“Tickle me all you want! You’ll never get me to talk,” he laughed. Words like laughed, smiled, and sobbed are often appropriated as dialogue tags, but whether it is a correct use is hotly debated. There’s always movement, non-verbal cues, small sounds, tone of voice, etc. Almost nobody just has a verbal conversation. They also help break up the dialogue so that it looks less like a script and more like a scene playing out in our heads. However, since it is on the same line, it effectively tells us who’s speaking, without an additional “he said” at the end.Īction beats give invaluable context surrounding a piece of dialogue, and allows us to avoid using too many flowery and distracting dialogue tags. It’s an action he takes before the dialogue, not as part of it. It means that George makes a growly noise, then says the line. It means that George is saying the line of dialogue in a deep, growly voice. George growled, “You’ll never get me to talk.” Action BeatsĪn action beat is an action or thought that can give clarity to a dialogue tag, but cannot be substituted for one. The important thing is that because the first piece of dialogue is not a complete sentence, the tag ends with a comma, and the sentence continues in the next set of quotation marks. It can also serve as a dramatic pause, though, and comes down to a stylistic choice. ![]() ![]() This should be used sparingly, as the tag breaks the line of dialogue and becomes more obtrusive and distracting. “Do you really think,” he asked with a slow grin, “that you’re going to get me to talk?” As the beginning of a new sentence, the first word of the second piece is capitalized. The next (tagless) piece of dialogue is on the same line, and so the reader understands that the same speaker is continuing. In this case, the first part of the dialogue is a complete sentence, and so the tag ends the sentence with a period. In this case, punctuation depends on whether the tag interrupts a sentence. You can also split up a dialogue with the tag. “Do you really think you’ll get me to talk?” he asked. In this case, you treat the other punctuation as a comma, and keep the lower-case tag. George said, “You’ll never get me to talk.”Ī dialogue tag after the text has a comma at the end of the dialogue, followed by quotation mark and uncapitalized tag.īut sometimes you want to use an exclamation point (sparingly) in the dialogue, or a question mark to ask a question. The first word of the actual dialogue is capitalized. The end of the dialogue itself is punctuated as a normal sentence. PunctuationĪ dialogue tag before the text has a comma after the tag, and before the first quotation mark. Chances are, if you flip through the nearest bestselling novel, you’ll find at least a few of these. It’s a little more atmospheric and evocative, which is why you don’t need to avoid it altogether. It’s more obtrusive, which is why it should be used sparingly. The use of “growled” (or shouted, or hissed, or screamed) does a little more work. “You’ll never get me to talk,” George growled. Occasionally, you can use the dialogue tag to convey strong emotion, or make it more clear that there’s non-verbal emotional cues happening that aren’t conveyed easily with description or the dialogue itself. ![]() For most readers, the “said” fade into the background while reading, making it an unobtrusive option that focuses on the actual dialogue and action. In this example, the tag is telling us who is speaking, which reduces confusion when there are multiple people in the room. “You’ll never get me to talk,” George said. 90% of the time, “said” is going to be sufficient, along with “asked” for spoken questions. ![]() What’s a Dialogue Tag?Ī dialogue tag tells you who’s speaking, and can offer some non-verbal cues as to how they’re saying what they’re saying. Going to the other extreme, however, ignores the fact that “said” doesn’t always do enough heavy lifting in the scene. Technically, yes, ejaculated is a synonym for blurting out or yelling something…but for many, it looks like an unfortunate mash-up of an excessively enthusiastic thesaurus and an insufficiently dirty mind. “ Snape!” ejaculated Slughorn, who looked the most shaken, pale and sweating. Among the well-meaning advice I thoroughly disagree with, new writers are often told to never use a dialogue tag other than “said” and “asked.” The most quoted example used to support this comes from JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series:
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