Most writers—even bestselling novelists—never create such an unforgettable line of dialogue. But striving to create one is worth the effort. Ironically, iconic dialogue should fit so seamlessly it doesn’t draw attention to itself until fans begin quoting it. How to Format Dialogue 1. Use Dia...
Today we take a look at dialogue tags: what they are and how to use them effectively in your stories to help your reader.
To punctuate dialogue correctly, there are a few rules you should know: The correct use of quotation marks The correct use of dialogue tags The correct use of question and exclamation marks The correct use of em-dashes and ellipses Capitalization rules Breaking dialogue into multiple paragraphs Usi...
And once you’re confident with the conversational content you can conjure up, follow along to the next part of our guide to see how you canpunctuate and format your dialogue flawlessly.
Or, in dialogue: “Carl, I honestly don't know why you—” “Stop, Lauren! I will put hot sauce on my pasta instead of marinara if I want to.” Now that you know what to look for, you might start seeing them everywhere. But when do you use an em dash? What's the benefit of...
How do I punctuate one character's quoting another? Humor in dialogue Interview scenes that work Is it effective characterization to give a character a catchphrase? Jargon in dialogue Redundant dialogue Should I use italics every time a character would emphasize a word out loud? Dialogue co...
Table of ContentsPunctuation with speech tagsPay careful attention to the placement of every comma, quotation mark, questionmark, and period on all the examples in this document. Here are some commonuses of punctuation and wording for dialogue.Victory Crayne...
Punctuate your dialogue tags properly.[4] The dialogue tag (also called the signal phrase) is the part of the narration that makes clear which character is speaking. For example, in the following sentence, Evgeny argued is the dialogue tag: Evgeny argued, “But Laura didn’t have to finish...