diff --git a/common.go b/common.go
index 870839f..2065f8e 100644
--- a/common.go
+++ b/common.go
@@ -153,6 +153,8 @@ func unsafeReflectValue(v reflect.Value) (rv reflect.Value) {
 // Some constants in the form of bytes to avoid string overhead.  This mirrors
 // the technique used in the fmt package.
 var (
+	backQuoteBytes        = []byte("`")
+	quoteBytes            = []byte(`"`)
 	plusBytes             = []byte("+")
 	iBytes                = []byte("i")
 	trueBytes             = []byte("true")
diff --git a/config.go b/config.go
index 506ff8c..25d03bd 100644
--- a/config.go
+++ b/config.go
@@ -50,6 +50,9 @@ type ConfigState struct {
 	// a string slice or array. Zero specifies all entries on one line.
 	StringWidth int
 
+	// Quoting specifies the quoting strategy to use when printing strings.
+	Quoting Quoting
+
 	// BytesWidth specifies the number of byte columns to use when dumping a
 	// byte slice or array.
 	BytesWidth int
@@ -84,6 +87,29 @@ type ConfigState struct {
 	SortKeys bool
 }
 
+// Quoting describes string quoting strategies.
+//
+// The numerical values of quoting constants are not guaranteed to be stable.
+type Quoting uint
+
+const (
+	// Quote strings with double quotes.
+	DoubleQuote Quoting = 0
+
+	// AvoidEscapes quotes strings using backquotes to avoid escape
+	// sequences if possible, otherwise double quotes are used.
+	AvoidEscapes Quoting = 1 << iota
+
+	// Backquote always quotes strings using backquotes where possible
+	// within the string. For sections of strings that can not be
+	// backquoted, additional double quote syntax is used.
+	Backquote
+
+	// Force is a modifier of AvoidEscapes that adds additional double
+	// quote syntax to represent parts that cannot be backquoted.
+	Force
+)
+
 // Config is the active configuration of the top-level functions.
 // The configuration can be changed by modifying the contents of utter.Config.
 var Config = ConfigState{
diff --git a/dump.go b/dump.go
index 43ac0ff..dd65947 100644
--- a/dump.go
+++ b/dump.go
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ import (
 	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+	"unicode"
+	"unicode/utf8"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -463,7 +465,7 @@ func (d *dumpState) dump(v reflect.Value, wasPtr, static, canElideCompound bool,
 		d.dumpSlice(v, !interfaceContext)
 
 	case reflect.String:
-		d.w.Write([]byte(strconv.Quote(v.String())))
+		d.writeQuoted(v.String())
 
 	case reflect.Interface:
 		// The only time we should get here is for nil interfaces due to
@@ -585,6 +587,109 @@ func (d *dumpState) dump(v reflect.Value, wasPtr, static, canElideCompound bool,
 	}
 }
 
+// writeQuoted writes the string s quoted according to the quoting strategy.
+func (d *dumpState) writeQuoted(s string) {
+	switch d.cs.Quoting {
+	default:
+		fallthrough
+	case DoubleQuote:
+		d.w.Write([]byte(strconv.Quote(s)))
+
+	case AvoidEscapes:
+		if !needsEscape(s) || !canBackquoteString(s) {
+			d.w.Write([]byte(strconv.Quote(s)))
+			return
+		}
+		d.backQuote(s)
+
+	case AvoidEscapes | Force:
+		if !needsEscape(s) {
+			d.w.Write([]byte(strconv.Quote(s)))
+			return
+		}
+
+		fallthrough
+	case Backquote, Backquote | Force:
+		if canBackquoteString(s) {
+			d.backQuote(s)
+			return
+		}
+
+		var last int
+		inBackquote := true
+		for i, r := range s {
+			if canBackquote(r) != inBackquote {
+				if last != 0 {
+					d.w.Write(plusBytes)
+				}
+				if inBackquote {
+					if i != last {
+						d.backQuote(s[last:i])
+					}
+				} else {
+					d.w.Write([]byte(strconv.Quote(s[last:i])))
+				}
+				last = i
+				inBackquote = !inBackquote
+			}
+		}
+		if last != len(s) {
+			if last != 0 {
+				d.w.Write(plusBytes)
+			}
+			if !inBackquote {
+				d.w.Write([]byte(strconv.Quote(s[last:])))
+				return
+			}
+			d.backQuote(s[last:])
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// backQuote writes s backquoted.
+func (d *dumpState) backQuote(s string) {
+	d.w.Write(backQuoteBytes)
+	d.w.Write([]byte(s))
+	d.w.Write(backQuoteBytes)
+}
+
+// needsEscape returns whether the string s needs any escape sequence to be
+// double quote printed.
+func needsEscape(s string) bool {
+	for _, r := range s {
+		if r == '"' || r == '\\' {
+			return true
+		}
+		if !strconv.IsPrint(r) && !strconv.IsGraphic(r) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// canBackquoteString returns whether the string s can be represented
+// unchanged as a backquoted string without non-space control characters.
+func canBackquoteString(s string) bool {
+	for _, r := range s {
+		if !canBackquote(r) {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return true
+}
+
+// canBackquote returns whether the rune r can be represented unchanged as a
+// backquoted string without non-space control characters.
+func canBackquote(r rune) bool {
+	if r == utf8.RuneError {
+		return false
+	}
+	if utf8.RuneLen(r) > 1 {
+		return r != '\ufeff'
+	}
+	return (unicode.IsSpace(r) || ' ' < r) && r != '`' && r != '\u007f'
+}
+
 // typeString returns the string representation of the reflect.Type with the local
 // package selector removed.
 func typeString(typ reflect.Type, local string) string {
diff --git a/example_test.go b/example_test.go
index dc6e527..e49bd9d 100644
--- a/example_test.go
+++ b/example_test.go
@@ -139,6 +139,45 @@ func ExampleConfigState() {
 	// }
 }
 
+// This example demonstrates how to use a Quoting strategy.
+func ExampleConfigState_Quoting() {
+	scs := utter.ConfigState{
+		Indent: "\t", ElideType: true, SortKeys: true,
+
+		// Avoid escape sequences when present and force
+		// use of backquotes even when the complete string is
+		// not backquotable.
+		Quoting: utter.AvoidEscapes | utter.Force,
+	}
+
+	v := map[string]string{
+		"1. one":              "this\ntext\nspans\nlines\n",
+		"2. two":              "this text doesn't",
+		"3.\nt\nh\nr\ne\ne\n": "vertical key",
+		"4. four":             "contains \\backslashes\\ and `backquotes`",
+	}
+	scs.Dump(v)
+
+	// Output:
+	//
+	// map[string]string{
+	// 	"1. one": `this
+	// text
+	// spans
+	// lines
+	// `,
+	// 	"2. two": "this text doesn't",
+	// 	`3.
+	// t
+	// h
+	// r
+	// e
+	// e
+	// `: "vertical key",
+	// 	"4. four": `contains \backslashes\ and `+"`"+`backquotes`+"`",
+	// }
+}
+
 // This example demonstrates how to use ConfigState.Dump to dump variables to
 // stdout
 func ExampleConfigState_Dump() {
diff --git a/spew_test.go b/spew_test.go
index 436e223..f25e477 100644
--- a/spew_test.go
+++ b/spew_test.go
@@ -110,6 +110,21 @@ func initSpewTests() {
 	elideTypeDefault := utter.NewDefaultConfig()
 	elideTypeDefault.ElideType = true
 
+	// AvoidEscape.
+	avoidEscape := utter.NewDefaultConfig()
+	avoidEscape.SortKeys = true
+	avoidEscape.Quoting = utter.AvoidEscapes
+
+	// AvoidEscape|Force.
+	avoidEscapeForce := utter.NewDefaultConfig()
+	avoidEscapeForce.SortKeys = true
+	avoidEscapeForce.Quoting = utter.AvoidEscapes | utter.Force
+
+	// Backquote.
+	backquote := utter.NewDefaultConfig()
+	backquote.SortKeys = true
+	backquote.Quoting = utter.Backquote
+
 	var (
 		np  *int
 		nip = new(interface{})
@@ -265,6 +280,29 @@ func initSpewTests() {
 				" []int{1, 2, 3, 4},\n" +
 				" []string{\"one\", \"two\", \"three\", \"four\", \"five\"},\n}\n",
 		},
+		{avoidEscape, fCSFdump, map[string]string{
+			"one":         "\no\nn\ne\n",
+			"\nt\nw\no\n": "two",
+			"three":       "`t\th\tr\te\te`",
+			"codeblock":   "```\ncode\n```\n",
+		}, "map[string]string{\n string(`\nt\nw\no\n`): string(\"two\"),\n string(\"codeblock\"): string(\"```\\ncode\\n```\\n\"),\n string(\"one\"): string(`\no\nn\ne\n`),\n string(\"three\"): string(\"`t\\th\\tr\\te\\te`\"),\n}\n"},
+		{avoidEscapeForce, fCSFdump, map[string]string{
+			"one":         "\no\nn\ne\n",
+			"\nt\nw\no\n": "two",
+			"three":       "`t\th\tr\te\te`",
+			"codeblock":   "```\ncode\n```\n",
+		}, "map[string]string{\n string(`\nt\nw\no\n`): string(\"two\"),\n string(\"codeblock\"): string(\"```\"+`\ncode\n`+\"```\"+`\n`),\n string(\"one\"): string(`\no\nn\ne\n`),\n string(\"three\"): string(\"`\"+`t\th\tr\te\te`+\"`\"),\n}\n"},
+		{backquote, fCSFdump, map[string]string{
+			"one":                   "\no\nn\ne\n",
+			"\nt\nw\no\n":           "two",
+			"three":                 "`t\th\tr\te\te`",
+			"backquote":             "`",
+			"tabbackquote":          "\t`",
+			"backquotetab":          "`\t",
+			"tabbackquotetab":       "\t`\t",
+			"backquotetabbackquote": "`\t`",
+			"codeblock":             "```\ncode\n```\n",
+		}, "map[string]string{\n string(`\nt\nw\no\n`): string(`two`),\n string(`backquote`): string(\"`\"),\n string(`backquotetab`): string(\"`\"+`\t`),\n string(`backquotetabbackquote`): string(\"`\"+`\t`+\"`\"),\n string(`codeblock`): string(\"```\"+`\ncode\n`+\"```\"+`\n`),\n string(`one`): string(`\no\nn\ne\n`),\n string(`tabbackquote`): string(`\t`+\"`\"),\n string(`tabbackquotetab`): string(`\t`+\"`\"+`\t`),\n string(`three`): string(\"`\"+`t\th\tr\te\te`+\"`\"),\n}\n"},
 	}
 }