A quick word on dialogue tags
As someone who writes a lot of dialogue, and also is a teeny bit paranoid, I spend a few minutes every day worrying that Stephen King is going to come crashing through my window, SWAT-style, and face-kick me for occasionally tagging my dialogue with words other than "said."
For anyone wondering, a dialogue tag is just the bit next to your spoken dialogue that explains who said it. So, in "I don't understand what a dialogue tag is," the freshman said, "said" would be the tag. Other tags are "asked", "roared", "whispered", "pleaded", etc.
In his book On Writing, Stephen King says, "Never, ever, ever use a dialogue tag other than 'said', or I will personally sic Cujo on you."
That may be a slight misquote. The point is, it's generally agreed that "said" (or "say/says" in present tense) is the best way to tag the dialogue, because it's the most transparent. The eye skips over it, so the reader can fill in the emotion, which--they say--should be clear from what is being said. And I agree with them, mostly. I want to agree, anyway. My logical, harsh editor brain says, "It should be clear from context!"
And then my flowery, delicate, purple-prose-loving ballerina artist brain flutters around, wailing "You're suppressing me! The character needs to quip wittily and snort snarkily and groan!"
So, all you dialogue lovers out there hoping for someone to affirm your desire to have your characters not just say things, but burble and squeal and enthuse them, I feel your pain! The best advice I can give you is to make like the peace-loving ghost, and find a happy medium. If your character must yelp a sentence, then by all means, have him yelp it! Just make sure it doesn't happen more than, say, once a chapter. For most dialogue, "said" will do just fine, and will pull the reader into the story by letting her interpret it for herself, but if you need something special for emphasis every once in a while, don't beat yourself up about it!
Stephen King will do it for you.
For a quick guide to punctuating dialogue, check out this post on The Editor's Blog.
Have anything to say, scream, moan, or chuckle to me? Leave me a comment below!
For anyone wondering, a dialogue tag is just the bit next to your spoken dialogue that explains who said it. So, in "I don't understand what a dialogue tag is," the freshman said, "said" would be the tag. Other tags are "asked", "roared", "whispered", "pleaded", etc.
In his book On Writing, Stephen King says, "Never, ever, ever use a dialogue tag other than 'said', or I will personally sic Cujo on you."
That may be a slight misquote. The point is, it's generally agreed that "said" (or "say/says" in present tense) is the best way to tag the dialogue, because it's the most transparent. The eye skips over it, so the reader can fill in the emotion, which--they say--should be clear from what is being said. And I agree with them, mostly. I want to agree, anyway. My logical, harsh editor brain says, "It should be clear from context!"
And then my flowery, delicate, purple-prose-loving ballerina artist brain flutters around, wailing "You're suppressing me! The character needs to quip wittily and snort snarkily and groan!"
So, all you dialogue lovers out there hoping for someone to affirm your desire to have your characters not just say things, but burble and squeal and enthuse them, I feel your pain! The best advice I can give you is to make like the peace-loving ghost, and find a happy medium. If your character must yelp a sentence, then by all means, have him yelp it! Just make sure it doesn't happen more than, say, once a chapter. For most dialogue, "said" will do just fine, and will pull the reader into the story by letting her interpret it for herself, but if you need something special for emphasis every once in a while, don't beat yourself up about it!
Stephen King will do it for you.
For a quick guide to punctuating dialogue, check out this post on The Editor's Blog.
Have anything to say, scream, moan, or chuckle to me? Leave me a comment below!
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