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Say What? Rules For Writing Dialogue

This document provides guidance on how to properly write dialogue for fictional narratives. It defines dialogue as conversations between two or more characters. It explains that dialogue tags identify the speaker and common tags include said, asked, replied, and yelled. The rules covered are: starting a new paragraph for each new speaker; placing punctuation inside quotation marks; and using commas, periods and other punctuation to denote interruptions, changes in thought, or inserted narration within dialogue.

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Claudia Bestor
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280 views

Say What? Rules For Writing Dialogue

This document provides guidance on how to properly write dialogue for fictional narratives. It defines dialogue as conversations between two or more characters. It explains that dialogue tags identify the speaker and common tags include said, asked, replied, and yelled. The rules covered are: starting a new paragraph for each new speaker; placing punctuation inside quotation marks; and using commas, periods and other punctuation to denote interruptions, changes in thought, or inserted narration within dialogue.

Uploaded by

Claudia Bestor
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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---Say

What?---
How to write dialogue in fictional narratives

What is dialogue?
Dialogue is conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or movie.

What is a dialogue tag?
Sometimes called attribution, dialogue tags identify the person who is speaking.
Examples:
He said They replied She asked The boy yelled Cried the child

What are the rules for writing dialogue?

Rule 1: When a new speaker speaks, start a new paragraph.
Example:
“What if the pumpkin is glowing because it is enchanted?” asked Maria.
“Ah, excellent thinking!” responded Mrs. Bestor.

Rule 2: When dialogue ends with a question mark or exclamation mark, put the punctuation inside
the quotation marks. (See above as an example.)

Rule 3: When punctuating dialogue with commas and a dialogue tag before the dialogue, the comma
goes after the dialogue tag, and the appropriate punctuation mark goes inside the quotation mark at
the end of the dialogue.
Example:
Mohammed said, “I think there is a rat zombie under the rug.”

When adding a dialogue tag after the dialogue the comma goes inside the quotation
marks, and a period goes at the end of the entire sentence.
Example:
“Harris Burdick’s story is mysterious,” said the student.

Final set of rules:
To show an interruption or add narration within dialogue, follow these rules.

! With dialogue that trails away, as though the speaker has gotten distracted, use an ellipsis (…)
inside the quotation mark.
“I can’t really think…” she said.

! When dialogue is abruptly interrupted or cut off, use a dash inside the quotation mark.
“Well, I don’t think—”

! For non-dialogue inserted to break up the dialogue, use commas like this to separate the
narration (dialogue break) from the dialogue:
“And then I realized,” he said with relief, “that I do have a story premise.”

! When the speaker has started to say one thing, and changed his or her mind to say something
else, use the dash like this:
“I think I have a good story—I mean, I’m not trying to show off.”

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