Simply GORGEOUS

 "The thing about Andy is he’s got no coordination at all, whatsoever. Zero. So, Jeffrey Dean Morgan calls me and he goes, ‘Tonight’s gonna suck.’ I’m like, ‘Why?’ He goes, ‘Because I have the big fight scene with Andy. He’s gonna punch me in the face. He’s gonna drink a lot of coffee. He’s gonna get super excited. He’s gonna punch me in the face.’

I AM TRULLY SORRY!

Dean Winchester - Nothing Else Matters

So I’ve been reading a lot of amateur writing lately, and I’ve noticed what seems to be a common problem: dialogue. 

Tell me if this looks familiar. You start writing a conversation, only to look down and realize it reads like: 

“I’m talking now,” he said. 

“Yes, I noticed,” she said. 

“I have nothing much to add to this conversation,” the third person said. 

And it grates on your ears. So much ‘said.’ It looks awful! It sounds repetitive. So, naturally, you try to shake it up a bit: 

“Is this any better?” He inquired. 

“I’m not sure,” she mused. 

“I definitely think so!” that other guy roared. 

This is not an improvement. This is worse. 

Now your dialogue is just as disjointed as it was before, but you have the added problem of a bunch of distracting dialogue verbs that can have an unintentionally comedic effect. 

So here’s how you avoid it: You mix up the dialogue with description. 

“Isn’t this better?” he asked, leaning forward in his seat. “Don’t you feel like we’re more grounded in reality?” 

She nodded, looking down at her freshly manicured nails. “I don’t feel like a talking head anymore.” 

“Right!” that annoying third guy added. “And now you can get some characterization crammed into the dialogue!” 

The rules of dialogue punctuation are as follows: 

Each speaker gets his/her own paragraph - when the speaker changes, you start a new paragraph. 

Within the speaker’s own paragraph, you can include action, interior thoughts, description, etc. 

You can interrupt dialogue in the middle to put in a “said” tag, and then write more dialogue from that same speaker. 

You can put the “said” tag at the beginning or end of the sentence. 

Once you’ve established which characters are talking, you don’t need a “said” tag every time they speak. 

ETA: use a comma instead of a period at the end of a sentence of dialogue, and keep the ‘said’ tag in lower caps. If you end on a ? or !, the ‘said’ tag is still in lower case. (thanks, commenters who pointed this out!) 

Some more examples: 

“If you’re writing an incomplete thought,” he said, “you put a comma, then the quote mark, then the dialogue tag.” 

“If the sentence ends, you put in a period.” She pointed at the previous sentence. “See? Complete sentences.” 

“You can also replace the dialogue tag with action.” Extra guy yawned. “When you do, you use a period instead of a comma.”

So what do you do with this newfound power? I’m glad you asked. 

You can provide description of the character and their surroundings in order to orient them in time and space while talking. 

You can reveal characterization through body language and other nonverbal cues that will add more dimension to your dialogue. 

You can add interior thoughts for your POV character between lines of dialogue - especially helpful when they’re not saying quite what they mean. 

You can control pacing. Lines of dialogue interrupted by descriptions convey a slower-paced conversation. Lines delivered with just a “said” tag, or with no dialogue tag at all, convey a more rapid-fire conversation. 

For example: 

“We’ve been talking about dialogue for a while,” he said, shifting in his seat as though uncomfortable with sitting still. 

“We sure have,” she agreed. She rose from her chair, stretching. “Shall we go, then?” 

“I think we should.” 

“Great. Let’s get out of here.” 

By controlling the pacing, you can establish mood and help guide your reader along to understanding what it is that you’re doing. 

Negan | Shamefully Accurate Descriptions + Incorrect Quotes (4)

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Is this the real life? Is this Supernatural?

Caught up in Netflix, no escape from the hunting

Open your eyes, look down there to Hell and see

Luci is caged up, Michaels bad company

And it’s hunting here, hunting there, caffeine’s high, sleep is low

Any way the case goes, doesn’t really matter to us, to us

John, just made a deal

Azazel’s in his head

Pulled Colt’s trigger, now he’s dead

Mary, Sam’s life had just begun

But now dad’s gone and thrown it all away

Dean, ooh, didn’t mean to make you cry

But I’ll be back from Hell sometime soon

Carry on, carry on, being mortal doesn’t matter

Too late, Abaddon has come

Sends blackness everywhere, The Mark is aching all the time

Goodbye, Bobby, you’ve got to go

Gotta let you rest in peace and face the world

Kevin, ooh, I didn’t want you to die

I really wish I didn’t let him in at all

I see the angels wings, black on the wall

Gabriel, Gabriel, will you do the slow tango?

Werewolves and ghost sighting, Alphas, Djinn, and Banshee (shee)

(Jensen Ackles) Misha Collins (Jared Padalecki) Mark Sheppard, Eric Kripke, we all owe

(Cas is an angel, somebody help him)

Lucifer needs a hug, somebody hug him

Spare us this pain, and apocalypses please!

Family comes, family goes, does it end in blood?

No, we will hunt! Yes, with Baby go

(Baby go!) We will hunt! Oh yes we will go

(Baby go!) We will hunt! We have got to go

(Baby go!) Oh yes we will go

(Baby go!) We have got to go

(Baby go!)  Ah, no, no, no, no, no, no, no

(Oh Rufus please, Ellen please) Bobby please, let us go

Fergus has a Hell put aside for me, for me, for me

So you think you can shop and forget my pie?

So you think you can call Cas and not lose your eye?

Oh, Chuck, can’t do this to me, Chuck!

Just gotta get tattooed, just gotta get tattooed right now!

Supernatural matters, anyone can see

Supernatural matters

Supernatural matters, to me

You mean this little shit:

Coach Winchester

Dark!Dean

Sexy AF!Dean

Turning me on!Dean

Mechanic!Dean

!944!Dean

Endverse!Dean

Purgatory!Dean

Research!Dean

The freaking tongue thing

Or Army!Dean?

And LARP!Dean

squirrel!dean

sexy AF tux!dean

Hawaiian shirt Dean

Fake drunk!Dean

Sailor!Dean

And why is Jensen Ackles legal?

You mean this little shit:

Coach Winchester

Dark!Dean

Sexy AF!Dean

Turning me on!Dean

Mechanic!Dean

!944!Dean

Endverse!Dean

Purgatory!Dean

Research!Dean

The freaking tongue thing