Punctuation question.

[silver_sun]

Which one is these is right? or if both them are correct which one do people think is easier to understand/looks better.


“Not exactly.” His voice is taut, pained. Closing his eyes he bites his lip for a moment before continuing. “I know you’re interested in what Torchwood does, Gwen’s told me as much.”

Or

“Not exactly.” His voice is taut, pained. Closing his eyes he bites his lip for a moment before continuing, “I know you’re interested in what Torchwood does, Gwen’s told me as much.”

It's the , or . after the continuing that I'm interested in.

Comments

[temporal-witch.livejournal.com]

The first is correct and actually flows better. You'd use the second only if the thought being expressed is incomplete within the split-quote.

To wit:

"Are you," Ianto asked, biting his lip, "asking me out on a date?"

as opposed to

"Are you?" Ianto began. "Asking me out on a date, I mean."

Not quite the same, per se, but it should illustrate the difference.

- The Grammar!Nazi (so say my betas)

[silver_sun]

Thank you.