Question

Which of the following sentences is punctuated correctly?

• A. One day, I'll write a book, 'I said'. Not just a thriller but a real book, about real people.
• B. 'One day I'll write a book', I said, 'not just a thriller, but a real book, about real people.'
• C. 'One day I'll write a book', I said. 'Not just a thriller but, a real book, about real people'.
• D. 'One day I'll write a book', I said, not just a thriller, but a real book, about real people.

Hint:

For reported speech, always enclose spoken words within quotation marks and place commas or periods correctly inside the quotes, following conventional grammar rules.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: Recall the punctuation rules for direct speech. - Quotation marks must enclose the spoken words. 
- Commas are placed before the reporting clause ("I said"). 
- The sentence should maintain parallelism and logical pauses. 

Step 2: Analyze each option. - (A) Incorrect: Misplaces the quotation marks, splitting the sentence unnaturally. 
- (B) Correct: Properly punctuated. Quotation marks enclose the speech, commas are correctly placed, and the sentence flows logically. 
- (C) Incorrect: Misuses commas within the second quoted part ("but, a real book"). Also, closing punctuation should be inside quotation marks. 
- (D) Incorrect: Omits quotation marks in the second part of the spoken words, making it grammatically incomplete. 
Step 3: Conclusion. Therefore, the correctly punctuated sentence is option (B):

\[ \boxed{\text{'One day I'll write a book', I said, 'not just a thriller, but a real book, about real people.'}} \]