TheBryster posted at 9:40PM Sat, 30 January 2016 - #4252252

Great post, although I don't entirely agree. I would never use a colon like this example - He replied: “Yes, we drove to town.”

If it's a question, it always gets a question mark, regardless of what comes next. - “When do we depart?” asked the Captain.

Lastly, the Captain can say it how he wishes. I don't think they are absurd, just could be better.

Using the colon is British English, check out Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, for an example of the usage.

Like I said, the question mark was made optional in the Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition. (which is the standard editors use, however, many editors are fighting this particular point. I personally agree with the CMS, as the question mark becomes redundant when the word 'asked' is used, but I won't use it in my books. I'll wait until the dust settles and we see where the language shift settles)

The reason the last three are absurd is because, you can't growl a sentence, you can't hiss a sentence, you can't laugh a sentence, you can't bark a sentence, and so on. And most important, by using those words, you are telling, not showing.

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