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Q&A Inserting piece of writing into a character's dialogue

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...

posted 8y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-13T12:00:36Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/23388
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T05:20:19Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/23388
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T05:20:19Z (almost 5 years ago)
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."

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2016-06-16T10:04:43Z (over 8 years ago)
Original score: 1