Writing

Questions tagged [quotes]

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The words a character speaks. Use this tag for questions about how to write quotes, or common practices specific to quotes.

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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 ...
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84 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 ...
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1answer
45 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 ...
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2answers
54 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 ...
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1answer
82 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 ...
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34 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 ...
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1answer
30 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 ...
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1answer
68 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 ...
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4answers
117 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 ...
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3answers
389 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 ...
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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 ...
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23 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 ...
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2answers
45 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/...
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98 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 ...
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2answers
62 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 ...
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1answer
549 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?
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1answer
57 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 ...
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2answers
91 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 ...
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2answers
151 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?
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227 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 ...
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4answers
294 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 ...
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2answers
5k 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?
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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 ...
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48 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.
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2answers
2k 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 ...
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1answer
52 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 ...
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3answers
3k 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 ...
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1answer
114 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 ...
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1answer
63 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 ...
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1answer
61 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 ...
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4answers
96 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]"...
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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 ...
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1answer
1k 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 ...
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3answers
609 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 ...
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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 ...
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1answer
78 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 ...
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2answers
61 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 ...
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1answer
482 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 ...
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3answers
143 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 ...
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2answers
90 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 ...
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1answer
368 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? ...
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1answer
121 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 ...
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2answers
565 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
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1answer
42 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 ...
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1answer
1k 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 ...
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3answers
315 views

How do I credit a quote if I am uncertain of the source?

If I am writing a book and want to use a quote, but I either don't remember who said it or I am uncertain, how should I credit the quote?
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1answer
73 views

How to use a quote with frequent changes

I am editing a manuscript in which the author frequently wants to change words within a fairly long quote (two sentences or more), and believes that if he does so he no longer needs to put the rest of ...
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17answers
7k views

What English version of the bible should I quote from?

Say I want to quote from the bible in something I'm writing (think the famous passage in Pulp Fiction). What bible version should I quote from? I've done some research but only ended up more confused ...
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3answers
92 views

What would be a good way of electronically organizing my aphorisms?

I have been writing aphorisms for the most part of my life. Up to now, I noted them down in (real-life, paper) notebooks. From time to time I copied them to a MS-Word-file, which has now swollen to ...
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0answers
65 views

How to generate thesis or a question out of a quote/quotes? [closed]

In an effort to overcome my writer's block, I've come up with an exercise, which I've pieced together from all the material I've read on dealing with writer's block. However, now I am struggling with ...

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