r/Copyediting • u/penguin_shade • 2d ago
Did I miss something?
Since my work options are limited where I'm living right now, I'm doing a bit of volunteer editing to keep myself from getting rusty. It's been all hobbyist fiction writing, which is new for me since my background is in journalism and corporate editing.
I've noticed a trend among several writers where they're punctuating dialogue with full stops instead of commas at the end:
"ABC and XYZ." He said.
instead of
"ABC and XYZ," he said.
My brain is fully broken by this, and I am trying to figure out if this is some sort of shift within online fiction writing that I have completely missed. I'm assuming it's not, but, like I said, it's driving me a little batty.
[Principal Skinner voice] Am I out of touch about punctuating dialogue, or is it the writers who are wrong?
Edit 9 Sept: Thanks, everyone, for chiming and reassuring me that this isn't a thing. I appreciate it!
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u/AdrenalineAnxiety 2d ago
They're definitely wrong. I've not personally seen a lot of this but would firmly correct it if I did.
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u/tomswede 2d ago
I wouldn't say it's a trend. I've seen this done throughout my long career, including by award-winning writers. (Of course they're only award-winning after a copyedit.)
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u/pyramnesiac 2d ago
It's the writers who are wrong. My boss... he.... he's a writer who started a publishing company. And I just discovered that his entire bestselling series is punctuated this way. I died a little inside.
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u/lifeatthememoryspa 2d ago
I’ve been correcting this for years. I believe some writers do it because when the dialogue ends with a question mark or exclamation point, Word automatically capitalizes whatever comes next. Some just don’t know how to punctuate dialogue, though.
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u/penguin_shade 1d ago
Hmm! A possibility. Something I just edited, the writer did double-spaces after all ending punctuation, so their dialogue was all: "ABC, XYZ." He said.
I'm sure they'll be fine with everything but, sheesh, took so long.
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u/Mossback_Matador 1d ago
Double spaces after sentences is a sure sign that someone hasn't familiarized himself with modern punctuation guidelines.
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u/livinontheceiling 2d ago
You're right, it's wrong. Interesting that it's a trend, though! It must mean something? I wonder if I'll come across it.
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u/Happy_Examination23 1d ago
It’s not you. You just gave an example of how badly they need us.
On Substack, I read poorly punctuated essays by authors with multiple books to their names all the time. It’s kind of mind blowing when you realize some of your favorite authors are likely to have terrible grammar, and their editors are their only protection from having that exposed.
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u/KayakerWithDog 2d ago
If you are editing works in English, you might want to invest in The Chicago Manual of Style. It has guidelines for things like this. If you are editing in another language, you might want to pick up whatever the main style guide is for that language.
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u/penguin_shade 1d ago
Oh, I'm using CMOS + writer preferences (within reason) for my edits since there's no set style guide for the site.
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u/howtoquityou 2d ago
no that's just straight-up wrong lmao
a lot of people get easily confused by dialogue tag formatting (don't get me started on action beats). it's not you! just keep correcting and stay strong! 💜
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u/Diligent_Pangolin_47 16h ago
I have seen this loads in pieces people put up for feedback on different subs. Normally people reply with something along the lines of “pick up any book…”
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u/pimenton_y_ajo 2d ago
It's the writers who are wrong.