Dear Reader Column 3-20-05

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Dear Reader,

When I was inserting quotation marks into some "Dear Reader" copy the other day, I got to thinking about my first time...

...the first time that I had to use quotation marks in a magazine article that I was writing. I'd finished the interviews, but when I started typing my notes, it suddenly dawned on me that I didn't know how to use quotation marks.

Most of my solutions to problems involve using common sense, and I admire other people who use the same no-frills approach. I read about this the other day: NASA spent bundles of time and money developing a pen that would write upside down in space. The Russians sent their crew up with pencils.

My article was due the next day, so my immediate solution for learning how to use quotes was to: Take a bubble bath and read through a "Time" magazine, carefully noting the various placement of quotations marks in sentences.

It worked. My final draft was barely touched by the editor's pen.

And you can "quote" me on that.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
www.DearReader.com