(**Note:** I attempted to reproduce the same format in reddit’s textbox, but failed to do so. It does not let me do the same things with indents and spacing as MS Word-like programs.)
(I am forced to copypaste a link to a screencap, and I hope automod won’t delete it again.)
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[LINK](https://i.imgur.com/JCrrNuM.png)
Can you share what are the most popular conventions of punctuation, dialogue/narration markers, and other markers which are used in novels in your country?
I noticed also that often *italic* text is used to represent thoughts (and dreams and flashbacks) of characters in stories, but that convention is also popular in many other countries, and is **not** Poland-exclusive.
2 comments
It’s slightly different.
We also use the “indent+—” to introduce a dialogue and to switch between narration and dialogue. But when the speaker says more than a paragraph, then you use “»”.
For example:
>—I am a character who is speaking —he said— bla bla bla […] .
>
>» I’m the same person, but in a new paragraph.
Also, instead of using ” ” as quotation marks, we have « ». They are used to express thoughts and in-line quotations. Italics are less used than in English, for what I’ve seen, but you see them now and then.
S e p a r a t t i n g l e t t e r s is very uncommon, I’ve never seen it.
[Dialogue may similarly be denoted with an en-dash on a new line with indentation](https://bokkorren.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/img_20170816_101820-e1502876510999.jpg). Who’s speaking is simply marked off by a comma at the end of the sentence though, not another dash. If the same person continues, you just start a new sentence immediately thereafter. Consider the *”sa han”* (“he said”) surrounded by his dialogue at the bottom of page 1:
> – Gråt inte mer, Mio, **sa han**. Vi måste gå till Svärdsmidaren. Du behöver ditt svärd.
En-dashes used mid-sentence are used to denote a pause on the narrative flow, usually to emphasize something or describe some thought (such as *”[…] the boat disappeared and was gone – but I didn’t cry.”* in the middle of page 1). Isolated italics are used for emphasis (as it is on line 2), but I certainly wouldn’t think twice if a longer paragraph was used to provide some backstory or such.
The more general quotation marks may also be used for dialogue instead, both are common for novels. [It would look like this in Swedish](https://i2.wp.com/midgardsormen.nu/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/exempel-4.jpg). One thing to note is that opening and closing quotation marks are the same in Swedish – both floating `”` (99-shaped), never `“` (66-shaped) or on down low.
It’s pretty uncommon nowadays, but you may stumble upon `»this type of quotation too»` (opening/closing are, again, the same).