About the quote marks in the long dialogue

[Guest]

In writing long dialogue that has two or more paragraphs, do you use quote marks at the beginning and end of each paragraph or just the beginning and end of the entire dialogue?

[Barbara]

You use them at the beginning of each paragraph, then at the beginning g and end of the last paragraph.

[Frito]

In American style guides, if dialogue extends through multiple paragraphs:
- use a double quote (") at the beginning of the quote, wherever it is. If it’s the beginning of the first paragraph of the dialogue, indent it if you're indenting the first line of your paragraphs.
- do not put a double quote at the end of that paragraph.
- put a double quote at the beginning of the next paragraph. Indent it if you're indenting the first line.
- do not put a closing quote mark at its end if it’s not the last paragraph.
- repeat until the last paragraph of the dialogue. Put a closing double quote at the end of the final paragraph.
- if the speaker quotes anything during the speech, as usual put that in single quote marks (').

UK English switches where it uses single and double quote marks.

[Ann]

Put a quote at the beginning of the dialogue, one at the beginning of any paragraphs that follow, and one at the end of the completed dialogue.

[Phil]

Either way, it doesn’t really matter. In some prints of great works by great authors such as Cormac McCarthy and David Mamet their are no quote marks. I am currently reading Another Country by James Baldwin where dialogue sentences begin and end with single quote marks the passages of dialogue end with a hyphen and single quote mark -‘ there are no hard and fast rules: as long as the writing is good enough to keep the reader on track..

[Earl]

If the same person is speaking and there is no "he said" or "shouted" modifier I end paragraph one with NO quotes but start paragraph two WITH quotes.