If you’re a fiction writer, you know what dialogue tags are.
They’re the he said - she said part of writing that lets the reader know who is speaking.
Dialogue tags are best when they seem to disappear as you’re reading a story.
Here are a few tips for making sure your dialogue tags don’t draw attention to themselves:
1. Stick to a few basic tags.
Beginning writers often think they need to use a variety of tags to make their story more interesting, so instead of saying “he said” or “she said,” they come up with all sorts of verbs, adjectives, and adverbs to describe how something was said and who said it.
This is usually a mistake. If you rely on a dozen different tags in your story, chances are you aren’t making the dialogue strong enough. Most of the time, the reader can figure out HOW something is being said if the dialogue itself is strong, so don’t rely on the tag to give your reader this information. For the most part, use “he said” or “she said” for your tags.
2. Use strong, precise verbs to “show” how something was said, rather than a list of weak adverbs or adjectives.
For example, “Give me that,” she screamed, as she snatched the paper from my hand - is less clunky sounding than “Give me that,” she said loudly, as she snatched the paper from my hand.
3. Characters cannot sigh or laugh words, so don’t use these actions as tags to describe how something was said.
Instead, make these actions complete sentences that end with a period.
For example, this is incorrect: “I’ve got you now,” he laughed.
It should be written like this: “I’ve got you now.” He laughed.
4. Avoid including too much description of what the character is doing in the tags.
Describe what the character is doing in a separate sentence, not within the tag.
For example, this just sounds silly: Flipping her hair out of her eyes, and flashing a smile at Michael, Jane said, “Hello. What are you doing here today?
Instead, write it like this: Jane flipped her hair out of her eyes. She smiled at Michael. “Hello. What are you doing here today?” she said.
5. The word “exclaimed” is not necessary when using an exclamation point.
You might have to think about this one for a second. What’s wrong with the following tag:
“Why, I’ve never been so humiliated in my life!” exclaimed Jennifer.
The answer should be obvious. The exclamation mark shows the reader that Jennifer exclaimed this bit of dialogue. When you use “exclaimed Jennifer in the tag, it’s almost like saying “”Why, I’ve never been so humiliated in my life- exclaimed, exclaimed Jennifer. See what I mean?
These are just a few tips for writing effective dialogue tags.
Now… go back and make note of the dialogue tags used in one of our favorite stories. It might surprise you find that some editors don’t catch all the punctuation mistakes in dialogue tags. I’ve seen characters laugh words in many published books. But this isn’t correct. Impress your next editor by punctuating dialogue tags correctly and following the other tips given here.
Happy writing!
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