Eve Fiction

This is my first attempt at what will hopefully be a useful guide to basic writing techniques. In this first article, I’ll be looking at the fundamentals of writing dialogue: the essential rules of grammar and punctuation. In part two, I’ll be talking more about style and technique rather than the mechanics.

<!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:536871559 0 0 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} p {margin-right:0cm; mso-margin-top-alt:auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} @page Section1 {size:595.3pt 841.9pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –>To write fiction, you need to be able to write dialogue. I’m really struggling to think of examples where direct speech wouldn’t be involved: maybe a fictional encyclopaedia entry or something. I think it’s safe to say that for most stories you will write, dialogue will feature and will likely be a vital component.

Let’s start with the basics, then. In English, speech is generally placed within quotation marks. You can use either single or double quotation marks: choose one and stick with it throughout your story. I prefer to use double quotation marks myself, as do most US publishing houses.

Quotation marks come as a pair, enclosing the words being spoken:

“It’s too damn quiet if you ask me,” said Haakamon.

Sometimes, you need to have a character report what someone else said. This is why you should pick one style of quotation mark - it frees the other style up to use for reported speech (or other purposes) without creating confusion:

“I don’t know what happened. I just heard someone say ‘Warp out!‘” Haakamon said, “So I warped out.”

As a general rule, punctuation is placed inside the quotation marks:

“Hello Haakamon,” said Shirikken.

Note that the ‘Hello Haakamon’ bit ends with a comma, so that the ‘said Shirikken’ bit is still part of the same sentence.

If you rearrange the same sentence, you will end up with the full stop (period) inside the quotation marks:

Shirikken said, “Hello Haakamon.“

Both are correct.

With each change of speaker, start a new paragraph:

“This place is pretty busy,” said Shirikken.

“Sure is. It’s be a pirate’s wet dream, I reckon,” said Haakamon.

“Yeah.”

What if you want to dispense with the he said, she said stuff? Just punctuate your sentences normally inside the quotation marks and make sure you start any following sentences with a capital letter where necessary:

“Three possible targets on the scan.” He launched his scan probes to try and locate the hostiles. After a few minutes, he was jubilant, “We’ve got a warp in! Warp to me on my command everyone!”

You can also attribute speech in the middle of a sentence:

“Haakamon,” he said, “is a good guy.”

Sometimes, though, you have to start a new sentence:

“I think Haakamon is a good guy,” he said. “What do you think?”

After a few lines of dialogue, you can usually stop attributing by name as it becomes clear that there’s some back and forth between two people, and it’s obvious who is talking:

“What are you flying?” asked Shirikken.

“Raven,” Haakamon answered.

“How you finding it?”

“Slow!”

So, what about question marks and exclamation marks? Normally, if you end a sentence with one of these, the following sentence starts with a capital letter. Not so with speech:

“Have you been to Jita lately?” he asked.

“Fucking Jita!” he shouted angrily.

Sometimes, you might have someone talking for a while - making a speech, telling a story, or something. You might want to have them talking for several paragraphs. The general rule here is that you open each paragraph with a quotation mark, but leave out the closing mark until the last sentence:

“My loving people, we have been persuaded by some, that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes, for fear of treachery; but I assure you, I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people.

“Let tyrants fear; I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good will of my subjects. And therefore I am come amongst you at this time, not as for my recreation or sport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live or die amongst you all; to lay down, for my God, and for my kingdom, and for my people, my honour and my blood, even the dust.

“I know I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart of a king, and of a king of England, too; and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realms: to which, rather than any dishonour should grow by me, I myself will take up arms; I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.“

Hopefully, that covers the basics of how to write dialogue - at least from the perspective of correct grammar. Don’t worry if it seems like a lot to take in. It just happens that for most of us, this particular type of writing doesn’t crop up in everyday academic or business writing, so we get a little rusty. Unlike much of the English language, all this stuff is pretty logical when you think about it, and you will find that it will come naturally after a little practice.