractica]

Well, in most books I've ever read, double quotes are the convention for dialogue. I have not seen this new phenomenon of which you speak.

A reference on the topic I found - http://absolutewrite.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-215615.html

Are the novels referenced out of the UK mainly?

 

[MagicaPractica]

Since I can't seem to edit -

A reference on the topic I found - http://absolutewrite.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-215615.html

Are the novels referenced out of the UK mainly?

 

[PennLady]

The US style is double quotes: John said, "I'll be there soon."

The UK style is single quotes: John said, 'I'll be there soon.'

At least, that's how I know it; happy to have someone more knowledgeable chime in.

However -- I have read stories on Lit that use single quotes, no quotes, dashes, etc., to set off dialogue. I think double quotes (or single if you're from that style) are best, but at least be consistent.

 

[SamScribble]

There is no right or wrong. The choice of single quotes or double quotes is largely a matter of house style. And, as PennLady points out, US publishers tend to lean towards the double option.

However, single quotes (with double quotes for quotes within quotes) do have the advantage of slightly reducing the clutter on the page.

Whenever I am given an option - as I am here on Lit - choose single quotes.

 

[sr71plt]

U.S. mainstream publishers use double quotes ALWAYS as the first level of quote (Chicago Manual of Style 13.28)

British style is often the reverse. So what you use depends on what system you are targetting (in the U.S., your quotes would be changed by publishers to American style). And perhaps your friend has only been reading British-published modern novels (or is full of beans).

 

[sun_sea_sky]

Since I can't seem to edit -
Are the novels referenced out of the UK mainly?

Thanks for the link. I rechecked. Three of the books in question were indeed from the UK, and they used single quotes. Another one, from the USA, used double quotes.

Whenever I am given an option - as I am here on Lit - choose single quotes.

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, the single quotes look a little tidier. Mind you, I was brought up on double quotes.

But as long as the story doesn't get rejected out of hand because of the single quotes, that's fine.

 

[sun_sea_sky]

U.S. mainstream publishers use double quotes ALWAYS as the first level of quote (Chicago Manual of Style 13.28)

My only problem with single quotes is that if you then want to quote within a quote it looks a tiny bit messier, but hey, the context gives it away.

 

[sr71plt]

My only problem with single quotes is that if you then want to quote within a quote it looks a tiny bit messier, but hey, the context gives it away.

If you did that, you'd have to go with double quotes at the second level. You would be in British style, and that's British style. You gots to choose one or the other or readers will be too discombobulated by your idiosyncracies.

 

[jomar]

Probably the main thing is don't switch mid-stream.

 

[sun_sea_sky]

OK, I won't!

Thanks, everyone, for your help.

 

[Dennis_St_John]

The use of single or double quotes

The question of single quotes as opposed to double quotes for dialog goes on and on. How you use them depends a lot on the country (education system) you were brought up in for one, and two, the market segment you are targeting. It also depends on the submission rules the publishers put up on their submittal page.

I found that if you use the "…." for dialog, and '….' for thoughts seems to work very well in most cases. However, a lot of reader might not catch the shift, so a thought tag, as opposed to a dialog tag is needed to keep it straight.

I have also run into a situation where the 'normal' rules of dialog don't work very well, as in a military action sequence. If you follow the standard rules, the whole thing comes of clunky and a bit monotonous. To solve this I wrote a little outside the dialog box, as in a string of orders on the bridge of a warship as in:-

"Targeting - stand by to release torpedoes - set safeties at 2500 yards - fire when ready."

This made the dialog tight, gave it more punch and easier to read, but I'd like to hear what other writers think, or what they did in a similar situation.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Please forgive me if this has been asked before. I've read authors guidelines, FAQs etc. but can't find an answer to a simple question.

For direct speech, are double quotes required? eg,

John said, "Hello."

As opposed to:

John said, 'Hello.'

I've written a story which initially used double quotes for all dialogue, but a friend pointed out that most modern novels use single quotes. I checked assorted books, and it's true! So, I changed them to single quotes. Now it's not that hard to change them back (have to avoid changing apostrophes at the same time) but it can be done.

Does this site insist on double quotes? Or is either form acceptable? Thanks for any help.

I have always used double quotes, and I didn't even know single quotes were acceptable except as a quote within a quote. Example:

John said "I asked Bill, and he said 'go ahead' so I did."

ETA: You are forgiven, by the way. This forum is here to answer queries such as yours, among other things.

 

[sr71plt]

I have always used double quotes, and I didn't even know single quotes were acceptable except as a quote within a quote. Example:

Yes, that's the American system.

(And the American system doesn't use single quotes for thoughts, either.)

 

[Boxlicker101]

Yes, that's the American system.

(And the American system doesn't use single quotes for thoughts, either.)

Sometimes I use italics for thoughts. That seems to work well.

 

[sr71plt]

Sometimes I use italics for thoughts. That seems to work well.

Sometimes I have too. But that's no longer the American system either.

 

[PennLady]

Sometimes I use italics for thoughts. That seems to work well.

Sometimes I have too. But that's no longer the American system either.

I prefer to do that, and it bothers me no end that it's not the system anymore. Sigh.

 

[Handley_Page]

The US style is double quotes: John said, "I'll be there soon."

The UK style is single quotes: John said, 'I'll be there soon.'

At least, that's how I know it; happy to have someone more knowledgeable chime in.

However -- I have read stories on Lit that use single quotes, no quotes, dashes, etc., to set off dialogue. I think double quotes (or single if you're from that style) are best, but at least be consistent.

I wonder who changed it and when, then?
I was always taught double quotes for words, single for thoughts and abstract quotes. The Oxford guide says this:

As quotations are indicated typographically in a variety of ways, as
begin-quote and end-quote marks may look the same, and as the single
end-quote mark is identical to the apostrophe, it is preferable to use
explicit begin-quote and end-quote tags.

A simple example will illustrate the use of quotations in different
parts of superordinate sentences:

Initial: "I disagree completely," she said.
Final: She said, "I disagree completely."
Medial: She said, "I disagree completely," and left the room.


I may have got the wrong part, you understand, but I think it illustrates the thing.

 

[Spacefender]

Sometimes I use italics for thoughts. That seems to work well.

I have as well. I wonder what the American system is these days. First, Pluto was no longer a planet. Then I found out I was no longer an Aquarius. Now this.

 

[PennLady]

I have as well. I wonder what the American system is these days. First, Pluto was no longer a planet. Then I found out I was no longer an Aquarius. Now this.

SR71 would know this better, but I believe the American system now -- in terms of print publishing -- is just regular text. E.g.: What a cool car, she thought.

 

[sr71plt]

I prefer to do that, and it bothers me no end that it's not the system anymore. Sigh.

I agree. Not one of CMS's best recent decisions. In the mainstream mystery recently returned to me from publisher editing, the editor pointed to a couple of "problem" areas that were thoughts done CMS style. The editor hadn't realized that. If I'd been able to put them in italics, I think it would have been clear.

 

[sr71plt]

I wonder who changed it and when, then?
I was always taught double quotes for words, single for thoughts and abstract quotes. The Oxford guide says this:

No one's changed it. You are citing British style. That's not the same as American style. Never has been. You just have to be consistent with one of the styles (and hope, if you are dealing with an American system--and Literotica is an American system--that the publisher recognizes and accepts the style you're using).

 

[topace]

Personally, I use double quotes for speaking and single quotes for thoughts or telepathy/other forms of speaking mind to mind.

It just makes it easier to tell what's going on IMHO.

 

[sr71plt]

SR71 would know this better, but I believe the American system now -- in terms of print publishing -- is just regular text. E.g.: What a cool car, she thought.

Chicago Manual of Style (the American authority) style now is either to put thoughts in double quotes or just straight roman text (making clear in the text in both cases that these are thoughts) (CMS 16, 13.41). The change was made in the 15th CMS edition in 2003. Use of italics was dropped at that time. Not all U.S. publishers follow this rule.

 

[Brunne]

The US style is double quotes: John said, "I'll be there soon."

The UK style is single quotes: John said, 'I'll be there soon.'

How have I never noticed this before? I am seriously unobservant!