Punctuating Close Quotes in Four Easy Steps: Part IV

Today guest blogger Boyd Sutton is finishing up his series on punctuating with close quotes. The topic is "Closing Quotes with Question Marks and Exclamation Points." I like that he has obviously read my The Frugal Editor. (-: " If you didn't catch the first three installment, just scroll down.

By Boyd Sutton

Punctuating Close Quotes with Question Marks and Exclamation Points


How you punctuate your question marks and exclamation points depends on context. Both of these marks are inserted before the close quotation mark if they are part of the quotation (that is, if the quotation is a question or an exclamatory statement), but after the close quotation mark if the entire sentence is a question or exclamatory statement.

Wrong: He asked, “Why wait until tomorrow”?

Right: He asked, “Why wait until tomorrow?”

Wrong: She wailed, “Not again”!

Right: She wailed, Not again!”

But, when a statement inside quotes is only part of the sentence and the entire sentence is a question or exclamation, the marks come after the close quote—even if the quote itself might be a question or exclamation.

Wrong: Did she really say, “Can you ever forgive me?”

Right: Did she really say, “Can you ever forgive me”?

Wrong: How dare you call me “strumpet!”

Right: How dare you call me “strumpet”!


Summary

1.Commas and periods always come before close quotes. Always!

2. Colons and semicolons always come after close quotes. Always!

3/ Question Marks and exclamation points may come before of after close quotes, depending on context.

There are many, more esoteric, rules for punctuation. I’ll discuss those in future editions of this blog or in the print edition of the Wisconsin Writers Journal. The basics in the last couple of blogs on The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog are important and easy to remember and account for at least half of the errors I see in submissions. As an editor, I’m “easy”; I just fix them. But, get them wrong in a query letter, a book proposal, or a submission to a newspaper or magazine and you give an editor or agent an easy excuse to reject your manuscript. I think that's why Carolyn keeps talking about using zero tolerance editing before you these documents; they are your first contacts with the gatekeepers who can make or break your career.

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Boyd Sutton is producer and editor of the Wisconsin Writers’ Journal, a quarterly publication of the Wisconsin Regional Writers Association . His articles, essays, and short stories have appeared in newspapers and magazines. He is a freelance editor and has won many writing awards, including the Jade Ring, Wisconsin’s most prestigious writing award, for his essay, “Owning Your Own Time—Managing Your Retirement.” He may be reached at journal@wrwa.net. This article first appeared in the 2008 winter edition of the Wisconsin Writers’ Journal.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson edits, consults and speaks on issues of publishing. Find her The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0978515870. Learn more about her other authors' aids at www.howtodoitfrugally.com, where writers will find lists and other helps on the Resources for Writers page. She blogs on all things publishing (not just editing!) at her Sharing with Writers blog.

Writing Picture-Perfect Query Letters

So, last week we talked about "Five Editing Myths Waiting To Trip Up Your Campaign to Market Your Work." This week it's "Five Things to Avoid for a Pristine Query Letter." I posted last week's editing tip on this blog, too.

BTW, did I tell you all that The Frugal Editor won its second award. It is top publishing book for Reader Views Literary Award in addition to USA Book News' Best Book in the writing category. This article includes just a few of the things I gleaned from the chapters on editing query letters. Many of the ones in the book and this article I got from my interviews of many of our top agents . I was really pleased how many agents were willing to help me help you. (-:

Five Things to Avoid for a Pristine Query Letter

We are selling our work when we approach any gatekeeper, an editor, an agent, a contest judge. Here are five little things to avoid so you'll look like the professional you are.

Don't tell the gatekeeper you always wanted to write. You can think of something more pertinent to your cause (and something more original!) than that.

Don't use the verb "quote" when you want the noun "quotation." Some stylebooks will tell you that it's OK, but agents can be a picky lot. Use zero-tolerance grammar rules for your queries.

Don't pitch more than one book at time. You want to give that one your best shot.

Don't call your novel a "fictional novel." By definition, a novel is fiction.

Don't overdo exclamation marks, question marks, the use of sentence fragments. (Yes, fragments are acceptable when they're used for a good reason but limit them, please.)

Here's one last suggestion for fiction writers 'cause they're so often neglected when it comes to marketing. Avoid using italics for internal thought. Yes, it's being done more and more but it is often a crutch that fiction writers use to avoid writing great transitions and point-of-view; the best agents will recognize it as such.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author THIS IS THE PLACE; HARKENING: A COLLECTION OF STORIES REMEMBERED; TRACINGS, a chapbook of poetry; and two how to books, THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER: HOW TO DO WHAT YOUR PUBLISHER WON'T; and THE FRUGAL EDITOR: PUT YOUR BEST BOOK FORWARD TO AVOID HUMILIATION AND ENSURE SUCCESS.
Her other blogs include TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com and AuthorsCoalition.blogspot.com, a blog that helps writers and publishers turn a ho-hum book fair booth into a sizzler.


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Carolyn Howard-Johnson edits and consults on issues of publishing. Find her The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success on Amazon. Learn more about her other authors' aids at www.howtodoitfrugally.com.

Yikes! To Question Mark or Not to Question Mark, That Is the Question

Question:

Jozette Aaron
says, "I am going to purchase your book My book is too far away from the presses to announce it as yet...and I may change the title.

I have a question. I was given some editing advice that I do not agree with. I was told that when a question appears between quotation marks, the question mark should not be used that a comma is used in its place. e.g "How did that happen,"

This doesn't look right to me so I thought I'd ask my guru. I was given this advice by the person I was considering when self publishing.

Thanks for your help.

Answer:

Jozette. I picked this tip up from Stephen King's On Writing as I was writing my book, The Frugal Editor. The rule is that if you use "he asked" as a dialogue tag after you put a question in quotation marks, you don't need the question mark because it would be redundant. Like showing your reader twice that it is a question.

If you use the question mark at the end of your question, simply use "he said" for your dialogue tag. Or if understanding supports no use of a tag at all, then you'd use only the question mark.

So here are the choices:

"How did that happen," he asked.
Or "How did that happen?"
Or "How did that happen?" he said.

Good for you for asking. We never stop learning more about writing and the more we know, the more the learning horizon seems to expand. (-:
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson edits and consults on issues of publishing. Find her The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success on Amazon. Learn more about her other authors' aids at www.howtodoitfrugally.com.