Editorial Tip of the Week: It's Hip to be a Square Bracket

Although often upstaged by the more commonly used parenthesis, the square bracket is a handy writing tool. Perhaps you are quoting material that needs more information; there's a square bracket for that. "'They [the free-silver Democrats] asserted that the ratio could be maintained.'" Maybe you want to use the bracketed material to replace the author's original words; there's a bracket for that. When there is a pesky word within a quotation that you need to eliminate or change, the square bracket may just come to your rescue. When used correctly, the quotation "He gave an inspirational speech" becomes "[The President] gave an inspirational speech."

According to The Chicago Manual of Style, the square brackets "are used mainly to enclose material—usually added by someone other than the original author—that does not belong in the surrounding text. In quoted matter, reprints, anthologies, and other non-original material, square brackets enclose editorial interpolations, explanations, translations of foreign terms, or corrections."

Square brackets can also be useful when translating material. If a word causes ambiguity, a translator can use square brackets to avoid misrepresentation. For example, "the differences between society [Gesellschaft] and community [Gemeinde] will now be analyzed." However, Chicago warns to use the "device sparingly" in this manner.

When you're quoting, writing, or editing don't forget about the square bracket. Don't count it out just because it's a little "edgier" than it's parenthetical counterpart. It could just be your punctuation equivalent to Wonder Woman.

Editorial Tip of the Week: Using Tenses and Pronouns for Harmonious Quotations

When using quotes as dialogue or citation, knowing how to properly punctuate those quotes within the sentence is very important. Tenses and pronouns however are crucial, especially when taking a quote or passage and applying it in a new context. The wrong tense or an awkward pronoun causes the whole quote sound confusing and can ruin an otherwise strong paragraph.

Always integrate tenses, especially if the original text is in present tense and the new sentence in past tense. The Chicago Manual of Style 15th ed uses the following example:

[Original] Mr. Moll took particular pains to say to you, gentlemen, that these eleven people here are guilty of murder; he calls this a cold-blooded, deliberate and premeditated murder.
[As quoted] According to Darrow, Moll had told the jury that the eleven defendants were “guilty of murder” and had described the murder as “cold-blooded, deliberate and premeditated.”

With pronoun changes, these should always be used as little as possible. They also need to be bracketed so the reader knows this is a change from the original text. Above all, make sure the quotes flow easily with the rest of the paragraph. If they sound awkward or forced, it might be time to reevaluate.

For more information on all things quotable, check out The Chicago Manual of Style, paying particular attention to chapter 11, “Quotations and Dialogue.”