From my previous article on using said and asked when the dialogue already has a question mark to denoted a question being asked. Yet now, I have a situation where I want to use a ? followed by She said. The way that I am using it, it is not a question, it is her repeating him in a mocking way, although she wants to know what he is about to say.
Paul came up to her.
"It was dirty, and now it's not. It has to be real."
"Because it is."
"It is."
The of them started nodding in unison.
"Only."
Paul stopped to think about what he was going to say next.
"Only?" Janet said
He took a deep breath.
"Only, I don't think we should be afraid."
Janet came down the steps.
"We shouldn't be afraid?"
"We should be a little afraid, but I don't think it's going to hurt us."
She crossed her arms.
I put a ? mark and used she said, because she is not asking a question, she is repeating that last thing he said as a question for him to continue. He started with, "Only.", then stopped. So she says, "Only?" Janet said, repeating the words, instead of "Only." She repeated, which would break Leonard's said/asked rule that I am using.
Let me know what your thoughts about doing it this way, or if I should adapt a different technique.
