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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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2
votes
2answers
137 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
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2answers
157 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 ...
0
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4answers
247 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 ...
21
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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?
4
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2answers
77 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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0answers
44 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
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2answers
796 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
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1answer
47 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
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3answers
133 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
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1answer
44 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
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1answer
55 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 ...
1
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1answer
44 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
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4answers
94 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
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4answers
1k 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 ...
4
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1answer
420 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 ...
7
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2answers
514 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 ...
13
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8answers
4k 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
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1answer
65 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
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2answers
52 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 ...
3
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1answer
184 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
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3answers
121 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
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2answers
81 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
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1answer
352 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
65 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
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2answers
123 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
39 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
371 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 ...
3
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3answers
140 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?
7
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1answer
67 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 ...
30
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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 ...
0
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3answers
90 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
63 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 ...
1
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2answers
318 views

“Quote” within a quote MLA

So I have a quote that has double quotation marks inside it. Would I leave those in? Or replace them with single quotes? In Carolyn Gregoire’s article “What Your 'Life Story' Really Says About You”...
2
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2answers
409 views

Typo correction when citing an external source

Good evening, I'm in the process of writing a small research paper for my college and im facing the following dilemma. One of my sources has a typo. More specifically instead of the word "Christians"...
1
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2answers
90 views

How should a narrative parenthetical remark be placed in reference to a dialog quotation?

I’m wondering how to place a narrative parenthetical remark in dialog. I’m proofreading a book with a quote that doesn’t look right to me: He whispered, “I think she will have a child in Raspberry ...
1
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4answers
3k views

Why end sentences with commas instead of periods when the sentence is in a quote?

I've seen styles where writers end sentences with commas if it is inside double quotes and styles where writers end sentences with periods. For example: "She's late again." mumbled Jason. ...
0
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1answer
43 views

Where to put a reference to a figure or literature

I am writing a master thesis and got confused by the location of the reference details. Example 1 : Should the reference be before the dot or after a dot in this case? The exploratory analysis of ...
4
votes
2answers
81 views

How can I include my own words within the quotation?

How can I include my own words (of an extra information) within the quotation? Can I do it in the following way, with the words in bracket being my own? To quote the words of the Buddha: “Here, ...
0
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2answers
1k views

Do I need to cite quotes when conversing casually with friends?

If I'm speaking casually with a friend and quote something I heard, do I need to cite the source of that quote/saying? Ex. "After all, we're no strangers to love." "Well, when in Rome..." Does this ...
1
vote
2answers
5k views

First page of the Diary - Quote [closed]

am gifting some one a diary I want to write something meaningful in the first page of it. All I could come up with is... In the most ammaaazing journey that you are yet to embark upon, Called Life! ...
3
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2answers
2k views

Correct punctuation for he said, she said

It was recently suggested to me that when attributing dialogue after a quote it should always end comma close quote lowercase, as in: "That's what," he said. However, if the character speaks in ...
5
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1answer
1k views

Having a character quote an entire stanza of a poem

I am working on a long form fiction item. In this one of the characters will quote the first stanza from a poem. Normally with speech, one opens quotes, adds the text, and closes quotes. However I do ...
6
votes
1answer
115 views

How does one indicate uncertainty in a quote?

When quoting the spoken word, and if one particular word is difficult to distinguish, how does one properly indicate the uncertainty if that particular word has been quoted correctly? The following ...
1
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1answer
2k views

Quoting a Nursery Rhyme

I'd like to quote a nursery rhyme at the beginning of my chapter, but I'm not sure the proper formatting for this. I've seen a lot of authors quote passages from books, songs, and various other ...
3
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0answers
120 views

What is the original source of the Lawrence Durrell quote starting with “My spirit turns more and more […]”? [closed]

This may be more appropriately called a "Literature" or "History" question but as it's about a writer, I thought I'd try here first. I'm seeking more information about the origin of the following ...
4
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2answers
6k views

How to mark own translation?

In a thesis written using the Author's "We", how do you mark a translation of a quotation as your own? "My translation" violates the pluralis auctoris. "Our translation" also doesn't fit with the ...
2
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2answers
66 views

Spacing for quotes within quotes

Character A is quoting characters B and C. Since character A is talking their words are enclosed in double quotes. Their rendition of characters B and C's speech is enclosed in single quotes. ...
0
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3answers
69 views

academic writing: direct quote

I have a simple question regarding scientific quotes. Which of the following alternatives is correct? Alt. 1: The literature has made substantial strides towards identifying causal effects of X on Y ...
5
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8answers
2k views

Is it appropriate to use real-life quotes in fantasy/sci-fi novels set in alternate worlds?

Situation: You have an imaginary world, fantasy, sci-fi, whatever, and you are at a point where, as an author, you know a suitable quote for the situation a character is dealing with. Is it ...
3
votes
2answers
635 views

Can I publish excerpts from a letter without permission?

It will be my pleasure to cite the author of the letter. I'm looking at perhaps ten sentences out of a four page letter. I have the actual letter, so the quotes will be accurate. The letter is from ...

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