full-stops and quotes

"Full stop inside." "Dog ears are down to preference, but if you use a 'quote-within-a-quote' then you need to use the 'other one.' "

Re brackets... I would definitely say full-stops should be outside the brackets (like this). Generally agree with gggg re 'curlies,' but I recently read somewhere that the preferred 'official' format is to use single curlies, then doubles within singles, singles within doubles within singles, etc. 'What did you say before falling over?' asked Larry. 'I said, "Would you make me a cup of tea please?" before falling over,' said Mick. [[[~P~]]] ... What is "The Art of Tea"? ... (www.pepsoid.wordpress.com - latest... "Disappearing Robots")

Peps - you're right - I misread the question.

I think I do it both ways (ahem!). Best to alternate it to be on the safe side!

I'm pretty sure I'm right re the brackets, but I'm less sure when I want a bracketed sentence on its own, outside of a non-bracketed paragraph - e.g. ... He jumped up to catch the flying saucer as it flew overhead. He barely managed to grab hold of the protuding bit of metal, but when he had, he held on for dear life. He was on his way to Mars! (he had always wanted to go to Mars) Re the above... should the "he" have a capital "H"? Should there be a full stop directly after "Mars"? Linguistic Pedants Anonymous, where are you! [[[~P~]]] ... What is "The Art of Tea"? ... (www.pepsoid.wordpress.com - latest... "Disappearing Robots")

Peps - curlies/dog-ears... Regarding the single vs double conundrum: you could be right - the rules may have changed over the last decade or so, but i distinctly remember reading years ago that single and double quotes are interchangeable as long as you're consistent. And all publishers have their own rules - so if you submit a manuscript with single quotes and the publisher prefers double quotes then they will change it, so you don't have to worry about it. If anyone can prove me wrong then please do, because I don't want to put publishers off any more than anyone else!

Mmm. Just let me stroke my twenty beards.... Nope. No idea. Hang on! something has just come to me: When I was at University, we were told that - if you were just quoting a short sentence or so - then just put it in quotes (single or double being optional). But if you wanted to quote a whole paragraph, then it would need to be separated from the main body of writing, by blank lines and it should be indented without quotes: blah, blah, blah blah, blah, blah blah, blah, blah A bit like this. I have absolutely no idea if this is any help, but thought I'd mention it. I would suspect that there is nothing actually wrong with quoting in itallics, as long as you do it all the time.

Quoting other sources is a constant source of turmoil for myself! Well sort of... I have, coincidentally, just read a paragraph in Fleming's Thunderball, in which he quotes a sign on a wall or something, and it reads exactly as if it is speech - i.e. within single curlies. As I did above, I'm pretty sure it's okay to refer to titles in italics, but I do indeed recall, in academic writing, quoting entire sections/paragraphs is as gggg said. God, all these rules eh?! I would think (although I don't know, so don't quote me on it) that generally speaking, as long as you are consistent, double space your work (although is this so important with electronic files...?) and don't do any completely outrageous formatting, all of the above is just guides and it's really the work that counts... Like I said, though, I may wrong, and all publishers may be as fickle as figs! [[[~P~]]] ... What is "The Art of Tea"? ... (www.pepsoid.wordpress.com - latest... "Disappearing Robots")