#dialogue help

Basic Format

Dialogue is easy to format. I think it’s one of the easiest things in writing to format (some would say paragraphs are, but paragraphs can be hard to figure out where to end).  This isn’t from a fic, but just a basic thing.

“I don’t want to dance,” Hinata said.

What is being said is in quotation marks.  There is a comma inside the quotation because punctuation goes in the quotation marks. The name of the character is capitalized like you would normally and is outside of the quotation marks and period happens at the end of the overall sentence (after said in this case).

When multiple people are speaking, each person will get their own paragraph.  This is to show someone new is talking to not confuse the reader.

“I don’t want to dance,” Hinata said.

“Why not?” Asked Yachi.

So each of them got their own paragraph, which made it easy to know who was talking.  I reversed asked and Yachi to show that is also something you can do. Just remember the key elements that punctuation for the dialogue stays in the quotation marks.

Dialogue Tags

A dialogue tag is basically what tells you who is speaking.  This is the most important thing in dialogue, because if you don’t have it, then no one knows what the fuck is going on.  Dialogue tags can be super simple to a little more complex.

Simple

Here is a line from Next to You.  It shows how it’s dialogue and then the tag ‘Keishin asked’.  

“What if I’m not as good as Fujii-san?” Keishin asked, and Y/N chuckled as he shook his head.

You can add things after it by either putting ‘and’ or starting a new sentence.  Here is an example of not continuing on the sentence by using ‘and’.  This is from Hold Me Tight.

“So, there is going to be a party,” Sugawara said.

Complex

Now we’re going to make dialogue tags be in the middle of two things being said by one person.  You’ve seen it a hundred times at least, so don’t think it’s actually complex.  I just couldn’t think of a better way to do it. I also want to say that there is a slight debate on whether or not to use a comma or period in some circumstances. I use a comma (I’ll show what I mean in a second) since it’s normal to me.

Here Keishin says something, the word said is used, and Y/N responds, which makes Keishin speak again.  I’ll do it the two ways it can be done, which is comma or period for the ending of the first phrase of dialogue.  I’ve recently read commas are supposed to be for continuing sentences (where it’s all one sentence of dialogue but is divided up) and periods for two separate sentences.  I just use commas regardless.

“No, it’s a compliment, dumbass,” Keishin said, and Y/N shoved his shoulder again because of the nickname.  “Sorry, let me say it again; it’s a compliment.”

or

“No, it’s a compliment, dumbass.” Keishin said, and Y/N shoved his shoulder again because of the nickname.  “Sorry, let me say it again; it’s a compliment.”

Action Beats

What are action beats you may be asking.  Well let me tell you all about them.  This is another thing that you’ve seen a hundred times, but just didn’t know the name for.  Basically, it’s when you use action as a dialogue tag and not an actual tag.  It sounds confusing, but let me show you the different ways.

Before the dialogue.  You know who is speaking because they do the action before they speak.

Hinata shrugged with a bright smile. “I don’t know!”

In the middle of dialogue.  Someone starts speaking, does something halfway through and continue to speak.

“It won’t be the same without you.” Tsukishima’s ears slowly started to tinge pink. “And it shouldn’t matter if someone is apparently better than you. You can get better too.”

You can do a mix of those two things as well.  This part can be the most complicated because it’s hard to know if you should do an action or not.  There’s also the question if the action should come after the entire line of the dialogue is said.

Unnecessary Dialogue Tags

So, get ready for this one because there will be some anger behind some of this.  This is personal preference to an extent, but also something I was taught in creative writing classes.

The tag ‘said’ does not need to be erased.

Stop trying to find any other word besides said to use.  Said is the best word to use because it kind of melts away when you read and helps the reader to just know who is talking.  Trying to find any other word than said can lead to dialogue tagging that makes the read stop a lot to try to understand what’s going on.  Just because you’re not using said doesn’t mean your dialogue is better.  At the end of the day, your dialogue is good if it feels natural and makes the story flow.

Before I continue, I do want to say that there are words other than said that are needed and I will go over those.

I absolutely hate this line.  ‘Raged viciously’ is ridiculous to put together because rage is already vicious and I don’t really know what raged sounds like.  Reading it makes me stop and question what’s going on. (Also, these next couple of passages are from my old writing.)

“Just shut up! Shut up! She’s not here, and it won’t change anything if she was!” Will raged viciously at his friend.

This next one is more contextual thing.  I didn’t need to put that ‘interrogated’ because that question alone can come off as aggressive.  Also, the fact I called it a comment instead of a question still drives me absolutely crazy three years later.  For this, I could’ve just put ‘asked’ and it would’ve worked better in my opinion. You don’t need the tag to 100% match the tone of the dialogue when it’s clear what the tone is.

“Doesn’t it bother you how we’re apparently not part of his life anymore?” Mike interrogated and Lucas scoffed at the comment.

Another contextual one.  I didn’t need to put ‘complimented’ because it’s a compliment.  If it was something that could come off harsh, then ‘complimented’ would work better, but it doesn’t here.

“You look really pretty today,” Will complimented Angelia.

Necessary Dialogue Tags

This is just going to be a list of ones I think are most used and best to use. I don’t think you guys want to see any more of my dialogue.

Said, asked, stuttered, yelled, screamed, mumbled, murmured, laughed, squeaked, giggled, cried, sniffled, choked, scoffed, muttered, stammered, and whispered.

These are ones I like.  Obviously you can hate the word said and use whatever you want to.  It’s not my writing, it’s yours.  There’s a lot you can do with your punctuation before you even figure out what kind of tag you want to use.

If there’s anything I didn’t cover that you want me to, then feel free to dm me.

Also, here are links of things about dialogue that I like.  I usually just look up whatever I need help with on Google and find something from there.  Just do research to get the best Dialogue you can have.

Dialogue Tags