![]() ![]() ‘Yes, I am going out to buy another bottle of Pinot Grigio,’ affirmed Pauline. We know it is a question as it is phrased as such and has a question mark. We don’t need further clarification in the dialogue tag. The character has already said she will do the task. ![]() ‘Sure, I will do that for you,’ she said. ‘Sure, I will do that for you,’ she clarified. Remember that the purpose of a dialogue tag is to tell the reader which character is talking.Ĭonsider how simply substituting said still gets the meaning over to the reader: Using said or asked may seem bland and boring but readers tend to be engrossed in the story and will just want to know who is speaking. His opinion doesn’t need to be spelled out by stating ‘I think you are wrong,’ opined Jake. Readers know that ‘I think you are wrong,’ said Jake is Jake’s opinion. The dialogue itself should be showing the reader why the character is speaking in a certain way, rather than an over-descriptive speech tag. Verbs that convey the act of speaking are the most effective to use, not those that express other actions. Well-written dialogue and the use of action beats should mean that over-descriptive dialogue tags aren’t needed. They are likely to jump out at the reader and possibly make the text look contrived. Words such as countered, remarked, ejaculated, challenged, affirmed, laughed and opined are all popular choices but none of these actually describe the act of speaking. ‘You can tidy it up immediately.’ Which dialogue tags should I use?Īs with most aspects of fiction writing, there are no rules!Īctive verbs are often used to describe how someone is speaking. ‘How long have you been waiting?’ asked Catherine. He said, ‘What do you think you’re doing?’ ‘Hello, Tom, fancy seeing you here,’ said Mandeep. Dialogue tags can be used at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of dialogue. A dialogue tag (also known as a speech tag) is a short phrase that is used to show which character is speaking. ![]()
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