A dialogue tag is a phrase such as \u201cshe said\u201d or \u201cdeclared the anthropomorphic potato with great enthusiasm\u201d \u2014 basically, saying who said what and how it was said. And if you write fiction, you have probably written a conversation and discovered a long stream of \u201cso-and-so said,\u201d \u201csomeone else said,\u201d \u201cyet another person said.\u201d Or left out dialogue tags and realized your readers don\u2019t know who\u2019s talking. Here are my tips on how to write and incorporate natural-sounding, informative, and interesting dialogue tags. (But don\u2019t worry, usually instinct is enough. This is only in case you\u2019re stuck.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You may have heard the rule \u201cnever use said <\/em>and asked<\/em>,\u201d and you may also have heard the rule \u201calways use said<\/em> and asked<\/em>.\u201d The argument for the former is that said<\/em> and asked<\/em> are dull and unspecific and may cause you to use (horror of horrors) an adverb*; the argument for the latter is that said <\/em>and asked <\/em>convey meaning without drawing attention to themselves, and all others distract from the dialogue itself. I think there is a happy medium here. When you have nothing more specific to convey (and don\u2019t need to divert an endless stream of said<\/em>s), I suggest using said<\/em>, because there is no point in adding a distraction. However, there are times when this is not so: If the speaker legitimately squeaks something, use squeaked<\/em>. Saying \u201cin a squeaky fashion\u201d is wordy and dulls the meaning of squeak<\/em>. (But try not to replace your stream of said, said, said<\/em> with a stream of squeaked, bellowed, mewled<\/em> \u2014 personally, if this happens in the extreme, I start laughing no matter what was said.) As with many things, there is a balance. As an example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am superior to everyone and everything and am the most important entity that ever existed,\u201d Cockerell declared.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re mean,\u201d Evie said.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy mommy\u2019s way better than you,\u201d Eden added.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, I recommend avoiding words such as questioned <\/em>and inquired<\/em>, since they are more distracting than asked<\/em> but do not convey any more meaning. Added<\/em> is a similar case, but is not as distracting, so I would use it less sparingly than questioned<\/em> and inquired<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The thing is, even if you are satisfied with your verb choice,a bunch of sentences ending the same way except for the verb can still sound choppy. There are a few ways to combat this. The easiest is to vary placement: If you can move a dialogue tag to the middle of the dialogue, that breaks up the repetition delightfully. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am superior to everyone and everything,\u201d Cockerell declared, \u201cand am the most important entity that ever existed.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re mean,\u201d Evie said.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Eden nodded and added, \u201cMy mommy\u2019s way better than you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Side note: Placing something at the end of a paragraph gives it more emphasis, so if you want the end of the line of dialogue to stand out, put the dialogue tag first. (Notice how \u201cever existed\u201d has more weight in the second example than the first.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can also move the dialogue tag to the beginning, but I find that the phrase \u201cHe said, (quotation)\u201d at the beginning of a paragraph a bit odd. However, if you add something before it, this also works: \u201cAfter a moment, he said, (quotation).\u201d This sounds more natural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This brings us to adverbs and clauses. While said<\/em> plus an adverb is not always better than a more specific verb, sometimes adverbs are valuable and add variation to dialogue tags. Although when the adverb is describing an emotion, an action may be better (if you want to show and not tell): You can replace \u201csaid nervously\u201d with \u201csaid, fidgeting.\u201d But \u201cagreed hesitantly\u201d probably works better than \u201cagreed with a timid expression, seeming unsure,\u201d which doesn\u2019t tell the reader anything extra. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am superior to everyone and everything,\u201d Cockerell declared, spreading his wings superciliously, \u201cand am the most important entity that ever existed.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re mean,\u201d Evie said.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Eden nodded and added, \u201cMy mommy\u2019s way better than you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Even so, it can get annoying to try to keep finding ways to incorporate dialogue tags into a conversation, so one thing you can do is leave off the \u201cso-and-so said\u201d altogether and just describe the action. (If it names the speaker and is in the same paragraph, it\u2019s equally clear.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am superior to everyone and everything,\u201d Cockerell declared, spreading his wings superciliously, \u201cand am the most important entity that ever existed.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re mean,\u201d Evie said.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Eden nodded. \u201cMy mommy\u2019s way better than you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, there are times when you can drop the dialogue tag entirely. If it\u2019s a two-person conversation, for example, it\u2019s clear from the paragraph breaks who is speaking. Try not to do this for too long, though, or the reader can still get lost. Also, if there are more than two speakers but it\u2019s unmistakable who\u2019s speaking, you don\u2019t need the dialogue tag then either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAirin, you just might be my new top henchman,\u201d Cockerell said.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou can\u2019t just fire me,\u201d Conscience objected, distressed. \u201cI\u2019m your brother!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy, yes I can, Conscience. You\u2019re fired.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCOCKERELL, YOU ARE THE MEANEST PERSON I HAVE EVER MET IN MY LIFE!!!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy mommy is definitely better.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that I said all that, ignore this while you\u2019re writing. You can\u2019t possibly be thinking of this every moment while you\u2019re writing, or it would take forever. But if you\u2019re editing and find long lists of said, said, said<\/em>s, here are some things to do about it, in case you\u2019re ever stuck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n