Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitch
Tox:
We run into this all the time, particularly with older writers--many of today's newer authors don't even know the convention, but yes: if a person is having a moment of soliloquy, and going on and on with a long, multi-paragraph speech, the convention is, opening quotes on all the paragraphs, but closing quotes only on the last. And yes, it's a major pain in the tuchus, as you CANNOT know unless you read it.
I don't actually see any good way to automated-ly identify "run on dialogue" from "missing closing quotes.' When I've used your ePUBTools to help me clean something up, usually a bad scan we'll receive, I just muddle through by saying "no" on those paras that should NOT have a closing quote. NBD, FWIW. To my way of thinking, given how handy the tool is generally, it's a small price to pay.
Hitch
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One easy way to know if it's multi-paragrah speech is the quote at the beginning of the next paragraph. If one paragraph has character A speaking and nobody else is talking and you hit the next paragraph with a quote, then delete the quote at the end of the previous paragraph. Simple really.