Dialogue splices...

[Dream Walker]

It really is more of a job for a semicolon though, rather then a comma . (*in a commanding voice* "This is a job for,"-pulls open shirt to reveal super semicolon symbol on chest,"Super-semicolon guy!") ( dead silence ensues)
goes to corner to mumble with Hex.

 

[Hex]

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! It's Super-semicolon guy!!!

(Beware, Dream Walker (*). Around here, Super-semicolon guy is likely to get mobbed by adoring fans.)


(*) and hello

 

[Jo Zebedee]

It really is more of a job for a semicolon though, rather then a comma . (*in a commanding voice* "This is a job for,"-pulls open shirt to reveal super semicolon symbol on chest,"Super-semicolon guy!") ( dead silence ensues)
goes to corner to mumble with Hex.

Oh, please, oh, please, oh, please... these are commas cos someone who shall remain nameless (Oh, ok then, it was Hex (and Cul) hate my semicolons in dialogue.) To be fair, Hex hates them in all my short sentences...

*Must resist the lure of the semi... must...*

 

[Ursa major]

There is nothing wrong (nothing wrong at all) with using semicolons in dialogue. (Is the semicolon a different sort of punctuation to a comma or a full stop? No. Or, to put it another way: NO!)

One might as well say that you can't use the letter a in internal thoughts. (After all, this restriction has just as much logic behind it as banning semicolons from speech.)

 

[Hex]

I think I get sensitised by lots of semicolons (which is kind of ironic considering how often I used them and colons in wip1, but anyway) and then when I see one, I twitch. It's like chilli -- I can't cope with too much. Clearly, I am a punctuation wuss as well as a spices one.

You could mix it up a bit -- have a comma splice in one bit of dialogue and the next time use a semicolon? (although, like TDZ, I'm rather a fan of dashing).

I must admit, I would almost pay money to see:

"No; if they see the state of her..."

rather than

"No, if they see the state of her..." which feels so much like toppling headlong off something that it makes me dizzy whenever I read it.

but now I'm obsessing rather than being helpful.

Hey, Dream Walker -- do they sell those t-shirts anywhere?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

There is nothing wrong (nothing wrong at all) with using semicolons in dialogue. (Is the semicolon a different sort of punctuation to a comma or a full stop? No. Or, to put it another way: NO!)

I couldn't agree more. i do use them a bit less, though.

One might as well say that you can't use the letter a in internal thoughts. (After all, this restriction has just as much logic behind it as banning semicolons from speech.)

I think I get sensitised by lots of semicolons (which is kind of ironic considering how often I used them and colons in wip1, but anyway) and then when I see one, I twitch. It's like chilli -- I can't cope with too much. Clearly, I am a punctuation wuss as well as a spices one.

You could mix it up a bit -- have a comma splice in one bit of dialogue and the next time use a semicolon? (although, like TDZ, I'm rather a fan of dashing).

I must admit, I would almost pay money to see:

"No; if they see the state of her..."

rather than

"No, if they see the state of her..." which feels so much like toppling headlong off something that it makes me dizzy whenever I read it.

but now I'm obsessing rather than being helpful.

Hey, Dream Walker -- do they sell those t-shirts anywhere?

I am starting to develop a small dash habit. Small but building....

 

[Ursa major]

But what about long dashes?









Mmmmmm, long dashes....

 

[Phyrebrat]

Hmm... I came to this forum to check something on dialogue and ended up down in the rabbit's warren of old posts (sorry to all those chronners who have had alert's that phyrebrat liked your comment in *** 23rd June 1987 ).

I wish I'd not read this particular one, because I have this spasmism about using semicolons in dialogue, so I tend to use lots of dashes instead because it sounds more <cough> erm... dialoguey.

Now I learn that dialogue splices are possibly more forgivable than prose comma splices, and that I could've used semicolons in dialogue all along.

Actually, I am far too much of a Flash Harry with my semicolon usage, so it's probably best I didn't know that.

But I'm still cross with you all.

I demand an accord!

pH

 

[Warren_Paul]

But what about long dashes?

Long dashes sound a bit exhausting. Too much running around for me, unless it's in the rain, but that's more a mad dash for shelter than a long one.




I used to be really bad for comma splices but critiques have beaten them out of me and now I'm a little too tough on the poor things, even going so far as to accuse perfectly fine sentences of being comma splices. Although, it is true that I am a bit more forgiving on splices during dialogue because they more than anything depend on how the character speaks. Some character's voice might well call for comma splices during dialogue.

I don't see what's wrong with using semi-colons in dialogue. Anything that works in narrative should work equally as well in dialogue, but granted, the overuse of any punctuation makes it very noticeable. I still have not quite fond memories about all the dashes in a certain member's prose.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Oh, gosh, blast from the past this thread. Since @Hex is in the world of no internet, I'll just iterste I was right, in whatever I was saying, and run away.

 

[Ursa major]

I wish I'd not read this particular one, because I have this spasmism about using semicolons in dialogue, so I tend to use lots of dashes instead because it sounds more <cough> erm... dialoguey.

On the other hand, first person and very close third person narratives are also dialogue-ish, so if they use semicolons, so can "actual" dialogue.

After all, one use of punctuation is to try to give the reader a hint about how things should sound** (as well as what the words mean). In this context, a semi-colon can be seen as a pause intermediate in length between a comma and a full stop.


** - So using semicolons is even more useful in dialogue than in the narrative.

 

[Phyrebrat]

On the other hand, first person and very close third person narratives are also dialogue-ish, so if they use semicolons, so can "actual" dialogue.

After all, one use of punctuation is to try to give the reader a hint about how things should sound** (as well as what the words mean). In this context, a semi-colon can be seen as a pause intermediate in length between a comma and a full stop.


** - So using semicolons is even more useful in dialogue than in the narrative.

Well it's outrageous! You should all be ashamed of yourselves for making me have to learn new stuff. If my feet weren't already on fire from 4 and a half hours of rehearsals, I'd stamp them.

pH

 

[cyprus7]

Jo, is this an example of 'Norn Iron' (Northern Ireland) colloquial dialogue?
If so, comma splices or not, it does capture the cadence and runs ons of Belfast-speak.

"It's stickin' out, so it is. Gramma police do my bloody head in, luv." etc

Having said that, don't put semi-colons in. That will identify the speaker as a posh nob who resides in a 7-figure suburb, haha!

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Jo, is this an example of 'Norn Iron' (Northern Ireland) colloquial dialogue?
If so, comma splices or not, it does capture the cadence and runs ons of Belfast-speak.

"It's stickin' out, so it is. Gramma police do my bloody head in, luv." etc

Having said that, don't put semi-colons in. That will identify the speaker as a posh nob who resides in a 7-figure suburb, haha!

Waves. Yes, I think this is fluent Norn Iron in this excerpt (I could look and see what I went with, I suppose) - and you're absolutely right. Only those on the Malone Road would use such a thing as a semi in dialogue.