Dialogue and Punctuation Questions.

[Weird Harold]

If there's a book publisher that doesn't know basic punctuation, I would suggest that an author would be well advised to avoid that publisher. It can't redound to the author's credit to be associated with them.

I think that more and more publishers will wind up going to the capitalized version simply to avoid the time it takes to tell MS Word that it's full of shit onthat particular point.

Since editing for people here, I've begun to notice errors in books from many different publishers that are the result of relying on Word's grammar and spelling check -- errors that are unique to MS Word 97 and later.

As more and more publishers begin relying on MS Word format as their standard for electroninc submissions, the more MS Word's quirks are going to infest publishing.

 

[Rainbow Skin]

So 'liase' becomes a word, and the 'st' gets superscripted in '1st'? Wouldn't it be better if publishers told M$ to fuck off and change their wrong settings? Grrr.

 

[Quasimodem]

Rainbow,

Not that I ever wish to come between Microsoft and a customer complaint, but there may be a switch somewhere, to turn that feature off.

I know for a fact that there is one under "Settings" in WordPerfect.

Until I discovered where that little bugger was hidden, I was forever referencing Florida's “Sunny Beaches!”

 

[Weird Harold]

Not that I ever wish to come between Microsoft and a customer complaint, but there may be a switch somewhere, to turn that feature off.

You can turn off the forced superscripting, and with only alittle fiddling, you can make "liase" not a word, but I've never figured out to keep the grammar check from getting confused by question marks and exclamation points with a trailing dialogue tag.

I've also discovered names like Frank -- which the grammar check considers and adverb instead of noun -- confuse the hell out it's sentence analysis.

MS Word and WordPerfect have very useful proofing tools in their spelling and grammar check capabilities -- but publishers are just going to have to learn that there is no program available, and likely never will be a program, that can replace a skilled human editor/proofreader.

 

[Rainbow Skin]

Oh yes, my first few days with a new version of Word are spent under the bonnet in Tools | Options turning most of it off. I'm so used to losing all my settings at work every time we 'up'graded that I've got quite slick at it. But most people never adjust anything.

I never use the spelling or grammar checking, since I know far better than it does; unless as now, it's new, and then I play the game of Teaching the Spelling Checker English. It amuses me to see the hundreds of words added to the custom dictionary after a few short stories or technical papers.

 

[Weird Harold]

...my first few days with a new version of Word are spent under the bonnet ...

{innocent expression}
Why do you have to dress in Amish fashion to reconfigure a new version of Word?
{/innocent expression}

I never use the spelling or grammar checking, since I know far better than it does; ...

I use both regularly, not because I can't spell but because my fingers are stupid and letting Word look for typos and odd sentence structures is both faster and more reliable than trying to proofread my own work.

I still have to manually proofread to find the typos that are "real words" but word finds more of the ones that aren't words than I do.

Spelling and Grammar checks are just tools, not a total solution -- a big help when used properly, but a literary disaster in waiting when relied on excessivley.

 

[Uther_Pendragon]

Originally posted by wildsweetone
As an Editor/Author I'd like some advice please on several aspects of punctuation in dialogue.

1. "What do you mean?" She asked.

Should the 'S' in 'she' be capitalised? I query this because I have been told that publishers prefer for the 'S' to be uppercase. However some grammer/punctuation sites I've seen indicate the rule is for the 'S' to be lowercase.



2. "Of course I will," he said, "but only if you wear the red dress."

Should the 'b' in 'but' be lower case or capitalised? Perhaps the comma after 'said' should be a full stop.


I require your informed thoughts please.

:
Lower case in both questions. When "but" is used as a
conjunction, it should not begin a new senence, technically.
(So no "full stop" on your side of the pond, and no period
on our side. Having said that, I've used two sentences in that circumstance.

 

[Quasimodem]

:
Lower case in both questions. When "but" is used as a
conjunction, it should not begin a new senence, technically.
(So no "full stop" on your side of the pond, and no period
on our side. Having said that, I've used two sentences in that circumstance.

In the time-honoured tradition, I pull my forelock and bend a knee to The Keeper of the ASS FAQs.

 

[wildsweetone]

Re: Re: Dialogue and Punctuation Questions.

In the time-honoured tradition, I pull my forelock and bend a knee to The Keeper of the ASS FAQs.

I didn't realise you had a forelock Quasi.

 

[wildsweetone]

Next question.

Having been typing for hundreds of years, I have an automatic response to placing two spaces at the end of each sentence.

I have noticed some question that 'rule'.

Is it a publisher's requirement, or simply a typists preference?