#I ALWAYS USE DIALOGUE TAGS BEFORE HOW TO#

This includes their dialogue tag and any other action they did before, during, or after the statement. If a new speaker talks, you should place their statement in a new paragraph. “The scent of Grandma’s sweet pancakes, the smell of fresh sunflowers and mud, and the sight of the rising sun over the horizon simply fill my heart with so much happiness, happiness that I only ever had while I was young.” New speaker I think they’re unforgettable memories that I wouldn’t exchange for the world. “I remember those bright, sunny days I spent at the villa. In the second paragraph, you need to add both the opening and closing quotation marks. If your character speaks long enough to warrant two paragraphs, you can place an opening quotation mark but not a closing one on the first paragraph. “I really don’t miss” - she poured herself a new cup of tea - “anything from that wretched place.”Įm dashes can also be used to indicate a dialogue interruption by another character. If there is no place for a pause in the dialogue, you can use em dashes (not to be confused with hyphens), as in the example below. “For the meantime, I’ll be calling someone else.” “We can decide about it later.” She took her phone up to her ear. “If the sun rises in the west,” he gestured to the maid to move forward, “then perhaps I’d think about it.” One simple way is to simply introduce the action in a pause. There are many ways to express an action happening in the middle of a dialogue. For example:Īlex noted, “I remember Mark saying that he ‘would never go back there’.” Interruptions or actions in between dialogue When characters try to quote other characters, you can use single quotes to differentiate the quoted text. “It didn’t affect me at all.” Single quotes There’s also a special placement of the dialogue tag, which is in the middle of a statement. No matter what the punctuation of the statement is, since the tag is still in the middle of the statement, it will be in small letters.įor neutral statements, commas are usually placed at the end of the statement then the tag. Take note also of the non-capitalized letter after the statement when the dialogue tag is placed at the end of the statement.

The statement still starts with a capital letter despite being in the middle of the sentence since it is the first thing that the character spoke. Notice that when dialogue tags come first, there is always a comma before the statement. These tags are always outside of the quotes, and they can be placed before and after the statement. Dialogue tags outside of the quotesĭialogue tags indicate the owner or speaker of the spoken dialogue. Dialogue Formattingĭialogue may look as simple as adding quotation marks to statements, but there are more guidelines you can follow to give your editor less of a headache when going through your manuscript.

#I ALWAYS USE DIALOGUE TAGS BEFORE HOW TO#

In this piece, we’re presenting you not just guidelines on how to write dialogue in a story, but also tips on how to write dialogue that’s impactful and natural. You should also make sure that you’re not abusing them, or else the entire scene might come across as boring or wordy to the reader. It may seem simple at first glance, but knowing how to write dialogue in a story may be harder than you thought.Īside from known conventions and formats in dialogue writing, you also need to understand when to use them so that they sound natural when read. It is one of the many ways characters interact with each other.

I always use dialogue tags before