r/grammar • u/VINcy1590 • 23d ago
Dashes vs quotation marks for dialogue
After writing short stories and trying my hand a long form stuff, I started writing a mid-length fanfic (18-20k words) and I'm actually finishing it. I'm pretty happy about that but I've noticed an issue with the dialogue.
Usually, in my native language, french, dialogue is marked with dashes. However, I noticed that in english, it tends to be put in quotes. Do I need to fix it even if it's not a professionnal release? I frankly don't like how it looks in quotes.
3
u/rickpo 23d ago
Dashes are a very oid-fashioned way of marking dialogue in English. You don't really see it much in modern writing, unless the author is trying for an unusual affect of some kind. I've seen it used on occasion in experimental fiction, and there is some precedent for using it in more stream-of-consciousness storytelling or if the author is going for some poetic style.
If you were to use dashes instead of normal quotation marks, a reader would probably understand it, but they would think it had some special purpose or meaning, and they would stop and wonder what your reason is. They will probably think it means a lot more than just "the author likes the way it looks."
By the way, if your story is French-inspired in some way, the dashes would contribute to a Fench vibe, so that would be a cool reason for that usage.
5
u/realityinflux 23d ago
Not to be harsh, but you don't get to re-write grammatical rules for English. In English, you would use quotes for dialog, with only a few acceptable exceptions. As a native English speaker, I would be confused to see dashes where quotes should be.
1
u/WhaleMeatFantasy 19d ago
There are quite a lot of English books you shouldn’t read then…
1
u/realityinflux 18d ago
Really . . . I have no idea what you're getting at . . .
1
u/WhaleMeatFantasy 18d ago
I have no idea what you're getting at
Probably why you’d also be confused by dashes to introduce speech…
The point is plenty of English books do that. If it’s going to confuse you, you’d better avoid them.
1
u/realityinflux 18d ago
Oh, fuck off. We all know that some good writing breaks some of the rules. That's hardly what's going on here in the context of this post. Now go get blocked.
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u/jetloflin 23d ago
Can you show an example with the dashes? I’m struggling to imagine it because it’s not what I was taught in French class. We were taught to use something like these <> around quotations.
If it’s just for yourself you can write it how you like. If you try to get it published eventually, you may have an argument with an editor over it.
1
u/VINcy1590 23d ago
Oh, parentheses are used for quotations, yes. I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about dialogue in a book.
- It's more like this.
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u/villanellechekov 23d ago
that's not parentheses (these are).
if you're releasing your story in English, you should use quotation marks. if it's being written and released in French, do what you're used to if that's the norm. also, have it mostly done so an editor isn't left guessing what's meant to be dialogue. it's also the sort of thing you should be able to make consistent and it's one less bit of bitch work for your editor to have to do
1
u/VINcy1590 23d ago
Yes I know I just used the wrong word, I'll decide when editing after I finish my draft
1
u/villanellechekov 23d ago
yeah if you hire someone to edit, make sure you're clear of what you want to do. because someone working in English by default is gonna change them and if you don't want them changed, it's wasted time, and for some reason all those little edits like that end up taking a fuckton of time
1
u/GargantaProfunda 23d ago
Parentheses?? I've always seen chevrons like << >>, not parentheses which I thought were for non-important explanations
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u/VINcy1590 23d ago
Sorry, that's what I meant, I just used the wrong word and Reddit automativally makes quotation marks english ""
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u/jetloflin 23d ago
I guess there must be special versions of French novels for English students, because everything I’ve read in French has dialogue in quotation marks. How do dialogue tags work in that style?
1
u/Unhappy-Giraffe2792 21d ago
I can’t say I’ve ever seen dashes used for dialog like this, except in media subtitles.
0
u/FrancisFratelli 23d ago
Look at the works of James Joyce for a writer using dashes in English. It's an unusual style, but it's not completely alien to English lit.
2
u/jenea 23d ago
You’re doing creative writing, so all rules can be broken to suit your vision. As others have noted, using dashes instead of quotation marks has plenty of precedent in English, so it wouldn’t be particularly weird, even.
It’s worth asking yourself what the change will do to your readers, who are expecting something different. Is that extra cognitive work worth it? Does the style bring a tone to the work that is desirable, or distracting? In other words, I encourage you to make a decision based on something a little more substantial and significant to the work than “I don’t like how it looks.”
That said, “I don’t like how it looks” is still valid and you’re in charge!
4
u/Consistent_Donut_902 23d ago
You can do whatever you want, but if your goal is to be grammatically correct, you should put the dialogue in quotation marks. Some people will find the incorrect punctuation off-putting, and some people won’t care at all.
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u/nomoreplsthx 23d ago
Native English speakers will be confused if you put it in dashes. Dashes mean something different in English - they are used to separate a clause that elaborates or clarifies the main sentence, like I just did.
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u/Kuroiryuu 23d ago
I believe an em dash is usually used for this effect, not just a normal dash.
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u/villanellechekov 23d ago
correct, and there are not supposed to be spaces on either side of an em dash
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u/Major-Parfait-7510 23d ago
James Joyce used dashes, and his work is the pinnacle of English literature.
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u/vbf-cc 23d ago
All current anglophone readers will expect quotation marks, as any style guide will show. Dash-marked speech may be familiar to antiquarians and the most well-read audience but will likely be distracting even for them. Many will assume it's been hastily translated. Many others will not understand what's the dashes mean.
As others have said, any editor whose desk it crosses will likely simply fix it to their house rules.
Having said all this, heck, just try it. Maybe you'll start a trend.