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When I switched from writing non-fiction to fiction, dialogue was the hardest thing to get my head around.
Dialogue tags can present problems for some writers. When we refer to published novels and see varying styles for denoting dialogue, it can become confusing as to which format is correct. Understanding some basics will help clean up your work.
He Said, She Said…
On your never-ending quest to find a new way to say he said or she said, please don’t go overboard with substitutes. If you pepper every speaking phrase with a fun-filled synonym for said, it can become distracting and, well, annoying. It takes the reader’s attention away from what the characters are saying. Said can somewhat pass for an invisible word. Readers are accustomed to and skim right over said. However, you should still be mindful of its word count in your manuscript and try to find creative ways to keep it down. Chortled, gurgled, spluttered, and guffawed (while okay sparingly) should not be stuffed behind every quotation. In general, I’m personally not a fan of using a verb as a dialogue tag when it doesn’t make sense to describe someone speaking.
Not a fan: “Why did you do that?” she giggled.
I opt for this: “Why did you do that?” she asked, giggling.
She couldn’t physically giggle the words. She would speak the words and giggle in between them.
Let Actions Speak for Your Characters
Before you use spluttered for the fifth time in chapter seven, consider this: leaving out the dialogue tag when it’s unnecessary would be better. You can convey which character is speaking by use of action. Sentences before or after the dialogue work en lieu of said or replied (or whatever replacement you’ve found in an online thesaurus).
In the front: Sarah frowned as she studied Marlene. “You’re angry. I can tell.”
In the back: “Where are you going, all dressed up?” Natalie tore away her sunglasses to study her mother’s attire.
Avoid Long Sentences with Hard Returns
Many writers seem to have the habit of beginning a sentence with a hard return to dialogue at the end. This would be a run-on. Instead of one long sentence, make it two crisp sentences.
Incorrect: We stared at the ground for a long time before she finally looked up at me and said, “Would you like to go to the dance?”
Correct: We stared at the ground for a long time before she finally looked up at me and spoke. “Would you like to go to the dance?”
Using Periods and Commas Appropriately
Understanding when you should use a period or a comma is important. If you’re using an action or descriptive sentence to help your readers understand which character is speaking, make sure you use a period. It may “feel” right to use a comma, but that would be incorrect.
Incorrect: “You can borrow my sweater. I just need it back by tomorrow,” Annabelle’s nose crinkled as she smiled at me.
Correct: a) “You can borrow my sweater. I just need it back by tomorrow.” Annabelle’s nose crinkled as she smiled at me.
b) “You can borrow my sweater. I just need it back by tomorrow,” she said, her nose crinkling as she smiled at me.
When your dialogue tag crops up in the midst of a sentence:
Incorrect: “Wait,” she said, “Are you coming over today?”
Correct: a) “Wait,” she said. “Are you coming over today?”
b) “Wait”—she said—“are you coming over today?”
The period after said in option ‘a’ separates the sentences. Setting off she said with dashes, as shown in option ‘b,’ allows the phrase to remain one sentence.
One More Reminder…
When you are using question marks and exclamation marks, you still need to keep the pronoun lowercase because it is all considered one sentence. You wouldn’t randomly capitalize he in the middle of a sentence.
Incorrect: “Can you help me?” He asked.
Correct: “Can you help me?” he asked.
If you’re afraid you’ve been inconsistent throughout your manuscript with dialogue punctuation, simply use the search tool and plug in a quotation mark. You can then go through, one by one, to make any necessary edits. This seemingly tedious task will pay off in the end!
Do you have any comments on dialogue tips? Or questions about dialogue? Please add them below.
She blogs about writing, publishing, and literary agents at Publishing Tips for the Restless Writer.
Top image: Flickr Creative Commons quotation marks by quinn.anna
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1 2 3 4 Next »Thanks for such a concise article on this topic. The examples really help!
I think I need to look over some of my old dialogue punctuation just to be sure of it. There's probably some bits I need to fix, especially in the area of comma usage. I tend to make the mistake of slapping commas where there should be periods, which was something that always somewhat eluded me.
Good reference! :)
Thank you, Aywren! I'm so glad you found the material helpful. :)
Thanks a bunch for these tips, Alythia and Joanna. It's the little things like this that I find I struggle with sometimes - mostly the hard return sentences. The more I type, the more I put these things into practice and hopefully they just become a part of my natural toolbox of grammar and structure. As Aunt Josephine said in A Series of Unfortunate Events: "Grammar is the greatest joy in life, don't you find?"
I love that example! Haha! Thank you.
Great tips! I particularly like the tip about using action to show who's talking. Not only does it eliminate confusion, but it adds extra imagery to the story.
Hi Alythia
Great stuff, thanks.
I do, without a doubt, need to go back and check. Oh joy :)
cheers
Mike
Hi Mike! Thank you for reading! Let us know how the editing goes!
My lord was this helpful, I always wondered what to do about punctuation (periods, commas etc.) in dialogue. Thank you very much!
Jack Sdraulig
You are very welcome! :)
Really useful blog - thank you!
Thanks so much. I write in Spanish and English and the rules are not the same so a reminder is more than welcome!
I'm afraid I disagree with this example:
Incorrect: “Wait,” she said, “Are you coming over today?”
Correct: a) “Wait,” she said. “Are you coming over today?”
b) “Wait”—she said—“are you coming over today?”
The example which is marked as incorrect should be:
"Wait," she said, "are you coming over today?" (The comma after said is fine, but the next word should start with a lower case letter because it is a continuation of the sentence.)
Example (a) is also a grammatically correct option.
But I disagree with using dashes to punctuate speech as in example (b), at least for something as short as a "she said" tag. Dashes should only be used when the speech is interrupted by a much longer clause.
Hi Margarita,
Thanks for leaving a comment! The purpose of the sample was to show basic punctuation. Since the 'A' is capitalized in the incorrect sample, the comma beforehand is what makes that sentence incorrect. However, I should have also offered your option! ("Wait," she said, "are you coming over today?")
I sincerely appreciate this post. I have referenced it to many other writers in the past year. Excellent work.
With respect to your last comment here, I too was confused as to what exactly was incorrect with the incorrect entry. In that case, it might help the reader if you said what specifically was incorrect about it, when the correct examples made so many changes.
This is such a helpful article! Thank you! I've scoured the internet for information on proper use of punctuation in dialogue and yours is the best I've seen... thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!
Thank you, thank YOU for the lovely comment!
Oh what a precious, informative post! You are so right on the 'He said, She Said' thing: I have also been racking my brains trying to find the right verbs as to be as inventive as possible when a British edition of 'Creative Writing For Dummies' recently landed in my hands and changed my whole outlook on things. It said what you are saying, i.e. that 'said' can be invisible and we should just stick to it and rather use dialogue itself to show the way someone is acting or feeling. It's a case of show and not tell I guess that takes the reader by the hand to bring him right in the middle of it all. Again, thanks so much - the whole post has been fantastic, well done :)
Wow! Thank you so much for sharing! I was a little worried everyone would think the idea of 'said' being invisible was crazy. Haha! I'm glad to hear the editors of 'Creative Writing for Dummies' agree. Thanks for commenting. I appreciate your kind words!