what is direct speech

Direct speech is a form of transcription that reports speech or thought in its original form phrased by the original speaker. It shows a persons exact words and is usually enclosed in quotation marks in narrative. Direct speech repeats, or quotes, the exact words spoken, and there is no change in these words. It can be used to report something that is being said now or to tell someone later about a previous conversation. Direct speech can be contrasted with indirect speech, which is when the general points of what someone has said are reported without actually writing the speech out in full. The general rules of direct speech include starting each new characters speech on a new line, opening speech with quotation marks, starting each line of speech with a capital letter, and ending the line of speech with a comma, exclamation mark, or question mark.