I'm going to assume you use quotation marks for your dialogue—unless you're Sally Rooney or another equally powerful author, it'll be tough to get away with eschewing them entirely. But how do you punctuate it? Check out these guidelines for dialogue.
When you’re writing fiction, dialogue may either be the bane of your existence or your favorite part of the entire process. For me personally, dialogue is the best part. I love coming up with ways to make my characters sound like living, breathing people.
That said, punctuating dialogue can be a bit of a mess at times. As an editor, it’s one of the top issues I find and must correct. It may seem like such a little thing—a comma versus a period? Single quotation marks versus double quotation marks?
Most of my clients write according to US standards and therefore use double quotation marks, so for the examples I give here, that’s what I’ll use. If you happen to be an author writing according to UK guidelines, it’ll typically be single quotation marks. Just be sure to specify with your editor which you prefer.
I’m also assuming you want to follow Chicago Manual of Style guidelines. That said, there are other style guides, and you also have the power (especially if you’re self-publishing) to decide when you want to follow different guidelines.
Now, it’s time to get to the point of this post: punctuating your dialogue.
In general, double quotation marks are for spoken dialogue. Place the opening quotation mark before the first word the character says and a closing quotation mark after the last word the character says. There is another piece of punctuation just before the closing quotation mark (question mark, exclamation mark, period, or comma).
No dialogue tags used
“He’s a completely untrustworthy person. You know that.”
“We don’t have to stay for the entire graduation ceremony, do we?”
Dialogue tags
If using dialogue tags for a statement that would normally end in a period, use a comma just before the closing quotation mark.
“I don’t know why she did that,” Claire said.
“We're going straight to the parade,” Philippe said.
In addition to the correct punctuation, you need to check capitalization. If using a dialogue tag (he said, she says, we asked, etc.) after the quotation, the word directly after the quotation mark is not capitalized unless it’s a proper noun.
“Come on, Scotty, it’s time to get to bed,” his mother said.
“I haven’t finished grading the Antigone term papers yet,” she said.
“We saw the new Mission Impossible movie last week,” he told us.
Note: You're not alone if you have trouble distinguishing between dialogue tags and action beats. Fewer verbs qualify as dialogue tags than you might think. So be on the lookout, because true dialogue tags should only use verbs like “said” that represent things that the character can literally say. (told, spoke, replied, answered, called, noted, etc.)
Action beats
Verbs like shrugged, laughed, paused, frowned, and smiled aren’t dialogue tags but action beats.
In the case of a quote followed by an action beat rather than a dialogue tag, you need a period or other closing punctuation before the closing quotation mark, and the following sentence is always capitalized (since it’s a completely separate sentence).
Correct examples of action beats with dialogue:
“You can’t be serious.” Sebastian stared at his mother.
“We’re leaving in the morning.” His mother sat down calmly.
"I feel like I'm in this relationship all by myself." She lifted one eyebrow as if daring him to argue.
Common error:
“I wouldn’t know,” Lucas shrugged.
(Lucas can’t shrug the words he says.)
Correction:
“I wouldn’t know.” Lucas shrugged.
Alternative correction/revision:
“I wouldn’t know,” Lucas said, shrugging.
Common error:
“You’ll never know,” she laughed.
Correction:
“You’ll never know.” She laughed.
Alternative correction/revision:
“You’ll never know,” she said, laughing.
A caveat I’ll mention is that some authors and editors are happy to treat “laughed” or “sighed” as dialogue tags, especially in certain genres. (As an avid romance reader, I can vouch for the fact that many romance authors successfully use “laughed,” “sighed,” “breathed” and the like as dialogue tags.)
During the editing process, I’ll first evaluate whether the spoken words fit with the chosen verb. It may come down to context. If it’s not clearly meant to be a dialogue tag or action beat, I’ll query the author, who (let’s always remember) is the boss.
Dialogue broken up by dialogue tags
Do you want to play around with sentence structure or perhaps break up a long sentence of dialogue? Simply punctuate the first bit of dialogue and the dialogue tag as you normally would, and when the second bit of dialogue begins, leave the first word lowercase.
“But what about,” he says, “the mean bridesmaids you mentioned before?”
You might also use em dashes with either dialogue tags or action beats to break up a piece of dialogue.
I love the em dash, but it’s a little tricky to punctuate when used in dialogue, so here's an explanation based on CMOS, which is the style guide I typically follow.
For em dashes that represent an interruption in a character’s speech, the dash goes directly before the closing quotation mark, whether or not a dialogue tag or action beat follows that. The same guideline applies for whether to capitalize or not capitalize the following word (capitalize if it’s an action beat; lowercase if it’s a dialogue tag).
“You didn’t—” he said before dissolving into sobs.
“How dare—” She slapped a mosquito on her forearm before glaring back at him.
CMOS explains how to punctuate the sentence with em dashes surrounding a speaker’s dialogue, plus a beat or dialogue tag:
“I tried to warn you”—Emelia grabbed a tote bag and began shoving clothes inside—“but you never listen to me.”
Punctuating a quote within a quote
To avoid giving too many examples, I’ll keep this brief. In US English, punctuate the quote within a quote using single quotation marks, and use double quotation marks as you normally would.
“As my gram used to say, ‘You catch more flies with honey than vinegar,’” Emma said.
“‘More flies with honey than vinegar’?” I asked.
Note that in the second line of dialogue, the question mark comes outside the single quotation mark but before the double quotation mark. The question isn’t part of the original quote. However, in the first line, the comma comes before the single quotation mark, just as it is with regular dialogue.
Obviously, this is not a comprehensive look at every dialogue situation you may face, but it covers the ones I frequently see authors struggle with. These punctuation and capitalization issues are prime examples of what a qualified proofreader or copyeditor can fix for you.
