Come on in to discuss the mechanics of writing |
(Edit after reading the last few posts!) Arguably this is going somewhat off topic, I hope not but bear with me. It IS still about quotation marks... Not sure who I'm replying to, but since the resident expert on punctuating quotations is reading this, I have a question. (Didn't finish reading the thread, sorry. Apparently the Chicago manual seems to leave us doing what we feel. Still, want to know how this example strikes people.) Kissla often takes guidance from what her Father said in the past, or what he would say. They're her thoughts, but at the same time, they're somebody else's, so I also put them into quotes. E.G.: I let pressure off the unruly recruit's wrist, to avoid breaking it. I wanted to break his world view, not his arm, his spirit, or anything else. I could hear my late Father's irritated voice in the back of my mind. "Don't be a nicer 1, Kissla. Mercy confuses the student." But I didn't want to live down to his example; I had other people I preferred to please, like the Duke and Duchess. Just wondered how anybody else would handle this? Did I describe it properly? So my answer has been to use italics primarily. I add tags (she wondered) as rarely as possible. I add quotes only when the thought itself is a quotation. It's a regular occurrence in this piece, so I'd really like a second opinion! 1. Apparently my popnote isn't working. "Nicer" is slang used by Kissla's "Thieve's Guild" to describe a mark, an honest person, or a fool. |