Love a Happy Ending Lifestyle Magazine August 2013 | Page 54

‘Sorry,’ said Anita, ‘I’m going to have to leave you to your own devices again.’ There
was a large pile of correspondence waiting in her little ‘office’, the cupboard beneath
the stairs.
Punctuation Within Dialogue
Again, USA English and UK English use different conventions. The UK places punctuation
inside quotation marks in direct speech, and outside in quotations or individual
words/phrases; the USA seems to favour inside for both. Example 2 above shows an
example of UK style.
If you have a publisher, it’s worthwhile checking what their preferred house style is with
regard to quotation marks and its punctuation.
One final point today: Always use commas before or surrounding the name of a person
being directly addressed in dialogue (see Example 3). For example, the following statements
are both correct but each has a different meaning.
“Come and see Michael.” and “Come and see, Michael.” Can you see the difference?
In the second statement, Fred is speaking directly with Michael; the comma use before
Michael’s name makes this clear. In the first statement, Fred is urging whomever he is in
direct dialogue with to come and see someone called Michael.
Example 3 Commas surrounding name of person directly addressed
‘Sorry, Elaine, I can’t come today,’ said Anita. ‘I have to go out.’
‘That’s okay, Anita, I know you have to go and see Michael.’

Writing tips and useful links
I thought I’d share a few excellent websites, blogs and books
some of the LLm authors use as a means of reference, and
often the first place they turn to when looking for guidance on
any writing dilemma. I’ve been proofreading and copyediting for
more years than I care to remember but even I need to call upon
quality reference books occasionally, whether to double-check
on a point of grammar or the protocol for spelling a particular
branded item mentioned in a novel, for example. There are a few
rules in English writing and a good author is one who observes
and learns them, and a sad fact that a writer who chooses to
ignore them is often perceived as an amateur or inexperienced
writer. Publishers, agents and many editors, indeed some readers,
will not read beyond the first paragraph, let alone the first page, if it is full of errors.
Remember, correct spelling, punctuation and good grammar make all the difference to how
a reader enjoys the reading experience.
So, first and foremost for any serious writer is a good, modern and comprehensive
dictionary. I always have two at hand, the first a well-thumbed up-to-date edition of
the Collins English Dictionary. Although expensive, this heavy tome is worth investing in. It