Тёмный

Dialogue Tags in Writing (With Examples!) 

Michelle Schusterman
Подписаться 13 тыс.
Просмотров 5 тыс.
50% 1

How do you use dialogue tags in a story? What are some of the most common dialogue tag mistakes writers make? There are some confusing and even conflicting rules out there about punctuation, capitalization, and even verb choice when writing dialogue. But if you remember that the purpose of dialogue tags is to support or enhance-NOT distract from-the dialogue, all of the rules start to make a lot more sense!
Looking for more writing workshops? Check out my FREE course! skl.sh/33iwgFH
The only dialogue tag rule you need to know 00:00
Dialogue tags and punctuation 00:16
Dialogue tags and capitalization 01:02
Dialogue tags and verb choice 03:31
Common dialogue tag mistakes 08:39
Stuff I use as a full time writer/author (that you may have spotted in this video!) (affiliate links are afoot):
WRITING/WORK STUFF
Alphasmart Neo2. Highly highly recommend. amzn.to/3cStKui
Adjustable laptop desk. I LOVE this thing. Typing with my arms at an angle has drastically reduced elbow/wrist pain. amzn.to/2OYh0tX
Clever Fox planner. I’ve used a few planners and this is my fav. Lots of space for mind-mapping and brainstorming, daily to-do lists, space for goal setting. amzn.to/3vNmk3Z
Best writing pens, hands down. I use them every time I revise a book. amzn.to/311nRoP
Acer monitor. I kind of hate the word gamechanger but this really was that kind of purchase. amzn.to/3vH71Kh
Brother laser printer. I won’t lie, this thing is a behemoth. But I’ve had it since 2017 and I think I’ve had maybe one paper jam? It works great, it’s super consistent, A++ for printing manuscripts. amzn.to/3tzIvZE
Macbook Air. Doesn’t really need my recommendation. amzn.to/2OUCaJx
I'm a Skillshare Ambassador! I've been binging their courses on filmmaking and video editing, as well as writing, but there's all kinds of stuff for creative types! Try it out FREE for two week! skillshare.eqcm.net/RyG57R
COFFEE STUFF
Ninja coffee maker. amzn.to/31533Nu
Cold brew pitcher. amzn.to/3cSKVM9
Zulay milk frother. amzn.to/3r7DDJu
VIDEO MAKING STUFF
Canon G7X Mark iii camera. amzn.to/3r9BfCb
Savage studio lights. I mostly use these for ‘talking head’ videos. amzn.to/3r7G6Un
Ubeesize 10” ring light. That’s the little guy sitting on my desk. I mostly use it for vlogging. amzn.to/31hqpzD
JJC mini tripod. amzn.to/3feXxjJ
Rode clip mic. amzn.to/2OSaLb2
______________
Check out my free Create Dynamic Characters course, a quick writing workshop that'll help you create a protagonist who transforms AND find an organic plot for your novel in just 20-30 minutes! michelleschustermancourses.th...
Plus I've got lots of other freebies for you to download and use on your writing journey, including:
From Premise to Plot: A Guide to Plotting
My FIRST First Draft Checklist
My Revision Game Plan
The Query Formula
Download 'em all here: www.michelleschusterman.com/f...
_____________
BLACK LIVES MATTER. To my fellow white authors: we have to show up every day. We have to speak out. We have to make it clear to the Black authors and creators in our community that we are here for them. Silence is not an option. Please check out this Google Doc for hundreds of resources on how you can support, donate, and learn--not just in February, not just when another senseless tragedy due to racism occurs, but every single day from right now moving forward: docs.google.com/document/u/0/...
________________
SUPPORT INDIES!
Like audiobooks? I switched from Audible to Libro.fm in 2019 and have zero regrets. Libro.fm sends your $ to the indie bookstore of your choice! The monthly fee is the same. Sign up with this referral link and get a FREE audiobook: libro.fm/referral?rf_code=lfm1...
Looking for your next writing craft book? Check out my Bookshop and support indies! bookshop.org/lists/writing-cr...
________________
Looking for a ghostwriter for your novel? I might be your gal! reedsy.com/michelle-schusterman
If you're interested in using Reedsy to offer your ghostwriting or editing services, sign up here: reedsy.com/p/michelle-schuste...
*full disclosure: the above link is a referral! If you sign up and get a project, you and I each get $100!*
___________
MY BOOKS
/ 6522087.michelle_schus...
www.goodreads.com/author/show...
__________
Music from www.bensound.com/royalty-free...
DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may receive a small commission from purchases. There is no additional charge to you!

Опубликовано:

 

25 июл 2024

Поделиться:

Ссылка:

Скачать:

Готовим ссылку...

Добавить в:

Мой плейлист
Посмотреть позже
Комментарии : 66   
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 3 года назад
What'd I miss? Anything else about dialogue tags you find confusing?
@ruaks4323
@ruaks4323 3 года назад
Hello, I've been stuck on one type of dialogue and I'm not sure how to go about it. I understand the difference in action and dialogue tags but how do half-sentences work? "You know," she said, tapping her hand on the table, "He is always grumpy in the morning." The /you know/ part of this sentence is half a sentence, it in itself is not a complete sentence, so should I capitalise the /he/ or leave it lowercase? 1. "You know," she said, tapping her hand on the table. "He is always grumpy in the morning." 2. "You know," she said, tapping her hand on the table, "He's always grumpy in the morning." 3. "You know," she said, tapping her hand on the table, "he's always grumpy in the morning." I don't know which is the correct one when your first dialogue is an incomplete sentence and it's separated by an action in the middle. Thank you!
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 3 года назад
@@ruaks4323 Excellent question! In your example, #3 is correct because "You know, he's always grumpy in the morning" is one sentence. If it were two sentences, you would need a period and capitalization. "You know what?" she said, tapping her hand on the table. "He's always grumpy in the morning."
@ruaks4323
@ruaks4323 3 года назад
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor that makes sense! thank you so much!!
@learnENGLISHwithdebi
@learnENGLISHwithdebi Год назад
GREAT VIDEO! Very helpful. Is there ever a reason to use all CAPS when writing? :)
@williefilmore5836
@williefilmore5836 Год назад
Great lesson 👌. It's those little things that make reading flow easier and more of a pro format.
@loveswords2000
@loveswords2000 2 года назад
This is the basic every new writer needs! Thank you!
@jpch8814
@jpch8814 3 года назад
Another thing to fix when editing 😵. Thank you, Michelle.
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 3 года назад
Happy to help! Thanks for watching, JP!
@BloodDrippnFlowers
@BloodDrippnFlowers 2 месяца назад
Very interesting and clearly explained, it can get confusing
@asrgelpi_author
@asrgelpi_author 2 года назад
I wish I had found this video in November 2020! Best video explaining the science of dialogue tags WITH EXAMPLES! So, subscribed now.
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 2 года назад
So happy this was helpful! :) Thanks for watching!
@Iwasonceanonionwithnolayers
@Iwasonceanonionwithnolayers 3 года назад
I've been getting mixed answers for whether she said is capitalized. Totally needed this!
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 3 года назад
So glad this was helpful, Vicky! :)
@merriberri845
@merriberri845 2 года назад
I think using the "creative" dialogue tags tend to make characters seem much more melodramatic than intended. When people speak it's rarely so expressive through the voice alone. Most emotions are conveyed in the little details and context.
@BillZebubproductions
@BillZebubproductions Год назад
Thank you for this. When I read, I am almost never aware of dialogue tags, which means that the writing is good. However, when I write dialogue, the tags seem to glaringly stick out. They seem too basic. But that might be the same as thinking that I am having a bad hair day, when others see nothing different in my appearance.
@romaeisenstark3068
@romaeisenstark3068 2 года назад
Thanks for this! It was really helpful.
@ruaks4323
@ruaks4323 3 года назад
I come back to this regular because it’s the best dialogue tagging example and it’s so clearly explained. Thank you, wouldn’t mind a few more videos on this topic if you have the time, thank you
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 3 года назад
Wow, thank you so much for letting me know! I'm so glad it was helpful, and I do have more dialogue video ideas on the list! :)
@ruaks4323
@ruaks4323 3 года назад
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor I shall go find and watch them, dialogue tags are haunting me ahaha, thank you!
@ran_loona
@ran_loona 3 года назад
I've been struggling with dialogue punctuation for years and you explained it so well in just a few minutes! Thank you so much 😊
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 3 года назад
You're very welcome! I'm so glad this was helpful! :D
@eunicefazzi6697
@eunicefazzi6697 3 года назад
I get these rules confused all the time. Thank you for this video! I also appreciate the advice regarding the use of “whisper” 😅 I think I’m guilty of doing that
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 3 года назад
Thanks so much, Eunice! I am SO guilty of using whispered for the wrong reasons. That was eye-opening for me when my friend mentioned it!
@WriterMarkusRegius
@WriterMarkusRegius 3 года назад
Great advice, like always! I want to add a reminder to bilingual writers that some of these rules vary between languages, especially the punctuation, so don't forget to look that up in your own language! In Swedish, for example, the comma goes after the citation mark ("like this", he said), and I've seen a lot of people get that wrong because the rules differ in different languages :) I also have a question, just out of curiosity. In English, do you ever write dialogue with - instead of "? -Like this, he said. It's fairly common in Swedish literature, and I hate it because you can't tell where the dialogue ends and the tags and descriptions begin 😂
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 3 года назад
ohhh great note - thank you, Markus! And wow, no, I've never seen a hyphen in place of a quotation mark! That's really interesting. And yeah, I can see how it would be confusing for sure!!
@WriterMarkusRegius
@WriterMarkusRegius 3 года назад
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor I'm glad the hyphens (thank you, I couldn't for the life of me remember the term) isn't something you have to deal with in English X) Luckily it's getting more and more rare in Swedish as well, one of the few places where I appreciate the influence the English language has on Swedish ;)
@johnterpack3940
@johnterpack3940 Год назад
The one thing really holding me back from finishing any project is my perfectionism. I can't get into the mindset of writing a garbage first draft and then fixing it later. The idea of putting dialog tags everywhere makes perfect sense. But it also makes my skin crawl.
@DuaneStanley
@DuaneStanley 3 года назад
Thank You, Loved the video!
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 3 года назад
Glad you enjoyed it, Duane! :)
@caroline-fortheloveofwords9706
@caroline-fortheloveofwords9706 3 года назад
I found this very helpful thank you xx
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 3 года назад
I'm so glad! Thanks for watching! :)
@ilolatmyself12
@ilolatmyself12 3 года назад
Thank you for blessing us with this content!! I get so many clients through my editing service who struggle with all these aspects of dialogue tags, so it’s super helpful to have this video I can send them for an in-depth breakdown! One thing I also often see is under-using dialogue tags, especially in scenes with 3 or more characters. It can get very confusing.
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 3 года назад
Thank you so much, Susy! I really appreciate that. :) And yes, it seems that underwriting and overwriting in general are big issues, especially with newer writers! (It really does get confusing fast with 3+ characters.)
@davidlowe7217
@davidlowe7217 3 года назад
Thanks. Much appreciated.
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 3 года назад
Thanks for watching, David!
@sheamckeown7238
@sheamckeown7238 3 года назад
Thank you so much for this, Michelle! This is something I always have to google to double check...it’s so nice to have everything clearly presented in one place! Your videos have been so helpful as I’ve finally gotten into writing this year. I can’t thank you enough!
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 3 года назад
Thanks so much for watching, Shea! I'm so glad these vids are helping!! :)
@corkandi
@corkandi 2 года назад
This is good advice and just what I needed. So many grey areas for newbie writers like me. When a character ask a question. Is it okay to use...he replied, instead of said? I've subscribed.
@kittenlou3742
@kittenlou3742 Год назад
Thank you so much :)
@BarrettLaurie
@BarrettLaurie 3 года назад
I love your content. Literally been fixing dialogue tags. It’s like you read my mind. This, with the examples, is exactly what I have been asking the universe for! The Secret is real!! 😂🤣 Thanks as always for keeping us from looking like amateurs!
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 3 года назад
Thank you so much, Barrett! ROFL ask the universe for dialogue tag help, and it will deliver 😂
@johnparnham5945
@johnparnham5945 Год назад
This is very useful.
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor Год назад
Glad it was helpful!
@MissyLaMotte
@MissyLaMotte 3 года назад
Thank you. This is really the most helpful and complete video I ever saw on this. I am a German writer currently writing my first novel manuscript in English and the subtle differences between the use of punctuation in dialogue tags in those two languages has been driving me crazy (German did change it's dialogue tag punctuation rules a few years back which even added to my confusion). I use "whispered" a lot, but only because one of my protagonists has damaged vocal cords, so whispering is really all he can manage. I usually use "whispered" when one of my other characters hear him talk, especially for the first time or when it is hard to understand what he says and "said" when we are in his POV. But I think I am guilty of using "whispered" in a few cases with other characters when "said softly" or "quietly" is probably the better choice. I'll keep that in mind when editing. Oh, and one thing you maybe could add if you ever do a follow up video is the use of line breaks to set the speakers apart. I find this clear and obvious as long as it is just direct speech + dialogue tag, but sometimes more muddy when action tags come in.
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 3 года назад
I'm so happy this helped, Missy! That is a VERY good reason to use "whispered" a lot. And thank you for the request! I've had a few other questions about this topic so I'll add them all to my list of potential future videos. :)
@jane.simplywrites
@jane.simplywrites 3 года назад
Excellent video, Michelle!! The use of comma vs period. This would confuse me sometimes. Thank you for the examples! I took notes 📝. 😁
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 3 года назад
Thank you so much, J! I'm so happy this helped!! :D
@lindsayribar9107
@lindsayribar9107 3 года назад
You poetic, noble land mermaid.
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 3 года назад
😂😂😂
@rhondahoward8025
@rhondahoward8025 2 года назад
Okay, I'm guilty of "tag redundancy", mistake number 2. Most recently, I did a " 'Shit!' She swore' " thing. I was trying to emphasize that it's shocking for this character to be swearing because they're supposed to be a five-year-old but now I see that the tag redundancy was a mistake. Guilty of mistake number 3 too with the adverbs. My version wasn't quite "he said loudly" but "she shouted out loud" which seems kind of redundant, but I don't know. Mistake #4 Whispered vs. Said quietly The tip to see if a whisper works by saying the dialogue tag out loud is pretty good.
@SARbeaver1
@SARbeaver1 2 месяца назад
I would rarely add "she exclaimed" after an exclamation mark.
@kanashiiookami6537
@kanashiiookami6537 3 года назад
😅 I'm guilty of most of these. (Except for only sparing use of tags beyond the standard said/asked/called) That first one of full stops and commas always throws me, as does when to capitalise words following dialogue. Because, at least for the first bit, I've seen published works where they don't seem to follow that rule (despite the 'style guide' agents and publishing houses point authors toward for their editing) But laughed, sighed, yawn, smile, things like that? We do all of those while speaking. It may make certain words a bit hard to understand, especially when it comes to laughing. (Have you heard a joke being told by someone who is dying from the punchline they haven't even got to telling you yet?😂) so I do prefer to keep those as tags, unless the person is specifically laughing or whatnot *after* they said their bit. So if it's one of those that would make the dialogue hard to understand in real life, I make sure to have a character mention that they didn't catch x bit. The one that gets me miffed, though, is how many writing books tell you "nobody can smile dialogue/you can't *hear* a smile" when you can and do. Anyway, my question is: isn't adding a comma after dialogue more like a "but I'm not done yet" reminder that there's more dialogue to go? Or have I misunderstood it this whole time. Also, when you write something "like this," but aren't finished with the dialogue "Do you capitalise this continued portion or not?" Considering said bit of dialogue, when written without any breaks, wouldn't be separated with punctuation beyond commas??? It's the one thing I've never really been sure of.
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 3 года назад
Thanks K! I've seen plenty of published novels break the rules, too! It really adds to the confusion, doesn't it? FWIW, I do think "smile" isn't technically correct for a tag, because you CAN hear if someone is smiling when they speak, but smile itself isn't a 'speaking' verb. In those cases, I'd write something like "Marie could hear the smile in Bill's voice." That is a REALLY good question - and honestly, I kind of want to check with a copyeditor to see if I'm right here. But I believe it would look like this: "This is an example," she said, "of a tag in the middle of a sentence." So a comma after the tag, and lowercase for the continuing line.
@kanashiiookami6537
@kanashiiookami6537 3 года назад
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor that's what I was thinking, but I'm never 100% sure. And yeah, I guess I get what you mean about the smile thing. It's just a pet peeve of mine, especially after one author said it was impossible to hear someone smile. 🤷 Anyway, thank you for answering my question. And I hope your writing goes well today. Thank you for the video! (It'll be great to have during edits!😅)
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 3 года назад
@@kanashiiookami6537 Definitely not impossible to hear it! I love when I'm listening to an audiobook and I can hear the narrator smiling. :) Thank you (as always) for watching, K! I hope you have a great writing week!
@eygthatsme
@eygthatsme 2 года назад
Great video, thanks!! Here's my question. What about putting the action and dialogue tag first? What's the rule there? I'm reading a friend's first draft and in it, at least half of the dialogue has the tag coming first. To use the example from your video, it would be: He pulled out a chair, sat down and said, "I hope this isn't a bad time." Or: He crossed his arms and said, "we need talk. It's urgent." So, there's also the capitalization issue. I want to give feedback to change all these instances to START with the dialogue and end with the tag, but I can't find any content to back me up. No one mentions it in videos like this one about dialogue tags or paragraph structure. So, am I wrong? Can you please help? THANK YOU!!!
@shumon375
@shumon375 3 года назад
Amazing effort. You basically covered all the basics. 😏 I always wondered why authors like martin, rothfuss, sanderson writes 'quietly' as a tag. Now I know why. But I am a little bit confused about whisper. Forget about a busy place, say they are in a quiet place. Now, is it okay to use 'whisper' as a tag?
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 3 года назад
Thanks Asraful!! Yeah, I think it's completely fine to use 'whisper' in a tag in that situation, as long as you actually want the character to whisper, not just speak softly!
@shumon375
@shumon375 3 года назад
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor I have more confusion. As far as I know from the definition, Dialogue is how the characters of a book, movie, show etc talk with each other. Therefore shouldn’t be mixed with everyday speech. The courses I took also said the same and told that dialogue and everyday speech isn't the same. Since I am not a native english speaker, can't tell whether there are differences between a fictional characters dialogue and a normal persons speech, and also to what extend it looks normal on book and what seems abnormal. Maybe its a stupid question, but as English doesn’t have so many colloquial form, and different states of USA or Britain doesn’t speak so different forms that it seems almost a different language, maybe It's not an issue for english speakers. But why I've asked the question is because where I live. Here people don't actually speak the original form of 'Bangla', but a derivative form as everyday language. The actual form sustains itself only in media and books, and the rate is dwindling. Also here people have almost 50+ different colloquial which seems completely different from our state language. As I understand it, if you write a book, your default language should be the pure form of your mother tongue, with some colloquialism here and there to add sense of realism. The trouble is, readers here claim that dialogues should be like the colloquial one, everyday speech. And authors oblige. What should I do? Am I wrong here? Or the majority claim is so wrong that it eventually started to seem right? Please help me out on this.
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor
@MichelleSchustermanAuthor 3 года назад
That's a great question! I think the most important thing to remember is for dialogue to sound as natural as possible. That means, for example, most characters (unless they speak very formally) will use contractions (ie, "can't" instead of "can not"). However, I think some courses are probably discouraging everyday speech for a few reasons: 1. Filler words can get overwhelming. We use a lot of them ("um," "so," "anyway") in our daily speech but they just clutter up the dialogue if you use too many. 2. Slang often sounds forced in dialogue and can also date the book, which you may or may not want. 3. Attempting to show accents in dialogue can just make it confusing to read. I've seen that criticism of Hagrid's dialogue in the Harry Potter books. So, as you stated: "if you write a book, your default language should be the pure form of your mother tongue, with some colloquialism here and there to add sense of realism." That's correct, in my opinion!
@shumon375
@shumon375 3 года назад
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor Thank you so much! It means a lot to me.
@Fuliginosus
@Fuliginosus Год назад
If there are more than two characters potentially in the discussion, does every line need a tag?
@screammyname8167
@screammyname8167 2 года назад
Is “he says” or “she says” are dialogue tags?? I saw numerous authors used these tags which confuses me …
Далее
Why You Don't Want to Write That Scene
8:02
Просмотров 1,4 тыс.
How to Write Compelling Dialogue: A Proven Process
18:57
Камень, ножницы, нейронка
00:33
Просмотров 1,3 млн
How to Punctuate Dialogue
33:34
Просмотров 56 тыс.
How to Properly Format Your Dialogue Tags
12:30
Просмотров 37 тыс.
How to Write Your FIRST First Draft!
10:20
Просмотров 7 тыс.
How to Write Scene Transitions (in Novels!)
13:40
Просмотров 10 тыс.
18 Writing Hacks for Stronger Prose
18:52
Просмотров 163 тыс.
MULTI-POV BASICS | How to Write a Book for Beginners
12:16