: Re: Punctuation when using inline dialogue I am a bit crazy about punctuation and I have a question that I'm struggling to find a consensus on. For dialogue (especially in fiction), I always use

Yes, there's is an agreed upon standard.

In both US and UK styles, if the sentence ends in the say you describe then the period goes inside the final quotation mark because it is not only terminating the sentence but is part of the syntax of the quotation itself.

Also in both US and UK styles, the only place for a period is at the end of a sentence. So, if the quotation comes in the middle of a sentence and finishes before the sentence does, the quotation itself does not include a period. (As in the case of your exclamation point, this may not be the case of other punctuation marks.)

Note that in your example with the elephant, you should be putting a comma after shouted. (John shouted, "Hey lookÂ .Â .Â .") Also after said in the later examples.

Finally, you can refer to Beth Hill's blog post "Punctuation in Dialogue" for general guidelines.

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: Re: Punctuation when using inline dialogue I am a bit crazy about punctuation and I have a question that I'm struggling to find a consensus on. For dialogue (especially in fiction), I always use

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: The posters here are absolutely right, the first thing you should do is look to an alternative income source. Making money from novel writing is a long-term goal and takes decades, not months

: Capital letters in copy-written material I am presuming this is a style question, and that it has a name. I presume there is a place to learn about it, such as 'Elements of Style' however

: How can I state what is written on a sign? Is it okay to write: "Shop Name", read a sign hanging above the shop. Should I use italics for the shop name or use any other type of formatting?

: How to deal with Infalliable Narrator issue? So, what I'm writing is a novel where I'm the narrator who describes life events of my another self. The whole story revolves around this character.

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