What’s the deal with Dialogue Tags?
Happy Tuesday! Here’s what you’ll learn today…
📚 Is said dead? Or should it be the only dialogue used?
⏰ What writing advice do we need and which should we leave behind
✨ 4 ways to navigate the overwhelming online writing advice
🗯 The Great “Said” Debate
I love said. But I don’t love it enough for “said” to be the only dialogue tag I use.
Why?
It becomes repetitive and redundant.
“Said” is the most invisible dialogue tag we use as writers because readers see it so often they just blow right by — that’s what happens after years of reading and expecting said to be there.
If “said” were the only tag used through the entire length of the novel, it would–quite frankly–be exhausting to read. We know the characters are saying something because we’re reading their dialogue.
Let me paint a picture for you with an asinine, hyperbolic example…
Example 1 - Only Said Version
“I have been waiting for you to pop through the door since you called your order in,” Mary said.
“Great to see you too!” Rosie said.
“Let me have a look,” Mary said. “Lookin’ good, kid.”
“Thank you,” Rosie said.
“I nearly forgot!” Mary said. “Let me go get Gerry!”
Mary came back, leading a tall and thin man.
“Ahhhh…Miss Rosie, you are back,” Gerry said. “It’s been an age.”
“Yes, yes,” Rosie said.
By the time you got through that conversation, did you notice the word “said”? There were five in a row. Easy to miss the first or second one, but after the third, you’re likely picking up on the repetition.
But what if we were to exclusively use unique dialogue tags instead? Here’s another hyperbolic example—I’m being overly obnoxious with tags to simply paint a picture in a short amount of words.
Example 2 - Unique Tag Version
“I have been waiting for you to pop through the door since you called your order in!” Mary called.
“Great to see you too!” Rosie declared.
“Let me have a look,” Mary implored. “Lookin’ good, kid.”
“Thank you,” Rosie stated.
“I nearly forgot!” Mary shouted. “Let me go get Gerry!”
Mary came back, leading a tall and thin man.
“Ahhhh…Miss Rosie, you are back,” Gerry rejoiced. “It’s been an age.”
“Yes, yes,” Rosie asserted.
On a scale from 1-10, how irritating was that to read?
While the unique dialogue tags can show us more about how characters are speaking to one another, these tags can fall into the realm of telling (and sticking out like a sore thumb after a while).
The fix? It’s all about balance, baby. Here’s another example that blends together said, other dialogue tags, no tags at all, and action beats.
I’ll let you be the judge of which one you like more.
Example 3 - Balanced Version
The hostess, Mary, an attractive middle-aged woman with chestnut hair rushed toward her, arms held out. She pulled Rosie into a hug. “I’ve been waiting for you to pop through the door since you called your order in.”
Rosie laughed. “Great to see you too!”
Mary held Rosie back at arm’s length. “Let me have a look at you,” she said, eyes studying the athlete. She winked. “Lookin’ good, love.”
“Thank you,” Rosie said.
Mary gasped. “I nearly forgot! Let me go get Gerry!”
She retreated to the kitchen.
Rosie waited, rocking back and forth in her sneakers, realizing she could finally feel her toes again. The kitchen doors swung open wildly, a tall and thin man leading the way.
“Ahhhh…Miss Rosie, you are back,” Gerry said, pulling her into a quick hug and planting a loud kiss on each cheek. “It’s been an age.”
“Yes, yes.” Rosie laughed, accustomed to his exaggerations.
While the writing isn’t anything to win awards with (I pulled this from one of my old fanfics), the blend of said, other tags, and action beats/tags brings the scene to life just a bit more than only using said.
I omitted the action in the first two examples to bring light to the dialogue tags being used. But I bet you’d be able to spot them even weaved amongst the action.
To sum up:
💀 Said is not dead
🗯 Use a variety of dialogue tags (or no tags at all!), but try not to get so unique that it becomes obvious
🧩 Blend together “said”, other tags, and action beats to get the most out of your scenes
🧂 Writing Advice: Bring Some Salt
Writing advice is everywhere: on all of the socials, on blogs, in books, and in school curriculums. And while most of it is sound, there’s some advice out there that just doesn’t work.
And that’s okay.
The writing advice we find all over the internet can be overwhelming and it’s hard to wade through what’s good and what’s a bad take.
One thing to be confident in: There are not a ton of hard and fast rules for creative writing.
Of course, there are conventions and genre expectations we need to take into account when writing in those genres, but otherwise…the ‘rules’ all over the internet really should be called ‘guidelines’ or ‘general rules of thumb.’
In the 2 years I’ve been fully immersed in this industry, the few rules I’ve discovered are:
Capital-R Romance needs to end with a Happily Ever After or a Happily For Now
Don’t bore your readers
Don’t publish a first draft
Be forever learning your craft
Even the Chicago Manual of Style is a style guide, not a style rulebook–and styles change over time. Yes, there are grammar rules, but being a developmental editor, I’m not the ultimate authority.
For example: adverbial dialogue tags (e.g., she said quietly) were popular in the early 1990s. Just look at the early Outlander novels, they’re full of them!
Creative writing changes with the times and that’s okay. However, it still is important to learn the skill of writing and all that comes with it.
Writing advice you see on socials and blogs is likely general advice—so, take it with a grain of salt. Specific advice can only be given when an editor or a critique partner is looking at your manuscript.
Not all advice will fit all writers and all writing projects.
Check out my favorite writing craft books.
📖 4 Tips to Wade Through the Overwhelming Mass of Writing Advice
Good advice is advice that’s worked for many writers over the years. If it helps you create great characters, plots, and worlds that readers can immerse themselves in, awesome.
Check out the intention behind any bit of writing advice. If the advice fits your circumstance, then see if it works for what you’re writing. If it doesn’t, then it’s okay to overlook it.
If the advice feels very black and white, meaning it uses absolutes, then shake your shalt shaker at it.
Find editors and writers you admire, whether it be their writing style, their books, or how they use their platform to educate and disseminate writing craft information.
And just remember, writing fiction is a craft. It’s a skill to learn and to practice. Read, practice, find writing groups, or find a mentor if that’s your thing. Writing is mostly trial and error.
🖋1 Writing Exercise to Get You Start
Experiment with writing a scene without using any dialogue tags. Instead, see if you can use action beats that show your characters reacting and interacting with their surroundings and other characters.
📸 Photo of the Week: Finn!
Finn, my two-year-old boxer, finally got neutered this week.
The cone finally came off on Labor Day, and he’s been enjoying life now that he’s not bumping into everything and getting stuck on doorways and tables. And I’m sure, he’s happy he can now play with toys without them getting stuck in his cone.
He’s back to his usual chaotic, hyper self.
Keep the pen moving,
Kourtney