Starting with a list of speech tags is nice, but you first have to understand what speech tags are doing in a scene and why you want them. Speech and dialogue tags are words or phrases that provide context for the conversation between two or more characters in a story.
#EXAMPLE OF DIALOGUE TAGS HOW TO#
Let’s take a look at what speech and dialogue tags are, how to use them effectively, and when to avoid using them. Speech and dialogue tags can help you create a vivid image of your characters for readers, without having to explicitly explain each character's mannerisms or thought process. You don’t want to copy and paste a list of speech tags, especially once you read this advice. That's where a list of speech tags can come in handy-but only as a jumping off point. It's not just about what the characters are saying, but also how they're saying it that matters. You may also like to check out the blog on Show, don’t tell.Writing dialogue in fiction can be a tricky skill to master, especially without a master list of speech tags. Change things up by switching occasionally between dialogue tags, action tags, and not using a tag at all (if it is obvious which character is speaking). Remember when using dialogue tags that moderation is the key. This makes the dialogue tag less visible to the reader. The reader knows Emma exclaimed this because we have an exclamation mark. How many of the more dramatic tags have you used on the one page? Does some of the dialogue make these tags too obvious? This helps you show characterisation but they also need to be used in moderation because they eat into the white space on your page and slow the dialogue pace down. ‘Don’t touch that.’ Tom grabbed his son’s hand before it landed on the hot stove.Īction tags are fantastic because they show who is talking. If you need a tag to distinguish characters but want more variation, you might consider using an action tag. We still know who is speaking, but it’s much easier to read and feels natural, while the same exact scene that has all the dialogue tags feels forced. If it’s completely obvious which character is speaking your writing might feel more natural without a tag. This section of dialogue feels unnatural and forced because of the continued use of the tags even when it is obvious which character is speaking. ‘I can’t believe you ate all the pizza!’ Lisa said. Does it feel more natural without tags?Īnother thing to consider is whether or not you need a dialogue tag. Sometimes you can get away with the more dramatic tags such as shouted, whispered and murmured, but these have to be used wisely and sparingly. The two most common dialogue tags are said and asked, and because these two are so common your reader won’t even blink when they are used throughout your manuscript. To stop this from occurring your dialogue tags need to be almost invisible and you can do this by using dialogue tags that your reader will skim over. If this happens the reader usually decides to stop reading.
Once the writing becomes noticeable the reader is tossed out of the fictional world back into reality. The reason this can be a problem is it makes your reader think more about the dialogue tags than the actual dialogue of the story. In fact, this is one of my pet hates as an editor and proofreader. It’s exhausting, for the author and for the reader.
#EXAMPLE OF DIALOGUE TAGS PLUS#
For manuscripts like these it isn’t a stretch to see words like exclaimed, screamed, laughed, giggled, sighed, announced, plus many more all on the same page.Ĭan you imagine reading all of these on one page? Every dialogue tag is dramatic and varied. Sometimes I see fiction manuscripts where it’s obvious that the author is trying too hard to impress their reader. I have put the dialogue tag in bold and italics for you. This is the attribution found after the dialogue in the example below. It’s a very common writing device used in most books. Without dialogue tags it can become a game of ‘who’s speaking’. Dialogue tags tell the reader which character is speaking and when.
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