10 Best Tips for Writing Dialogue: Dialogue Tags
- Jenna Moreci
- 5 days ago
- 6 min read
HelloOoOo everybody!
Today we are talking about dialogue tags as well as the narrative that surrounds dialogue. Most writers think dialogue tags are very simple, but no, not quite. Lots of people be fucking up their tags. I've done it. It's very common among newbies, and I'm here to help you out with my top ten tips for tags.
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Number 1: You Don’t Always Need a Dialogue Tag
A lot of newbie writers are under the impression that you need a dialogue tag every time there's a line of dialogue. But here's how it sounds when you write like that.
“Hello,” he said.
“Hi,” she said.
“How are you?” he said.
“I've been better,” she said.
“What's wrong?” he said.
Sounds stupid, doesn't it? Dialogue tags exist for one reason, to clarify who is speaking at any given time. You only need a tag if it's not clear who is speaking. Bottom line.
This means that if only two people are speaking, you very rarely need a dialogue tag because typically every other line is going to correspond to the opposite character. Additionally, whether you've got two people or ten people speaking, quite often narrative does the job of a dialogue tag.
For example, say you wrote:
Jenna furrowed her brow. “Are you okay?”
It's clear that Jenna is the one who is speaking because of the action that took place before the dialogue. So in this case, you don't need a dialogue tag, at all.
Number 2: “Said” Is Not Dead
One of the things a lot of people learned in school, including myself, is that “said” is a boring dialogue tag. Why would you use “said” when you can say “exclaimed,” “replied,” or “ejaculated?”
This is bullshit. “Said” is not dead. It's an invisible dialogue tag that allows the reader to see who is speaking without slowing the pace of the conversation. Does that mean you have to use “said" as your only dialogue tag? No, but it should be your first choice most of the time. Tags like “contested,” “conveyed,” “advocated," or “inquired” aren't gonna make you look smarter. I promise.
Number 3: Sometimes It’s Okay To Ditch “Said”
Emphasis on sometimes. Very minimal occurrences. If the person isn't merely saying something, they are screaming or muttering or whispering then it's okay to ditch “said” because you are conveying the manner in which they're speaking.
However, again, do not do this every time someone screams, or every time someone whispers. One, because readers should be able to tell how the character is speaking due to the flow of the conversation as well as the subject matter. And two, because as we already covered, we only use dialogue tags when we absolutely need to clarify who is speaking. If it's already clear, then forget about it.
Number 4: Just Use Their Damn Names
Sometimes we refer to character names via dialogue tags so often, that it starts to feel repetitive.
“I know! I'll just call them something else. Jenna becomes the brunette. Cliff becomes the blue-eyed man.”
This is stupid. Don't do it. Just stick to their names. Unless you're trying to sneak in physical descriptions, this is very awkward to read.
“But Jennaaa, there's too many of them. I’ve said the name Clifford over and over again.”
If you've said his name in too many tags, that means you probably have too many tags. Instead of swapping out his name with “the blue-eyed man” go through your tags and see which ones can get the chop.
Number 5: Tone Down the Adverbs
Sometimes people like to spice up their dialogue tags with some happy little adverbs.
She said quietly.
He said loudly.
Nine times out of ten, this is probably a bad idea. A lot of people hate on adverbs and say that you shouldn't use them at all. But realistically, there's a time and a place for them. The thing is, most of the time the adverb isn't necessary. It's just an adjective tacked on to a very weak verb. Instead of using two words to convey something, you could instead use one very powerful verb or no words at all.
For example, say your tag is: “she said quietly.” You could instead say: “she whispered.” Again, we don't wanna ditch said too often, but in this case, it works.
Say you're using the tag: “he said loudly.” You could delete the tag altogether and just add an exclamation point at the end of the string of dialogue. An exclamation point means that the dialogue is an exclamation, which is typically high-pitched or loud.
Number 6: New Voice, New Line
This rule is simple: if a new character is speaking, you start a new line. Each change in voice is a new paragraph because each new voice is a new subject. Plus if multiple characters are speaking in the same paragraph, you're just going to confuse the shit out of your reader.
“How are you?'' he said. “I’m great,” she said.
If you put all of this on one line, you've done fucked up.
Number 7: Narrative and Voice Go Together
As I already mentioned, sometimes writers use narrative as opposed to dialogue tags to convey who is speaking.
Jenna crossed her arms. “Isn’t dialogue fun?”
If that's the case, these sentences typically occur on the same line. They are treated as the same paragraph.
Now say there are multiple people speaking and there's dialogue associated with each of them.
Jenna crossed her arms. “Isn’t dialogue fun?”
“I don't know. I think it's kinda lame.” Peter danced in a circle.
In this case, the Jenna dialogue and narrative combo is its own line. Then the Peter dialogue and narrative combo gets its own line because remember, new voice, new paragraph.
Number 8: Pacing Matters
The pacing of a conversation is going to dictate how much narrative and how many dialogue tags you utilize. If the characters are having a long relaxed conversation, then this is going to occur at a slower pace. In this case, you have a greater ability to include narrative or tags when needed. You can describe their body language or clothing, you can get into their tone of voice or facial expressions.
However, if the conversation is firing off, like a heated yelling match, then the pacing is going to be much quicker. That means narrative and dialogue tags need to be kept at a minimum in order to keep the momentum going. For a fast-paced conversation only use narrative and dialogue tags when absolutely crucial.
Number 9: Avoid Repetition
I know I said “said” is invisible, but when you start using it over and over again in close proximity, it starts to become very visible. In a very bad way.
“Hello,” he said.
“Hi,” she said.
“How are you? he said.
“I've been better,” she said.
Remember that horrific example? How can you forget?
“But Jennaaa, if I'm supposed to rely on ‘said,’ how do I avoid repeating myself?”
By doing everything I already told you to, you dummy. As we already covered, you should only be using dialogue tags when it's absolutely necessary for the sake of clarity. But even if you're convinced you're already doing that, you still may be using them a lot more than you've anticipated. Because of this, I recommend doing a search for the word “said” in your manuscript. Personally, I try not to use the dialogue tag “said” more than three times on a single Word doc page, which for me is about 350 words.
Number 10: Show Don’t Tell
A lot of people use dialogue tags to tell the reader how the characters are feeling.
“Dialogue tags suck!” Jenna said angrily.
This is a really shitty way to express a character’s feelings because there's nothing remotely visual or interesting about it. Instead, ditch the tag altogether and rely on narrative to convey the emotion.
Jenna balled her hands into fists. “Dialogue tags stuck!”
With this example, we’ve created a visual to go along with a dialogue that perfectly illustrates how the character is feeling and is a lot more engaging to read.
So that's all I've got for you today!
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