Comments on: Dialogue Tags http://www.writingiscake.com/2009/12/23/dialogue-tags/ That tasty, tasty hobby... Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:59:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Eric Bahle http://www.writingiscake.com/2009/12/23/dialogue-tags/comment-page-1/#comment-589 Eric Bahle Mon, 28 Dec 2009 02:56:48 +0000 http://www.writingiscake.com/?p=616#comment-589 My method on this one is pretty simple. I ignore it until rewrite time. I usually type he said/she said on autopilot but I'll find a 'rasped', 'grated', or even 'purred' here and there. They're usually a little embarrassing and rarely survive a revision. My method on this one is pretty simple. I ignore it until rewrite time. I usually type he said/she said on autopilot but I’ll find a ‘rasped’, ‘grated’, or even ‘purred’ here and there. They’re usually a little embarrassing and rarely survive a revision.

]]> By: Matthew Frederick http://www.writingiscake.com/2009/12/23/dialogue-tags/comment-page-1/#comment-574 Matthew Frederick Sun, 27 Dec 2009 18:35:32 +0000 http://www.writingiscake.com/?p=616#comment-574 Another middle-road way to handle it is to express the change in tone through direct description of the action or by using an adverb to modify "said." "Goats," he said, raising his voice. "Goats," she said, quietly. "Goats," he loudly said. Not to be used a lot, but acceptable now and then, methinks. Another middle-road way to handle it is to express the change in tone through direct description of the action or by using an adverb to modify “said.”

“Goats,” he said, raising his voice.

“Goats,” she said, quietly.

“Goats,” he loudly said.

Not to be used a lot, but acceptable now and then, methinks.

]]> By: William J. Nash-McAdam http://www.writingiscake.com/2009/12/23/dialogue-tags/comment-page-1/#comment-573 William J. Nash-McAdam Sun, 27 Dec 2009 17:08:53 +0000 http://www.writingiscake.com/?p=616#comment-573 I've always hated writing dialogue because of the seemingly required necessity to include the "he said" or "she said" tags. As a reader, I've always loathed the other descriptive tags so often used; as you stated, they interrupt the story. Plus it always seemed like the writer was trying too hard to be creative with all these other words. Even at a young age, it smacked of amateurism. The best way I've found to work around it is including the "he said/she said" tags in the first couple rounds of back-and-forth, then leaving it up to the reader to decipher the flow, which isn't too difficult. This is mixed with occasional interspersing of names (if you have an extensive dialogue scene between the characters of Bobby and Alexis, for example, Bobby could say, "Alexis,...". I do really like the idea of including other hints at the tone, such as "you don't have to yell." The emotions of the words, creative use, should be more apt to dictate the emotion in the scene than descriptive tags. Always show, never tell. I’ve always hated writing dialogue because of the seemingly required necessity to include the “he said” or “she said” tags. As a reader, I’ve always loathed the other descriptive tags so often used; as you stated, they interrupt the story. Plus it always seemed like the writer was trying too hard to be creative with all these other words. Even at a young age, it smacked of amateurism. The best way I’ve found to work around it is including the “he said/she said” tags in the first couple rounds of back-and-forth, then leaving it up to the reader to decipher the flow, which isn’t too difficult. This is mixed with occasional interspersing of names (if you have an extensive dialogue scene between the characters of Bobby and Alexis, for example, Bobby could say, “Alexis,…”. I do really like the idea of including other hints at the tone, such as “you don’t have to yell.” The emotions of the words, creative use, should be more apt to dictate the emotion in the scene than descriptive tags. Always show, never tell.

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