{"id":149158175,"date":"2024-10-01T07:01:25","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T07:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/writing-tip-4-dialogue-tags\/"},"modified":"2024-10-01T07:01:25","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T07:01:25","slug":"writing-tip-4-dialogue-tags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/nl\/writing-tip-4-dialogue-tags\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing Tip 4: Dialogue Tags"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ditch the he said\/she said<\/h2>
\"herd<\/figure>

Though ambivalently fond of Ernest Hemingway, one thing I can\u2019t \u2014 won\u2019t \u2014 argue with is the man\u2019s approach to dialogue. <\/p>

As much as any 20th century writer, we have Papa H to thank for excising the clutter of he\/she\/they said\/gasped\/shrieked\/chortled. <\/p>

Take this excerpt from \u2018Hills Like White Elephants<\/a>\u2019:<\/p>

“Oh, cut it out.” <\/p>

“You started it,” the girl said. “I was being amused. I was having a fine time.” <\/p>

“Well, let’s try and have a fine time.” <\/p>

“All right. I was trying. I said the mountains looked like white elephants. Wasn’t that bright?” <\/p>

“That was bright.” <\/p>

“I wanted to try this new drink. That’s all we do, isn’t it\u2014look at things and try new drinks?” <\/p>

” I guess so.”<\/p><\/blockquote>

After that, who could go back to she said\/he said? <\/p>

\"a<\/figure>

Dialog tags<\/h1>

Where it’s found: Fiction; also creative nonfiction, personal essays, etc.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>

How it happens: Writers don\u2019t trust the reader to follow the conversation\u00a0<\/em><\/p>

Why delete? Repetitive; distracts the reader from the speech; cluttered-looking<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>

  1. My dad looked at me grimly and said, \u201cNobody likes to be told what to do\u201d <\/p>

    Edit: My dad looked at me grimly: \u201cNobody likes to be told what to do.\u201d<\/p>

    The quotation marks are sufficient to indicate the father is speaking, and the \u2018looked at me grimly\u2019 indicates to whom, and with what attitude.<\/em><\/p><\/li>

  2. He said, \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cWhy not?\u201d she asked. \u201cNobody told me,\u201d he replied. <\/p>

    Edit: \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>

    \u201cWhy not?\u201d she asked.<\/p>

    \u201cNobody told me.\u201d<\/p>

    Properly formatted dialogue, i.e.., a new paragraph for each speaker, makes the turn-taking obvious. Once the characters are established, there is no need for additional tags.<\/em><\/p><\/li>

  3. \u201cLet\u2019s not get excited,\u201d she said. \u201cThe show isn\u2019t over,\u201d she added. <\/p>

    Edit: \u201cLet\u2019s not get excited,\u201d she said. \u201cThe show isn\u2019t over.\u201d<\/p>

    Never double tag a single speech; \u2018she said\u2019 is fine but \u2018she added\u2019 is dead weight.<\/em><\/p><\/li>

  4. Jimmy was furious. \u201cYou\u2019re an idiot!\u201d he yelled.<\/p>

    Edit: \u201cYou\u2019re an idiot!\u201d Jimmy yelled.<\/p>

    Here, the action of yelling conveys the emotion \u2014 no need for extra words.<\/em><\/p><\/li>

  5. My dance teacher reminded me about the recital: \u201cDon\u2019t be late,\u201d he urged. <\/p>

    Edit: \u201cDon\u2019t be late,\u201d my dance teacher urged before the recital.<\/p>

    This is similar case to 4; the information can be combined into a single tag that communicates the speaker and tone. <\/em><\/p>

    Share<\/span><\/a><\/p>

    Subscribe now<\/span><\/a><\/p>

    Leave a comment<\/span><\/a><\/p><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Ditch the he said\/she said<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-149158175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWriting Tip 4: Dialogue Tags - Write To Success<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/nl\/writing-tip-4-dialogue-tags\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"nl_NL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Writing Tip 4: Dialogue Tags - 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