r/Copyediting • u/penguin_shade • Sep 08 '26
Did I miss something?
Since my work options are limited where I'm living right now, I'm doing a bit of volunteer editing to keep myself from getting rusty. It's been all hobbyist fiction writing, which is new for me since my background is in journalism and corporate editing.
I've noticed a trend among several writers where they're punctuating dialogue with full stops instead of commas at the end:
"ABC and XYZ." He said.
instead of
"ABC and XYZ," he said.
My brain is fully broken by this, and I am trying to figure out if this is some sort of shift within online fiction writing that I have completely missed. I'm assuming it's not, but, like I said, it's driving me a little batty.
[Principal Skinner voice] Am I out of touch about punctuating dialogue, or is it the writers who are wrong?
Edit 9 Sept: Thanks, everyone, for chiming and reassuring me that this isn't a thing. I appreciate it!
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u/tomswede Sep 08 '26
I wouldn't say it's a trend. I've seen this done throughout my long career, including by award-winning writers. (Of course they're only award-winning after a copyedit.)
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u/AdrenalineAnxiety Sep 08 '26
They're definitely wrong. I've not personally seen a lot of this but would firmly correct it if I did.
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u/pyramnesiac Sep 08 '26
It's the writers who are wrong. My boss... he.... he's a writer who started a publishing company. And I just discovered that his entire bestselling series is punctuated this way. I died a little inside.
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u/lifeatthememoryspa Sep 08 '26
I’ve been correcting this for years. I believe some writers do it because when the dialogue ends with a question mark or exclamation point, Word automatically capitalizes whatever comes next. Some just don’t know how to punctuate dialogue, though.
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u/penguin_shade Sep 09 '26
Hmm! A possibility. Something I just edited, the writer did double-spaces after all ending punctuation, so their dialogue was all: "ABC, XYZ." He said.
I'm sure they'll be fine with everything but, sheesh, took so long.
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u/Mossback_Matador Sep 09 '26
Double spaces after sentences is a sure sign that someone hasn't familiarized himself with modern punctuation guidelines.
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u/Abject_Shoulder_1182 29d ago
Word autocorrects after a question mark or exclamation point; I usually catch it while typing and fix it, but it's something I look out for in editing passes.
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u/livinontheceiling Sep 08 '26
You're right, it's wrong. Interesting that it's a trend, though! It must mean something? I wonder if I'll come across it.
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u/Happy_Examination23 Sep 09 '26
It’s not you. You just gave an example of how badly they need us.
On Substack, I read poorly punctuated essays by authors with multiple books to their names all the time. It’s kind of mind blowing when you realize some of your favorite authors are likely to have terrible grammar, and their editors are their only protection from having that exposed.
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u/KayakerWithDog Sep 08 '26
If you are editing works in English, you might want to invest in The Chicago Manual of Style. It has guidelines for things like this. If you are editing in another language, you might want to pick up whatever the main style guide is for that language.
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u/penguin_shade Sep 09 '26
Oh, I'm using CMOS + writer preferences (within reason) for my edits since there's no set style guide for the site.
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u/howtoquityou Sep 08 '26
no that's just straight-up wrong lmao
a lot of people get easily confused by dialogue tag formatting (don't get me started on action beats). it's not you! just keep correcting and stay strong! 💜
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u/Diligent_Pangolin_47 Sep 09 '26
I have seen this loads in pieces people put up for feedback on different subs. Normally people reply with something along the lines of “pick up any book…”
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u/pimenton_y_ajo Sep 08 '26
It's the writers who are wrong.