Post by Tydus on Sept 2, 2007 23:43:19 GMT -5
Dialogue Tags: The Two Types
A primer on the two different ways to attach dialogue to the speaker.
Dia-What?
Speaking! Talking. Chatting. Discourse. Whatever you want to call it. Dialogue is what happens between two or more characters when they open their mouths and let intelligible words come out. Notice, two or more characters. Monologue is when you only have one character, though the same basic rules apply.
So what's an example of dialogue? Dinner conversation. Chitchatting among friends. Talking to fellow adventurers on the way up a volcano to destroy a ring. That's dialogue.
Great. So What is Meant by "Tags"? And Did You Say Something about Two Types?
Great question and observation! Think of tags as dog tags (on real dogs ). A dog is barking constantly. Yipping at you and following you home. So you look at it's tags and see it's name, it's owner, etc. Dialogue tags do the same thing; they tell the reader to whom the annoying barking sound belongs. And of these tags there are two types: speaker attribution tags and action tags.
Speaker Attribution Tags: What They Are
She said he said that I said we said....
Sorry. Yup, that's speaker attribution tags! Along with she asked, he replied, it yelled, they whispered. Basically, you have the person who is doing the speaking plus a verb which in some way shows the production of words. Here's an example of the correct punctuation:
"I'm bored," Drew said. "Want to go do something?"
Here's another correct way of saying the same thing:
"I'm bored. Want to go do something?" Drew asked.
Notice that the punctuation is all within the quotes, on the inside. Also notice the capitalization of letters. Compare that with this:
"Hey John," Ryan said, "you hungry?"
Which can also be written:
"Hey John, you hungry?" Ryan asked.
Notice that in both instances, "you" is not capitalized. This is because it is a continuation of "Hey John" even though there is a "Ryan said" in between.
One more thing that's important to note: you cannot overuse the word "said." The human brain barely perceives it, and when we read it our minds tend to skip over the word and it becomes subliminal. In other words, "said" makes for smoother dialogue, because it doesn't interrupt the reader's thought process. Now, things like whispered, yelled, coaxed can all be used well, but don't use them too much since they become cumbersome. Well written dialogue doesn't need the yelled or whispered, it's obvious by the dialogue itself and the character's actions how it should come across, and the reader will pick up on it.
Action Tags
This is where you simply have straight dialogue followed by an action. Example:
Benny opened the door and stared at the stranger. "Who are you?"
Here's another example.
"Drop your weapons!" The swords clattered to the ground as Rysden glared at his surprised enemies.
Notice that between the action and the dialogue there is a period. The two are entirely separate and should be treated as separate sentences, especially for capitalization purposes. It's that simple. One more note, always put action tags on the same line as the dialogue of the speaker involved in the action. Otherwise it get's confusing. And always start a new line when you have a bit of dialogue from a character who hasn't just said or done anything.
What about a Tag That's Both?
Ah, good question! Here's an example:
"Hey Jen," Gary said, leaning with his back against the wall.
Here's an action AND an speaker attribution! Treat it as a speaker attribution for grammatical purposes. And that's it for today's lesson. Questions?
A primer on the two different ways to attach dialogue to the speaker.
Dia-What?
Speaking! Talking. Chatting. Discourse. Whatever you want to call it. Dialogue is what happens between two or more characters when they open their mouths and let intelligible words come out. Notice, two or more characters. Monologue is when you only have one character, though the same basic rules apply.
So what's an example of dialogue? Dinner conversation. Chitchatting among friends. Talking to fellow adventurers on the way up a volcano to destroy a ring. That's dialogue.
Great. So What is Meant by "Tags"? And Did You Say Something about Two Types?
Great question and observation! Think of tags as dog tags (on real dogs ). A dog is barking constantly. Yipping at you and following you home. So you look at it's tags and see it's name, it's owner, etc. Dialogue tags do the same thing; they tell the reader to whom the annoying barking sound belongs. And of these tags there are two types: speaker attribution tags and action tags.
Speaker Attribution Tags: What They Are
She said he said that I said we said....
Sorry. Yup, that's speaker attribution tags! Along with she asked, he replied, it yelled, they whispered. Basically, you have the person who is doing the speaking plus a verb which in some way shows the production of words. Here's an example of the correct punctuation:
"I'm bored," Drew said. "Want to go do something?"
Here's another correct way of saying the same thing:
"I'm bored. Want to go do something?" Drew asked.
Notice that the punctuation is all within the quotes, on the inside. Also notice the capitalization of letters. Compare that with this:
"Hey John," Ryan said, "you hungry?"
Which can also be written:
"Hey John, you hungry?" Ryan asked.
Notice that in both instances, "you" is not capitalized. This is because it is a continuation of "Hey John" even though there is a "Ryan said" in between.
One more thing that's important to note: you cannot overuse the word "said." The human brain barely perceives it, and when we read it our minds tend to skip over the word and it becomes subliminal. In other words, "said" makes for smoother dialogue, because it doesn't interrupt the reader's thought process. Now, things like whispered, yelled, coaxed can all be used well, but don't use them too much since they become cumbersome. Well written dialogue doesn't need the yelled or whispered, it's obvious by the dialogue itself and the character's actions how it should come across, and the reader will pick up on it.
Action Tags
This is where you simply have straight dialogue followed by an action. Example:
Benny opened the door and stared at the stranger. "Who are you?"
Here's another example.
"Drop your weapons!" The swords clattered to the ground as Rysden glared at his surprised enemies.
Notice that between the action and the dialogue there is a period. The two are entirely separate and should be treated as separate sentences, especially for capitalization purposes. It's that simple. One more note, always put action tags on the same line as the dialogue of the speaker involved in the action. Otherwise it get's confusing. And always start a new line when you have a bit of dialogue from a character who hasn't just said or done anything.
What about a Tag That's Both?
Ah, good question! Here's an example:
"Hey Jen," Gary said, leaning with his back against the wall.
Here's an action AND an speaker attribution! Treat it as a speaker attribution for grammatical purposes. And that's it for today's lesson. Questions?