Writing tip: Use block quotes wisely and liberally

Writers at Bleacher Report write a lot of pieces that are reactions to the news of the day. That means we’re often quoting people, often other writers.

We all learned how to use quotation marks in elementary school, but when quotes start to get long and you don’t want to leave out any words, it’s best to use the block quote function. That makes it crystal clear that you’re quoting someone, that you’re not truncating their quote to get attribution in, and that what they have to say is pretty central to what you’re writing about.

When quoting another article, the best rule of thumb to follow is to quote as little as you can to still make your point. You should always link to the article you’re quoting anyway so readers can see it for themselves. Include what you need so that readers will have enough context for your response to make sense.

And that’s the other part of it: You need to contribute something of value in your own piece. If you’re simply repeating something, you’re not doing enough.

There are no hard and fast rules governing how big the quote is before you must use a block quote. Some people say four lines of text in the finished product, some five, some 10. It’s best to just eyeball it. If the quote is on the long side and central to what you’re saying and a block quote wouldn’t look awkwardly short, go ahead and use it.

To use the block quote function in the Bleacher Report CMS, highlight the text you’re quoting and click the button at the top of the text box with the image of quotation marks. It sometimes takes the next paragraph into the block quote too. Just highlight that text and click the quotation marks again to un-block-quote it.

The last sentence setting up the block quote should end in a colon, like this sentence introducing a quote from “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” in which Mark Twain describes teaching baseball to his new pals:

The umpire’s first decision was usually his last; they broke him in two with a bat, and his friends toted him home on a shutter. When it was noticed that no umpire ever survived a game, umpiring got to be unpopular. So I was obliged to appoint somebody whose rank and lofty position under the government would protect him.

Notice that when you use a block quote, you remove the quotation marks. The block quote itself denotes that what’s set off is quoted material.