Dialogue Puctuation 101

Hands down, the most common mistake I see in writing is in the way people use punctuation and capitalization in dialogue. As an editor, it bugs me. As a writer, I want to make sure my writing is as good as I can get it, and that includes proper punctuation. So in this post I'm going to outline the proper use of punctuation and capitalization in dialogue based on the mistakes I see most often. And to make it fun, I've used real-life quotes from things my family and friends have said.

Dialogue Tags
Incorrect: "I think Lady Luck is my arch enemy." Caleb said.
Correct: "I think Lady Luck is my arch enemy," Caleb said.

Incorrect: "I'll be right back," Mom said, "Don't let anything interesting happen while I'm gone!"
Correct: "I'll be right back," Mom said. "Don't let anything interesting happen while I'm gone!"
- or - "I'll be right back," Mom said, "don't let anything interesting happen while I'm gone!"

Incorrect: "What is that purple monstrosity on the ironing board," Caleb asked.
Incorrect: "What is that purple monstrosity on the ironing board," Caleb asked?
Correct: "What is that purple monstrosity on the ironing board?" Caleb asked.

Beats
Incorrect: LoriAnn peeked through the door, "It sounds like tribal chaos in there."
Correct: LoriAnn peeked through the door. "It sounds like tribal chaos in there."

Incorrect: "You can't plan these things, you have to be spontaneous," Dad raised an eyebrow, "I am a beacon of spontaneity."
Correct: "You can't plan these things, you have to be spontaneous." Dad raised an eyebrow. "I am a beacon of spontaneity."

Incorrect: "Never trust a man who wears a bow tie of his own free will," James shook a finger at me.
Correct: "Never trust a man who wears a bow tie of his own free will." James shook a finger at me.

More Beats, Breaks, and Pauses
Note: An em dash (—) signifies that someone has been interrupted, stopped speaking abruptly, or paused clearly mid-sentence. It can also be used to mark a break in the character's speaking to insert an action beat, as in the first example below. There should not be spaces between the em dash and the words before and after it. Ellipses (...) [only three dots, no more, no less] signify a less defined pause, or that someone has trailed off in their speaking.

Incorrect: "I know this is a very touching and teachable moment," —Katrina shook her head— "But it makes me laugh."
Correct: "I know this is a very touching and teachable moment—" Katrina shook her head. "—but it makes me laugh."

Incorrect: "My name has now been changed," Karri paused for effect... "to Kenneth Rogers."
Correct: "My name has now been changed..." Karri paused for effect. "...to Kenneth Rogers." (assuming a superhero persona at age 5)
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Do you struggle with dialogue punctuation?

Thought for the Weekend

"The decline of literature indicates the decline of a nation; the two keep pace in their downward tendency." ~ Goethe

Based on this observation, where do you think literature and the nation are headed right now?

When Characters Can't Take It Any More

On the "Acknowledgments" page at the beginning of the book Eragon, author Christopher Paolini thanks his family, the editors who helped him with the book, you know--all the usual people. But then he also gives a 'thank you' to his characters, for bravely enduring all the things he puts them through. It made me smile.
We writers really do put our characters through some horrible stuff, don't we? And the experts are always telling us to take it up a notch, to increase the drama and tension and misery until we've driven them absolutely to rock-bottom. Fair enough. After all, what good is a story without drama? What good is a hero/heroine who doesn't have to struggle and fight to become the hero/heroine?
But our characters are human too, and a person can only take so much before emotions start getting backed up in the system and they've got to come out sometime... especially if the character in question is a girl. The result is what my mom would refer to as a 'meltdown'. (By the way, best meltdown ever: Rapunzel's little episode in the movie Tangled!)
Not too long ago, I read somewhere that in most cases your heroine shouldn't cry more than once over the course of the story. I understand the sentiment behind that statement--no one wants to read about a character who's so weak emotionally that she breaks down and sobs over everything--but still, I'm not sure I entirely agree.
I'll use one of my stories as an example: if I were to allow the heroine to cry only once over the course of this particular story, I would have to make some very tough decisions. Should she cry when her whole life's dream is ripped out from under her, or should she save it for when she loses the only family she has left? What about when one of her country's soldiers, whom she has been friends with for years, dies in her arms? Or, should she wait until her country is invaded by a demon-possessed army and she is forced to flee? Which of these events can she not cry over without seeming utterly cold and heartless?
I don't doubt that if I wrote in a huge emotional ordeal for the heroine following each of these events, the pages would begin to get soggy and readers would lose interest. But I don't think I'm going to take it so far as to allow the heroine only one round of tears over the whole story, either. My goal is to get a good balance of realistic tears when circumstances call for them, but only one big 'meltdown': that pivotal, rock-bottom moment that changes the course of both the story and the character's arc.

What are your thoughts on character meltdowns? How do you balance piling on drama and misery with keeping characters' emotions under control?
Anybody have a favorite fictional meltdown?

The Race Question

The Bible tells us that humans are all one race, one blood, and scientists--even secular ones--confirm that. We may have different facial features, different skin tones, and different genetic tendencies, but we are all one race. (Next time you get a political phone survey that asks your race, try telling them 'human' and see what they say.)
But in writing speculative fiction, we have a little bit of freedom to play with that. God created our world with only one race of sentient creatures created in His image, but who is to say He might not do things differently in another world?
J.R.R. Tolkien's writing is the obvious choice as an example. Middle Earth is populated by several different races: humans, hobbits, elves, dwarves, goblins, and usually there are a variety of sub-categories within each race as well. In that case, each race is basically a distinct creature all its own.
In the fantasy world where my current WIP is set, the term 'human' refers to any creature with a living soul; physical characteristics have nothing to do with it, so even sentient dragons are considered human. Needless to say, there are distinct races among the humans in that world, some more drastically unique than others, but each with its own characteristics and traits.
And there could be many other ways to address the issue of race in fiction, too. Maybe there is a fictional world where no creature is 'human' as we know it. Perhaps in one world, elves and dwarves are just variations within the human 'species'. We serve a creative God, so I'm sure there are millions of ideas out there that we haven't even thought of yet.

What is your approach to race in your writing?

Back from holiday, with an Interview!

Well, it's back from the weekend, back from holiday, and back to life and work for all of us, I suppose. I hope everyone had as great a weekend and Independence Day as I did. My family and I traveled down to Joplin, Missouri and I was able to check one item off of my "Things to Do Before I Die" list: I saw Rush Limbaugh in person! To kick off the start of his new tea-brewing company, he announced a while back that he was going to give away a semi truck load of bottled tea, and asked his talk show listeners to suggest what home town he should send it to. When the answers came back overwhelmingly in favor of Joplin, Missouri (site of the recent devastating tornadoes), El Rushbo decided to come in person as well as sending the truck load of tea.
Okay, I know those among my readers who aren't Ditto Heads are probably thinking 'what a boring way to spend July 4th'. Just trust me, it was a fabulous way to spend the holiday with my family (and a huge 'thank you' to my dad, who was willing to drive hundreds of miles so we could attend!). And if any of you are looking for the best Raspberry sweet tea you've ever tasted, just check out Two if by Tea.
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Alright, now for the big news, something that might interest you all: Laura Andrews, a writer of Christian speculative fiction, has graced me with the honor of my first interview as an author! You can read the full interview here, on her blog In Sunlit Realms of Faerie. I had so much fun doing this, and Laura is an excellent interviewer. Her questions really made me think about aspects of my writing I hadn't consciously considered before. Now that I have thought about them, though, I'm thinking more in-depth about a lot of other areas too.
So, a hearty 'thank you!' to Laura, not only for doing me the honor of asking for an interview, but also for encouraging me to think through the deeper issues behind why I write the way I write.
Be sure to check it out, everybody!

July 1st Announcements

It's July 1st, people! I'm guessing you all know what that means: another chapter of Falls the Shadow! You've met the characters, you've seen the world they live in... now it's time to start exploring. Time for things to start happening. Click Here to read Chapter 4. We really appreciate the support and enthusiasm we've received so far, and we hope to keep picking up more along the way. We've got some exciting things planned for the future at The Lost Scribes, so be sure to stick around!


There won't be a Monday post here at the Lair, as in addition to being Independence Day, it's my brother James' 20th birthday! James has just graduated EMT-B training and is in the process of getting his EMT license. You've just got to know James to fully appreciate how appropriate it is that his birthday in on July 4th. It's the kind of thing you would read in a novel and think it was cliche, that the author was going overboard. (Although I remember as a little kid, wondering why Mom and Dad set off fireworks on James' birthday but not on mine.)
Happy Birthday, buddy.

And Happy Independence Day, everybody! *~