Quotes

Three types:

Direct quote: “The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain,” said singer Eliza Doolittle.

Reserve direct quotes for opinions, emotions, words that add drama. Things that are unique or said uniquely. Attribution at end of first sentence not at the start. Limit direct quotes in each story.

Paraphrase or indirect quote: Spain’s rain falls mainly in the plain, said singer Eliza Doolittle.

Use paraphrases for facts; recounting events (such as how an accident happened, how a crime occurred); instructions, to shorten what was said, to omit irrelevant parts.

Attribution can be at beginning or end. Comma when it’s at the end.

Example: Today is a nice day, said John Smith.

Example: John Smith said today is a nice day.

— However, always use a comma with according to.

Example: According to Jones, the day will be nice.

Example: The day will be nice, according to Jones.

Partial quote (avoid): The rain (in Spain) falls “mainly in the plain,” said singer Eliza Doolittle.

Avoid partial quotes. If you didn’t get the whole quote, paraphrase. And if you have to add words for reader to understand (in parenthesis), paraphrase.

Quote Rules (See your AP stylebook for more situations)

—The quote format. Open quote marks, comment, comma, close quote marks, attribution, period. Open quote, comment, period, close quote.

“The play lifted my spirits on a cold day,” Purdue professor Jane Natt said. “It’s great to forget about the cold for a while.”

— Always put commas and periods inside the quotation marks.

— A question mark and other punctuation marks go within the quotation marks if the punctuation refers to the quoted material; otherwise they go outside the quote marks.

— You must have a name (a full name) to attribute to. You can’t just say, A Purdue student said xxxx.

— The first time you attribute a direct or indirect quote, identify the speaker fully. That’s a descriptor and a first and last name (Exponent requires major and year). The second time you refer to a source in a story, use only a last name, unless you have more than one source with the same last name, then refer to them by full name on all reference.

— When a person’s title is before a name, capitalize it and don’t set it off with commas. “Elon Mayor Jeff Smith.” If after, don’t capitalize and set of with commas, “Jeff Smith, the Elon mayor,”

— Do NOT start a direct quote with attribution: Jane Natt said, “here is the comment.”

— First person may only be used in direct quotes NOT in paraphrases.

If the quote is, “I love dogs,” said Jane Natt.
The parphrase is Jane Natt said she loves dogs.

–If you use a quote from a news release, media statement, etc., you must identify it as such.

The quotes themselves:

–Should be interesting. Opinions, emotions, expressed in unique way. This goes for mass communication and quotes provided in news releases.

— Avoid quotes that repeat transition or information verbatim.

— Don’t put factual information into quotes.

— Don’t quote someone just because you interviewed them. The quote has to add something to story. Something unique or said uniquely, that you could have obtained only from them.

— Give direct quotes their own paragraph. They are special, should stand out.

— Keep direct quotes short. Usually 2 sentences.