Punctuating dialog can be tricky. How do you know when to use quotes? When do you use commas or periods. When do you start a new line? Here are the rules I’ve created for one of my clients.
Showing Dialog
If you are describing what someone said, you don’t use quotes. You only use quotes when you are telling the reader, “This is what the person is actually saying (or has said).” Notice you place double quotes around the spoken words. The quotes only surround the dialog.
1. You always start a new paragraph when the speaker changes.
John dropped to the bench. “Come rest a moment, Jane.” He slapped the slats beside him. “I need to catch my breath.”
“I’d rather keep walking,” Jane said. “You can get up when I loop around.”
2. If the speaker speaks for more than one paragraph, then you open the dialog with double quotes at the beginning of every paragraph. You only use the close quote when the speaker finishes what he or she is saying.
Jane threw her hands toward the bronze statue squatting in the school yard. “Fourscore and ten years ago! Makes me think of some ancient book in a musty library dungeon. Who cares about that stuff anymore?
“I‘d rather read tweets about what’s really going on. That’s what’s relevant. That’s real history. It’s in the making history.”
3. You always insert a comma after a ‘who said’ phase when the description comes before the quote. This sets off the words that tell your reader who is speaking and the dialog.
John stared into the pond before he said, “I’m losing you.”
4. You capitalize the first word of the direct quote, unless you are continuing dialog that was interrupted by ‘X said.’
“I love roller coasters,” Jane said (a complete thought so a period follows). “Don’t you?” (a new sentence so ‘don’t is capitalized)
“Roller coasters (not a complete thought),” Jane said, “are (thought continues so ‘are’ is lowercase) the bomb. Don’t you think so?”
5. If the quotation is a question, you’ll place the closing quote after the question mark, not after the ‘who said’ statement.
“Who is that woman in the black dress?” Jane asked, waving toward the door.
6. If you are quoting someone, always place the question mark before the quote mark.
“I overheard Mark say, ‘Are you coming over tonight?'” Jane replied.
In this example, you’ll see that the quote opens with double quotes. Then single quotes surround the words Andrea heard Mark speak. Note, also that a double quote follows the single quote.
Note: Never use more than one punctuation mark to end a sentence. Question marks or exclamation marks replace periods and commas. It might seem like you should have a period, yet you don’t need it because that would cause double punctuation.
7. Question marks and exclamation marks, when used, are always attached to the dialog, never the ‘who said’ information.
Wrong: “Isn’t he sweet,” Jane asked?
Correct: “Isn’t he sweet?” Jane asked.
8. Always set off the name of any person the speaker addresses directly with a comma before or after.
Mary, why did you say that? or Why did you say that, Mary?
Lets look at an example which has improper punctuation and no paragraph breaks.
Tina raised her hand next. Tina what question do you have for me the gym teacher asked? Tina answered It isn’t a question I just remember how you taught us Mrs. White to build pyramids. The stronger girls knelt down so we could climb on their backs.You had me on the top because I was the smallest girl. You could barely talk me into climbing up there. I was so frightened. You sure were, Tina. You were stronger, she said than you realized. You just needed confidence. Now, look at you. You’re one of the best trios gymnasts our school has ever seen. Tina is an example of what happens when you take a chance Mrs. White said. She’s the leader of the girl’s gymnastic team.
Now, let’s see what the corrected punctuation and paragraph formatting looks like. I’ve added bold emphasis and color to highlight the punctuation. 
This content is for members only.
Internal Dialog
It’s the modern trend to use italics to differentiate between narration and internal dialog. This enables writers to show when a character is speaking versus thinking.This content is for members only.
