How to Punctuate Dialogue

If you write fiction, or narrative nonfiction, you probably have a good grasp on punctuating dialogue. But sometimes, we can all use a refresher. That’s what this is: a review of the basics with some additional tidbits thrown in.

Please note: I’m using punctuation guidelines for American English based on the Chicago Manual of Style, which is the standard style guide for fiction editing. Also, I want to point out in advance that I’ve created a scene of dialogue that would sound terrible if used as is. Normally, I would discourage using so many dialogue tags in one scene. For the purposes of this article, though, it was important to have all of the tags.

First off, let’s clarify the difference between a dialogue tag and an action beat.

“Said” and “asked” are dialogue tags. They’re combined with the speaker’s name or pronoun as in the example below.

“I can’t find my keys,” Sheila said. “Have you seen them?” she asked.

Writers might use an action beat to convey who is talking instead of using a dialogue tag.

“You’d lose your head if it weren’t attached.” John laughed.*

Sheila sighed. “I wish you weren’t right.”

Notice the difference in punctuation between a dialogue tag and an action beat. The action beat is its own sentence, separate from the dialogue. This means you punctuate an action beat with a period whether you place it before or after a piece of dialogue, and the spoken words get their own end punctuation as well.

*Words such as “laughed” and “sighed” are not true dialogue tags, The same is true for words like “smiled” and “smirked.” These words are considered action beats because readers have a difficult time visualizing someone smiling a sentence.

A true dialogue tag is attached to what is being said, so a comma is used before the tag instead of a period inside the quotation marks (as shown in the first example above). But this is where things can get tricky. When the spoken words form a question, a question mark is used in place of the comma inside the quotation marks. The same is true for an exclamation point.

“I need to find them, or I’ll be late!” she said.

“Okay, where else should we look?” he asked.

Notice the pronouns of the dialogue tag are not capitalized even though there is an end punctuation mark just before them.

And if the dialogue tags are placed before a spoken question or exclamation, use a comma to attach them to the dialogue.

Sheila responded, “I feel like I’ve looked everywhere!”

John asked, “Could they be in another purse?”

If we want to insert the dialogue tag into the middle of the spoken words, we need to add some extra punctuation.

“I think,” said Sheila, “that this is the only purse I’ve used all week.”

Add a comma and end quotation marks where the initial dialogue is being interrupted. Add another comma and opening quotation marks after the dialogue tag (as highlighted above). Notice the continuation of the sentence (after the tag) is not capitalized.

You can also insert an action beat mid-dialogue, using em dashes (no spaces).

“Well,”—Josh opened the coat closet—”they have to be around here somewhere.”

When characters interrupt their speech by trailing off, show this with an ellipsis (inside the quotation marks).

“That is, unless I . . . ” Sheila drummed her fingers on her chin and looked around the room.

But if a character’s speech is interrupted by another character or an action, show this with an em dash (inside the quotation mark).

“No, I’m pretty sure I—”

A knock sounded at the door.

Josh opened it, spoke with someone outside, and a moment later held Sheila’s keys up for her to see. “Guess what our neighbor Jorge said. He said, ‘Tell Sheila she would lose her head if it weren’t attached.’ I couldn’t have said it better myself.” Josh laughed at his own joke.

When dialogue contains quoted dialogue, use nested quotation marks. This means use double quotation marks for the words of the original speaker and single quotation marks to indicate the words this speaker is quoting (as shown above).

Sheila rolled her eyes and snatched her keys. These men think they’re so funny, she thought.

You have options for formatting character’s thoughts. Quotation marks are no longer recommended for internal dialogue. Italics are a good option as long as they are used sparingly, but readers don’t like to wade through large swaths of italics. It’s also acceptable to keep character’s thoughts in regular font. Whichever option you choose, just be sure it’s clear to the reader.

Which brings me to my final point. As writers, we can break the “rules” once we know the rules. But keep in mind, your readers’ experience should be the priority when you’re making craft decisions.

Would you like to know more about writing good dialogue scenes? There are six lessons on dialogue alone in my Foundational Line Editing course for fiction writers. Check it out here. Become a subscriber and you’ll receive a coupon code to save an extra 15% off the cost of the course.