Post by NeoFriend1721 on Sept 9, 2004 17:48:34 GMT -5
[glow=navy,8,300]A quotation, or a phrase marked off by quotation marks ( " " ), is used to denote (show) one of two things:
1) Someone speaking / saying something.
-or-
2) The use of a coloquial phrase or an ironic muse. (coloquial phrase - something that is said, but not to be taken at its face value. ie "Kicked the bucket". Someone didn't ACTUALLY kick a bucket. They died. It's just a phrase.
To Be Coloquial: verb - it means to be colorful with language. You're misusing it, technically speaking, but at the same time getting across the feeling or idea that you wanted to portray.)
The mechanics for a quotation are fairly simple, yet people seem to forget how it goes from time-to-time. So here is the general format, when writing a story, on how to quote:
Style A: narration-narration-narration,^"quote-quote-quote,"^narration-narration-narration.
Or
Style B: narration-narration-narration,^"quote-quote-quote."
The "^" symbols represent spaces. You always put a space after a comma, but if a quotation mark follows the comma, you put the space after the quotation mark.
The two methods above are for two separate structures of writing.
Style A: Then I turned to her with a funny look, "What are you doing," I screamed.
Style B: The dog leapt up to bite at Chris' hand, but he quickly pulled his hand away, "Get down!"
See?
Some things to remember:
1) Always put a comma at the END of the narration and BEFORE you start your quote.
2) Always put a space between the COMMA and the first QUOTATION MARK of your quote.
3) Always put the COMMA(,) or PERIOD(.) or QUESTION MARK (?)or EXCLAMATION POINT (!) INSIDE the QUOTATION MARKS at the END of your SENTENCE or QUOTE.
4) If your sentence continues on AFTER the quotation, don't forget to put a SPACE between the final QUOTATION MARK and the rest of your NARRATION.
Now that I've covered that, on to Coloquial phrases. These are much easier than actual quotes.
When you want to have a coloquial phrase, ironic muse, or even an "embedded quote" (which I'll get to in a later lesson), you simply add quotes around it. And if it comes at the end of a sentence, you put the period or question mark or whatever it is you're using, OUTSIDE the quotations.
Example:
So... is he your new "boyfriend"?
See? It's pretty easy. You don't need commas or anything. But be careful and don't mix up actual quotations with little phrases and things like that.
Finally... Quotes within quotes.
This is relatively simple. You have your narrative, then your comma followed by a quotation mark. Inside the quotation mark you have the person talking. Now, let's say they quote someone else inside your quote. When you reach that point, you put another comma, then single-marks (')--otherwise known as apostrophes-- into the original quote. Then you write the quote-in-a-quote, and then close it off with a punctuation mark (period, comma, w/e), and another single-mark ('), then continue with the original quote.
Sounds confusing? It really isn't.
Then Jessie leaned over to me and said, "Hey, this one girl told me, 'not to use the bedroom,' got it? heh."
It's not that bad.
I hope these continue to help many of you with your writing skills. Again, as always, if you have actual questions pretaining to any of the lessons, feel free to ask them and I will reply as promptly as I can. But please avoid spamming this thread, because I will crop out the pointless posts from time-to-time. But questions asked and answers given will always remain (unless another mod deletes them).
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1) Someone speaking / saying something.
-or-
2) The use of a coloquial phrase or an ironic muse. (coloquial phrase - something that is said, but not to be taken at its face value. ie "Kicked the bucket". Someone didn't ACTUALLY kick a bucket. They died. It's just a phrase.
To Be Coloquial: verb - it means to be colorful with language. You're misusing it, technically speaking, but at the same time getting across the feeling or idea that you wanted to portray.)
The mechanics for a quotation are fairly simple, yet people seem to forget how it goes from time-to-time. So here is the general format, when writing a story, on how to quote:
Style A: narration-narration-narration,^"quote-quote-quote,"^narration-narration-narration.
Or
Style B: narration-narration-narration,^"quote-quote-quote."
The "^" symbols represent spaces. You always put a space after a comma, but if a quotation mark follows the comma, you put the space after the quotation mark.
The two methods above are for two separate structures of writing.
Style A: Then I turned to her with a funny look, "What are you doing," I screamed.
Style B: The dog leapt up to bite at Chris' hand, but he quickly pulled his hand away, "Get down!"
See?
Some things to remember:
1) Always put a comma at the END of the narration and BEFORE you start your quote.
2) Always put a space between the COMMA and the first QUOTATION MARK of your quote.
3) Always put the COMMA(,) or PERIOD(.) or QUESTION MARK (?)or EXCLAMATION POINT (!) INSIDE the QUOTATION MARKS at the END of your SENTENCE or QUOTE.
4) If your sentence continues on AFTER the quotation, don't forget to put a SPACE between the final QUOTATION MARK and the rest of your NARRATION.
Now that I've covered that, on to Coloquial phrases. These are much easier than actual quotes.
When you want to have a coloquial phrase, ironic muse, or even an "embedded quote" (which I'll get to in a later lesson), you simply add quotes around it. And if it comes at the end of a sentence, you put the period or question mark or whatever it is you're using, OUTSIDE the quotations.
Example:
So... is he your new "boyfriend"?
See? It's pretty easy. You don't need commas or anything. But be careful and don't mix up actual quotations with little phrases and things like that.
Finally... Quotes within quotes.
This is relatively simple. You have your narrative, then your comma followed by a quotation mark. Inside the quotation mark you have the person talking. Now, let's say they quote someone else inside your quote. When you reach that point, you put another comma, then single-marks (')--otherwise known as apostrophes-- into the original quote. Then you write the quote-in-a-quote, and then close it off with a punctuation mark (period, comma, w/e), and another single-mark ('), then continue with the original quote.
Sounds confusing? It really isn't.
Then Jessie leaned over to me and said, "Hey, this one girl told me, 'not to use the bedroom,' got it? heh."
It's not that bad.
I hope these continue to help many of you with your writing skills. Again, as always, if you have actual questions pretaining to any of the lessons, feel free to ask them and I will reply as promptly as I can. But please avoid spamming this thread, because I will crop out the pointless posts from time-to-time. But questions asked and answers given will always remain (unless another mod deletes them).
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