Inserting piece of writing into a character's dialogue
I'm writing a story that has a character telling a story in this story, they mention a label from a statue they remember vividly, can I write the label in a separate paragraph. I've noticed other books put pieces of information such as poetry into separate paragraphs and italicised, but I don't know if this can be done though a character's dialogue. I'd rather not write the label of the statue in a regular sentence, I want it in a separate paragraph, am I allowed to do this?
For example, could I do this:
"I entered the courtyard and there stood a statue inscribed with words that I will never forget
Warrior Boobikay 1900 - 2000 bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla. bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla.
And that I shall never forget. Bla."
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1 answer
You've almost got it — you need to add a few more quote marks.
You have quote marks for dialogue. In American English that's a double quote (").
When something is quoted within dialogue, you nest single quotes (').
When a person is speaking in paragraphs, you have opening quotes on all paragraphs, but closing quotes only on the last paragraph.
Specific to your example, I would be okay with using italics to indicate that the material which the speaker is quoting (') aloud (") is being read. Throw in a few words to help the reader out:
"I entered the courtyard and there stood a statue inscribed with words that I will never forget.
"It said: 'Warrior Boobikay 1900–2000 bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla. bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla.'
"And that I shall never forget. Bla."
To give an example which isn't being read:
"Martin Luther King gave many inspirational speeches and offered powerful words of hope. I have often been moved by his eloquence.
"In addition to the famous 'I have a dream' speech, King also said 'Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.'
"I hope that someday my words can be as inspiring as Dr. King's."
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