You Can Quote Me on That

Quotes are the spice of journalistic writing. They add texture and rhythm. They add flesh and blood. They add other voices to augment our own.

The key to making them function properly in our stories is to use the proper quote formats. Here they are:

Eight Quotation Formats That Work
      1. "A one-sentence quote," he said.
      2. "First sentence of a two-sentence quote," he said. "Second sentence." Note: This is a very handy one.
      3. "First sentence of a three-sentence quote," he said. "Second sentence. Third sentence."
      4. He continued, "You can keep the long quote going but use this construction to break part of it into a new paragraph."
      5. "The start of a long one-sentence quote," he said, "which then continues to the end."
      6. He said: "You can use the colon construction to introduce a two- or three-sentence quote. You should do it only if you think the long quote is truly worthwhile. This can be most useful in interview stories."
      7. He said, "This is often a weak way to do a simple quote."
      8. He said that you also can "quote just part of what I am saying" as a partial quote. Note: This is the only time you leave out the comma or commas.