Rules to Get Write
Punctuation helps frame your words so they can be best understood. However, punctuation is often used inconsistently, which can confuse the message or simply distract from the words.
Quotation marks are one of the punctuation marks I find used most inconsistently. Here are a few of the rules listed in the Stylebook and Libel Manual published by the Associated Press which I find most helpful:
How Do Quotation Marks Interact with Other Punctuation?
Commas and periods should always sit inside of quotation marks. Other punctuation - dashes, semicolons, question marks and exclamation points - sit within the quotation marks only when they relate directly to what is in quotes. If those marks relate to the full sentence, however, you should put them outside of the quotations. A couple of examples of correct punctuation placement:
"Enjoy the summer!" she said.
She said to "enjoy the summer."
Did she say to "enjoy the summer"?
When Should You Use Quotation Marks?
Use quotation marks around:
The words of a speaker or writer
Titles of most books (see below), movies, operas, plays, poems, songs, television programs, lectures, speeches and works of art
Nicknames when the nickname is inserted into the identification of an individual (i.e. Jake "The Snake" Smith)
Words used in an ironical sense
An unfamiliar word being introduced to readers (just put the word in quotations the first time it is introduced)
Do not use quotes around:
Words in a Q&A
Full texts, condensed texts or textual exerpts
The Bible or other catalgos of reference material such as almanacs, dictionaries, directories, encyclopedias, gazetteers, handbooks, etc.
A few ordinary words a speaker has said
A quote within a quote (in this case, use a single marks to set off the quote within the quote)