Punctuating dialogue: the rules in one place

Dialogue punctuation is one of the first things a marker notices. The rules are simple once you see them together.

Rule 1: punctuation goes inside the speech marks

“I’m late,” she said.
“Are you coming?” asked Tom.

Rule 2: use a comma, not a full stop, before the speaker

Write “I’m tired,” he said. not “I’m tired.” he said. The question mark and exclamation mark replace the comma: “Stop!” she shouted.

Rule 3: lower case after the speech, unless it is a name

“We should go,” said Mia. The sentence continues, so “said” has no capital.

Rule 4: new speaker, new line

Every time someone different speaks, start a new paragraph. This is how readers keep track of who is talking, even without tags.

Rule 5: splitting a sentence

“If we leave now,” said Dad, “we might just make it.” The second part starts with a lower-case letter because it is the same sentence.

Try it: write a six-line argument between two characters about something small, like the last slice of cake. Check every line against the five rules.