rhetorical questions and ?

by Barry Ridgers
28th June 2012

When creating a character who makes a rhetorical comment should I put a question mark after it?

Or would it be better to avoid it all together?

Replies

A question mark.

But use very sparingly at most and try to avoid altogether: that's my view, FWIW. I found I've used quite a number in my first draft and am now in the process of removing as many as possible. There's usually some alternative in the way of speech or action which will convey the same meaning to the reader in a more subtle way. I found writing character 'queries' this way improves the flow of the narrative.

At least I hope it does :)

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Jonathan
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Jonathan Hopkins
28/06/2012