Writing Great Fiction

Lecture 7: The Mechanics of Writing Dialogue

o Because the dialogue tag is not part of the actual quotation, it

should never be included within the quotation marks.

o Sometimes a dialogue tag comes in the middle of the quoted

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set off by a comma and a quotation mark, the dialogue tag is

followed with a comma, and the second half of the sentence

begins with a quotation mark and a lowercase letter.

o If a dialogue tag appears between two complete sentences, then

the dialogue tag ends with a period, and the second sentence

starts with a capital letter.

Reasons for Dialogue Tags

z In general, dialogue tags are necessary for three reasons: (1) to introduce

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when two or more people are speaking, or (3) to get across necessary

information or a bit context that isn’t clear from the dialogue itself, such

as exactly how someone is saying something. Let’s look at these three

reasons in turn.

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time or returning to a character at the beginning of a new chapter or

scene. However, a dialogue tag may be unnecessary in some situations,

such as a scene with a single character who is calling for help. A

dialogue tag may also be deferred for dramatic effect, although there’s

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z The second reason for using dialogue tags is to identify speakers when

two or more people are talking. The usual practice here is to identify

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can be exceptions. If you have more than two speakers in a scene, you

will have to use more dialogue tags to keep them straight for the reader.

z The third use of dialogue tags requires more judgment and skill

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