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Step 1
The most common use of quotation marks in an article is to show exactly what someone said, as in the following example. "I saw a beautiful lady running through the palace, and she left behind this glass slipper," said the Prince. Whenever you or another writer record a dialogue, each person's words should be in a separate paragraph with quotes around the words he spoke, even if the quote is only a word or two long. "I saw a beautiful lady running through the palace, and she left behind this glass slipper," said the Prince. "What!" said the Queen, the Prince's mother. "Why didn't the palace guards stop her?" demanded the King. "Uh-oh," mumbled the captain of the palace guards.
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Step 2
If you refer to the title of a book, movie, opera, song, TV program or work of art in your article, quotation marks are used to set the title apart from the rest of the sentence or paragraph. A fairy tale about a lost glass slipper, "Cinderella" has been made into several TV shows and movies through the years.
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Step 3
A period or a comma at the end of a sentence always goes inside the quotation marks. "I must find that beautiful lady," said the Prince. "I'll search through the entire kingdom if I have to, to find her." But a question mark or exclamation point go inside the quotation marks only when they apply to the quote itself. "How will you find her?" asked the Queen."I said I'll search everywhere!" shouted the prince. "Don't yell at your mother," began the King, and then jumped as he was startled by a loud blare of a trumpet!
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Step 4
If a writer is mentioning well-known places or nicknames, no quotes are needed, like in Motown, the Empire State, Old Hickory or baseball legend Babe Ruth. But if it's a nickname many readers may not be familiar with, the writer should use quotes, as in this example: Prince Fauntleroy, or "Leroy," as the townsfolk call him, has set off in a search for the beautiful lady he saw running through the palace after the last spectacular party.
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Step 5
Sometimes a writer quotes someone who is in turn quoting another person. In these cases, use both double and single quotation marks so your readers know exactly which person said what in the article. "He said he'll search everywhere to find the beautiful lady he saw that night," said the Queen. "My son is very determined. He said, 'I'll keep searching until I find her, Mother, or until I am a hundred years old.' But I hope it doesn't take him that long."
