Questions tagged [quotes]
The words a character speaks. Use this tag for questions about how to write quotes, or common practices specific to quotes.
106
questions
0
votes
1answer
51 views
Permission for a quote?
Someone (not a particularly famous person,) said something during a podcast that I found would make a good quote, used in my upcoming book.
Do I need to get permission from the speaker or the podcast ...
1
vote
1answer
16 views
How to quote a list (for a scientific thesis)?
I would like to quote a list verbatim.
Let's say this is the list, and it's originally from a book:
Mathematics is essential in many fields, including natural science, engineering, medicine, finance, ...
2
votes
2answers
77 views
Are "floating quotations" to be avoided in academic writing?
I am finishing my dissertation, and my advisor was highly critical of my use of "floating quotations" or "stand-alone quotations." She directed me to a University of North Carolina ...
1
vote
1answer
86 views
What type of rhetorical figure is this?
What type of figure of speech/rhetorical figure are the following:
“You are dearer to me than myself, as you yourself can see.” (Bob Dylan)
“Them I will forget, but you I’ll remember always.” (Bob ...
3
votes
5answers
118 views
How to punctuate quotes in paragraphs and multiple quotes used in succession
How would you punctuate quotes for multiple people talking simultaneously in the same paragraph? I.e.,
They lined up and waited for the last bell of the day and cheered with their tiny voices, "...
0
votes
1answer
60 views
How to punctuate a list of quoted questions
I'm editing a work with the following passage, which describes seven signs:
. . . signs. Each had both picture and words. The pictures were an X on a rock, a cave mouth, a castle, a big tent, a tall ...
0
votes
2answers
140 views
According to CMOS, can I change plural words in a quotation to singular, and vice versa?
Consider, for example, that the following sentence is from an external source and that I desire to quote it in my own work (please pay attention to the structure of the sentence, not its ambiguous or ...
0
votes
1answer
46 views
The author allows me to use their (excellent) idea, but I need to paraphrase it. I can't find a good paraphrase. What should I do?
I meet an excellent idea and really want to use it. The author allows me to do that, but I can't just copy the whole text. The problem is, I do want to use my own language, but in each sentence they ...
0
votes
2answers
56 views
What can be the guideline for modifying quote?
God does not play roulette
— Albert Einstein
There are cases that I feel like a change in the original quote would make it more rhythm, poetic, or reflect the spirit of the quote better. How should I ...
0
votes
1answer
86 views
Is it appropriate for one to use already existing content?
Will it be considered copyright infringement if one would use already existing content, for example, a song? Can you be sued for copyright infringement if you use this, even if you give the original ...
1
vote
0answers
35 views
Who had 3 rules for submissions: 1. You must have a point. 2. You must make your point. 3. You must make it in pristine, first-rate english? [closed]
I think it was a famous magazine editor. I must be butchering the quote because Google search is absolutely no help on this one. In particular, I really don't remember how the third rule was exactly ...
0
votes
1answer
48 views
Citing quotes/footnotes
In my memoir, I use several quotations. In the text, I note who said them: e.g.
As author and diplomat Washington Irving, having mourned a fiancée and a brother, wrote: 'There is a sacredness in ...
1
vote
1answer
86 views
Punctuation of a quote inside parentheses
I was wondering how to properly format a quote inside parentheses in MLA.
So far I have mostly used the third option, although the double parentheses seem a bit ugly.
example:
1) He directs his ...
3
votes
4answers
122 views
How do I avoid using punctuation inside quotation marks in technical writing?
As a computer programmer, I comment my code. For example:
The following lines are dependent on "source 1" and "source 2".
"Source 2" is a user login and password. Overall, the purpose is to
...
1
vote
3answers
848 views
Writing mumbled speech
I've got a character that mumbles, and I'd like good advice on how to write his dialogue. He isn't a POV character, and I won't give him too much dialogue that would make the reading tedious, but it's ...
1
vote
0answers
24 views
How do you quote a quote? [duplicate]
There's this sentence from Marie Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing that I want to use as a title of my project, and I'm not sure if I ...
1
vote
0answers
24 views
How do you properly quote a quote as a title? [duplicate]
There's this sentence from Marie Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing that I want to use as a header/title of my project, and I need ...
2
votes
2answers
48 views
Is this the correct way to use quotes and commas when there are two quotes within one quote?
“He said, ‘spend a week more on the west wall and do your job diligently,’ and that at the end of the week, 'he would see,'” Yarpres said.
I did research https://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/...
1
vote
2answers
103 views
How do you transcribe a person's tone (i.e. someone whose speech is rude and/or attacking)?
I've been having great difficulty with transcribing an individuals "tone" in my meeting notes!!
For context: Recently I've been charged with transcribing an incredibly tense litigious meeting. My ...
2
votes
2answers
63 views
Quoting italicized text: keep formatting?
I'm quoting a sentence from Carl von Clausewitz' On War. He has part of the sentence italicized though:
Obstinacy is a fault of temperament.
Is it necessary to maintain his formatting? Ideally, I ...
1
vote
1answer
611 views
Citing sources "Adversity introduces a man to himself"
This famous quote from Albert Einstein, after research, doesn't have any origins (No year, no location/event, etc.). How would you go about citing it in APA format?
1
vote
1answer
161 views
Can I put 2 quotes in one sentence in my essay?
In my essay I want to use 2 quotes that are both on the same page but are 4 lines apart. I didn't think I should use ellipsis b/c the passages I want to quote are quite far apart.
What I want to ...
1
vote
2answers
105 views
Is it better to go verb-then-name or name-then-verb when writing sentences with quotes?
Which of these is correct? The first? The second? Both?
verb then name:
"She's late again," said Jason.
name then verb:
"She's late again," Jason said.
I have almost always used the first ...
2
votes
2answers
153 views
Is it poor form to paraphrase well known authors in dialogue?
Sometimes a situation will suit a well known author's quote and I do like expressions. Someone joked that I had no shame in paraphrasing. Is this poor form and if so why?
5
votes
2answers
270 views
Using quote as title - disadvantages
There are multiple examples of works of fiction using for their title a quote from another famous work: Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls and more.
The ...
asked Aug 11 '19 at 0:01
Galastel supports GoFundMonica
57k10 gold badges167 silver badges297 bronze badges
0
votes
4answers
313 views
How can I Include a verbatim passage in my fiction without plagiarizing it?
In my novel, the MC goes to a resort and at the resort, they offer two types of Buddhist meditations. Those meditations are from another book and I cannot fiddle with the meditation steps without ...
22
votes
2answers
6k views
How should I quote American English speakers in a British English essay?
I am working on a formal essay where I have to quote a few American English speakers, but my essay is written in British English. Should I change terms like color to colour?
4
votes
2answers
84 views
Starting from future smoothing your way to present
Ok, so the hook for my novel is a quote from the future that my protagonist will eventually say. But I need a way for my novel to go back to present tense. In what way can I smooth my novel back to ...
1
vote
0answers
49 views
How do you quote a comic book? [closed]
How do you quote a comic book strip? I have to state 75 words and I'm not sure if I should re-write the quote as a novel or not.
8
votes
2answers
3k views
Quoting Yourself
I am editing a book for a writer who has quotes at the beginning of each chapter. The first chapter has a quote of her own. It's weird, but it's what she wants. Do I just treat it like the other ...
1
vote
1answer
55 views
MLA citation within citation
Author 1 has written:
Author 2 locates the motivation for remakes 'well beyond the profit
principle', in complex, highly personal reasons, based on various
'Oedipal inflections'.
The sections ...
2
votes
3answers
5k views
In a professional email you need to quote something from a business document. How do you write this?
This is in a professional email.
I'm quoting from a business document that was sent to the person that I'm writing the email to. I need to clarify something, and to do so I need to quote from a ...
2
votes
1answer
142 views
What are the rules for beginning a block quotation halfway into a quoted sentence?
I'm interested in the rules set by the Chicago Manual of Style.
If I take a block quotation that starts with the following sentence:
"To simplify: math and geometry are such and such"
And if I ...
3
votes
1answer
67 views
When does a phrase change from "quote" to "expression coined by"?
"The best-laid plans of mice and men oft go awry" comes from Robert Burns's To a Mouse. It is a commonly used expression, though the "mice and men" part is often omitted nowadays. In fact, not every ...
asked Mar 23 '19 at 12:46
Galastel supports GoFundMonica
57k10 gold badges167 silver badges297 bronze badges
1
vote
1answer
74 views
MLA: Indirect Citation without quote
I have a text which I would like to quote. However, the particular section of the text in which I am interested cites but does not directly quote another author. Do I need an indirect citation, and ...
3
votes
4answers
101 views
Quote with attribution, but without saying that I'm quoting
I want to give credit to a source without stating their full title again, because the full title is a mouthful.
Earlier in the paper, I had quoted them saying:
"So-and-so states...[direct quotation]"...
7
votes
4answers
2k views
As a new poet, where can I find help from a professional to judge my work? [duplicate]
I often write short poems and quotes here: https://www.mirakee.com/atd, but I really want to hear from someone professional to give their valuable feedback on my work, so that I know where exactly I ...
5
votes
1answer
2k views
How should tv broadcast dialogue be formatted in a story?
Supposing a character or characters are watching a show on TV (news maybe) how should that be formatted in the text?
I've found some explanations on how to format TV broadcasts in a screenplay (in ...
8
votes
3answers
630 views
Approach to pop culture quotes in fiction writing
I am contemplating writing a fictional character [nerd] who speaks in a pop culture references. I appreciate this question somewhat overlaps
Referencing modern pop culture in science fiction
The ...
15
votes
8answers
5k views
Quote at the beginning of a chapter, is it advisable for fiction novels?
I have read a few non-fiction works (mostly scientific) where there is a quote at the beginning of each new chapter. Sometimes the quote related to the chapter along with the title, sometimes it was ...
2
votes
1answer
79 views
Is this attribution clear and sufficient?
My characters are well read and some like to recite poetry. My MC is particularly fond of Paradise Lost and is known to quote a few lines here and there.
In one scene he is thinking some of the lines ...
0
votes
2answers
62 views
Citing and typos
I am holding a book (novel) which I wish to cite, and I believe it has a typo. I do not know whether the typo was a spelling mistake in the original manuscript, or introduced during print. Other ...
asked Nov 16 '18 at 22:00
Galastel supports GoFundMonica
57k10 gold badges167 silver badges297 bronze badges
3
votes
1answer
608 views
How to include a list of terms (glossary) in a scholarly paper (IEEE format)?
I am currently writing my Bachelor's thesis and I have produced a list of terms that I plan on including in the attachments. The description of each term is directly copied from search engine results ...
3
votes
3answers
149 views
Properly punctuate a quote
I am trying to learn to properly punctuate a quote, for example If I have
I said "Let us go" and we left.
Do I put a comma before or after the quote?
Do I put a period after the word go before ...
2
votes
2answers
91 views
Using a pronoun outside of quotations to refer to a person mentioned in quotations who hasn't been introduced yet
Would the line:
"Peter!" cried his father.
make grammatical sense? It seems to work intuitively, but I'm just not sure. It's also a tough question to google, as it turns out, so any reply would be ...
6
votes
1answer
386 views
Can I quote an infamous line from a satire written in the 18th century in my novel?
I marked it with a footnote containing the writer's name, the work's title and copied the "Publisher" section from Wikipedia so far.
What about the English translation of the original French quote?
...
3
votes
1answer
155 views
Term for when you split a quote to say 'said so and so' in Journalism and Reporting?
I'll make this short. I'm writing a personal profile for a news story and I'm looking for alternatives to this type of phrase:
"Apples", said Bob.
"Apples", Bob said.
"Apples", Bob ...
4
votes
2answers
812 views
How to quote something somebody was told by someone else? (Third-party, hearsay)
THE ISSUE
There must be a catch-phrase or soundbite to describe this scenario, but so far, I've been unsuccessful locating that term, and my efforts to answer this question have been flat as well. I ...
4
votes
1answer
43 views
How do I format inline quotations for a news story?
Let’s say I’ve interviewed a CEO and now need to quote her for my story. I’m not sure if her name or title would come first after the closing quotation and comma. For example:
“Fiduciary duty is a ...
4
votes
1answer
2k views
In a novel that I'm writing, can a character quote a line from a movie or TV show?
I've recently noticed that in a lot of pop culture reference heavy shows or movies, like Community, Suits, Deadpool... they always mention the movie they took it from. As in, another character is ...
