[mea] Re: Quotation mark usage

I don't know the context of the book, but I wonder if readers might be confused 
about who is speaking. Perhaps that can be solved with a chapter title ("Bob 
Smith and the Blizzard of 1949"), or with a 1-2 sentence introduction at the 
beginning ("Bob Smith remembers the blizzard clearly"), or simply with a byline 
or note at the end of the chapter: "Bob Smith survived the blizzard of 1949 and 
later went on to work for the railroad. The cow was never found."
 
Susan
 



From: kirby.gilman@xxxxxxx
To: mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:23:49 -0500
Subject: [mea] Re: Quotation mark usage



Thanks Clayton, good advice about consistency, and I think I'll probably go 
with your suggestion about placing quotation marks before and after the entire 
six paragraph section.
 
The dialogue I mentioned is actually spoken, not in-direct thoughts.
Kirby

----- Original Message -----
From: Clayton Bye <ccbye@xxxxxxx>
Date: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 6:42 pm
Subject: [mea] Re: Quotation mark usage
To: mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

> On 17/04/2012 6:14 PM, Kirby Gilman wrote:
> >Hi folks,
> >I'm editing a memoir. One chapter is a page long and is all one 
> speaker talking. It's split up into six paragraphs, with no-lead 
> ins to who is speaking (always the same guy and it seems to work).
> >When are quotation marks used? Just one at the beginning of the 
> chapter and one at the end? A new quotation mark at the start of 
> each paragraph, but not one at the end of the paragraphs (except 
> for the last paragraph)? A quotation mark at the beginning and 
> end of each paragraph?
> >Hope this isn't too confusing,
> >Kirby
> 
> There are many Schools of thought, Kirby. The most important 
> thing you can do is be consistent in whatever you choose.
> 
> For the full page, I would suggest a quotation when he begins 
> speaking and one at the end of the six paragraphs. As for an 
> entire chapter? Same thing, unless... Is this self-talk or is 
> the guy actually speaking out loud. I ask, because one does not 
> use quotations if he's just listening to the guy's thoughts. 
> Understood?
> Clayton
> 
> 
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