: Re: Are modern authors still using colons and semicolons in dialogue? Not sure if it's just my idea but I rarely see colons and semicolons in dialogue (especially in modern novels). Is it because

I disagree that a colon does not simulate normal speech. A classic example would be when I enumerate something to my dialog partner:

"Hey Joe, we offer the following colours:

Gray
Blue
Yellow."

There, maybe even with semicola in a single line:

"Hey Joe, we offer the following colours: Light Gray, Dark Gray and Eternal Gray; California Orange, Funky Orange and Citrus Yellow; Abnormal Blue and Abyss Almost Black Blue."

Trying to construct these without colons and semicola makes them look funky and emotionless:

"Hey Joe, we offer the following colours. Light Gray and Dark Gray. California Orange and Citrus Yellow."

I am not sure if the latter is even correct English, but in a language where it's incorrect, one would have to reconstruct the whole sentence:

"Hey Joe! Light Gray and Dark Gray are the colours we offer."

Personally, I don't talk like that.

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: Re: Are modern authors still using colons and semicolons in dialogue? Not sure if it's just my idea but I rarely see colons and semicolons in dialogue (especially in modern novels). Is it because

More posts by @Looi5811334

: One of my go-tos is "Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction" by Jonathan Culler. It's great for people who are new to literary theory, or for veterans that are looking to brush up on

: Misleading facts in the About the Author section In the 'About the Author' section of Cuckoo's calling, it says that Robert Galbraith spent several years in the military etc etc. But now that

: How political can an author's note be, would the following fly? "If the ANC does to you what the apartheid government did to you, then you must do to the ANC what you did to the apartheid

: The best way to begin a book will differ from person to person. Some people, once they have a vague idea of what happens, jump right in and start writing. Some have to spend months developing

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