It's the Basics.

     Seriously. I have come across two stories - TWO! Count 'em - stories in a row on my writing site Inkpop that did not use quotation marks for their conversations, or apostrophes in their contractions. Those are, quite possibly, the two most basic rules in the art of writing (and, I'm pretty sure I'm wrong, but, for the purposes of this post, I'm not.).

These are quotation marks.

     Now, I will readily admit that I am, in no way, the foremost knowledgeable person on the subject of grammar. I'm awful with grammar. I don't even like to use it all that much, unless I'm in one of my moods. But, seriously. This is what I might come across:

             Billy walked across the street to the playground, where his friend Sam was playing on the 

       swing. Hey, he said. How long have you been here?

             Oh, Sam replied, not too long. Im only here because I was bored. 

     Okay, so, the writing wasn't as atrocious as that little conversation was, not in the least. But, do you see what happened? Billy and Sam looked like they were telepathically conversing! They were missing quotation marks, and little Sam here has clearly never learned how to contract! "I'm" looks no different than "Im." And "Im" isn't even a word, as far as I, or google chrome, can tell. 

     I mean, this is seriously stressing me out. I'm pretty sure I knew about quotation marks before I knew about paragraphs (clearly). I knew that quotation marks indicated someone speaking pretty much as soon as I could read...I guess I assumed everyone else could, too. 

     Alright then, recap: Quotation marks indicate when someone is speaking. "Hey," he said. "How long have you been here?"

     Apostrophes are used for (but not limited to) contractions. "I'm only here because I was bored."

     See?

     

     That's how it's done. Don't you forget it.