Fiction Writer's Guide to Dialogue and Speech Tags

When the lights grow dim and the clock ticks past midnight, it is the dialogue that keeps the intrepid reader scanning pages in your novel. While lines of narration may blur together in a haze, dialogue jumps out and invites the reader to fight back fatigue. Dialogue is the life blood of quality fiction: it can make characters breath, and create symphaties that can last through fiction series dozens of books long.

But what if you don't know how to write dialogue? What if the instruction you were given on making your characters speak was all wrong? And how do you know?

Dialogue and Speech Tags - Who is Talking?

Before a reader ever gets to what is being said, he must first figure out who is saying it. The standard for speech tags is the word said. Said is the invisible signpost that directs the reader to a particular character. Said is the most often recommended word for dialogue and speech tags.

But what about all the other types of expressing oneself?

"Let go of me!" Mary yelled.
"Never!" Bob shouted.
"Help!" Mary screamed.
"No one can hear you!" Bob bellowed.

Argh! These types of speech tags fall under the category of telling the reader instead of showing them how the word or phrase is being voiced. If you show Bob attacking Mary, the reader should know that she is going to yell.

Dialogue and Speech Tags - How is it Being Said?

Fiction writers, having learned the rule of using said in most instances where a speech tag is needed, might try to compensate for its relative blandness by adding adverbs. Adverbs, after all, explain when, where, and how something is done. A fiction writer should never do it that way.

"Let go of me!" Mary said angrily.
"Never!" Bob said evilly.
"Help!" Mary said loudly.
"No one can hear you!" Bob said nastily.

Adverbs are frowned upon in modern fiction. With the plethora of high quality verbs and nouns in the English language, you should not have to resort to adverbs to get the point across. Fiction writers must show how something is being said, either by putting it in the dialogue itself, or including actions.

Dialogue and Speech Tags - Interjecting Action