A Little Bit About Dialogue And Dialogue Tags

Writing dialogue with the editing format in mind is important to your story/novel.

The reason for this is because it's one less thing to worry about when you submit to your publisher and the editor needs to get through it. If you do not punctuate dialogue properly it helps create longer delays and causes more work for your editor who, according to statistics, is extremely over-worked.

Dialogue is so very important. It allows your audience to connect with and learn to care about your characters. It can also transcend the pages and make a profound impression on the reader and, at the same time, allow your audience to understand what you are trying to achieve with your characters--how else will they decipher who your protagonist/antagonist is supposed to be? To that end, narrative is exceptionally important as well. Dialogue, and narratives, also allow the author to expand more. I've found that I had more to work with regarding what goes on between my characters because of dialogue and narratives rather than letting the conversation end, which would have been a detriment in allowing my readers get to know and understand the important personalities I was creating. You want to bring out as much as possible as far as your protagonist is concerned, as well as your supporting characters and antagonists so that your audience understands them. And certainly it allows the audience to associate with and appreciate your antagonist.

I've read excerpts of books written with almost zero dialogue, meaning, the story reads as a narrative--there is no feedback from the characters themselves, which, mind you, are very integral to the story. Having no or little dialogue between characters causes the reader to maintain an unemotional, unhealthy distance from the subjects in the story--subjects the readers are objectively supposed to decide to care about or dislike. Characters are essentially the literary lifeblood of your story, hooking your audience in. Having your readers relate to your character's plights, victories, downfalls, etc., etc, helps elicit feelings and sympathy from your audience. Your audience needs to understand what it is your characters suffer through. Otherwise, how good could your book really be? Readers want to relate--that's one of the general, essential necessities in making them feel they have read an exceptional story. If your audience can't connect, then why should they hold any interest in the plot or the players?

This, of course, applies mostly to fiction, but it can be used in historical novels as well--any story in which you want your readers to connect with and care about, as well as the characters enacting it within the pages.

If you are writing literature that involves plot, themes, and interaction between characters, use dialogue rather than simple narration to convey what each character is feeling, thinking, and/or doing. Make it obvious as to which characters POV you are describing, regardless if it is written in first person or second. Otherwise, it can not only become confusing, but rather boring.

I found a post on K.M. Weiland's (@KMWeiland) Facebook page that discusses this very problem:
How to Recognize and Fix a Weak Character Voice.

*K.M. Weiland writes historical and speculative fiction and mentors other writers through her website, books, CDs, and blogs.


Editing Dialogue

Here are only a few examples on how to correctly edit your dialogue.

Much of correct editing relies heavily on dialogue tags (as well a proper spelling and punctuation), i.e., "he said", "she said", "they said".
Dialogue tags are both found at the beginning and ending of a spoken sentence.

Example:
She asked, "Would you mind going to the store and picking up some milk?"

"She" is capitalized because "She" is placed at the beginning of the sentence. You'll note that a comma has been placed just after "asked" as "She asked" is a dialogue tag preceding the sentence.

Examples of dialogue tags capping the sentence:

     "Would you mind going to the store?" she asked.

"she" is lower case because this particular type of dialogue tag is still associated with the sentence, capping it off. And because it is a question, a "?" is used within the quotations as opposed to a comma.

Now, here is an example of two characters having a discussion together:

     "I need you to go to the store," she instructed.
     "Okay, I'll go in a minute." he remarked.

Placing a period after "minute" is okay because it is an imperative sentence at the end of the conversation. If the conversation goes on, then it would be a comma.

If you do not employ dialogue tags to end the sentence, you can use a period, and of course a question mark or exclamation point. i.e.,

"Okay, I'll go in a minute," he agreed. "If only I could find my car keys." ::no dialogue tag::


More Examples Of A Conversation Using Dialogue Tags:

"I need you to go to the store, " she instructed.
"Why didn't you tell me this before?" he wondered aloud.
"I did tell you before, you just didn't listen!" she exclaimed.
"You need to make sure you have my full, undivided attention," he admitted.
"Perhaps you are right. Next time I will see to it that you are paying attention," she agreed.

You can capitalize words like "she" & "he" to begin the next sentence after dialogue if the dialogue sentence ends in a period, question mark, or exclamation point, providing that the following sentence is beginning anew. i.e.:

"Will you please go to the store?" He understood that she was frustrated with him over this matter, and so he thought he ought to just go to the store and get it over with.

See how the "H" in "He" is capitalized as the dialogue sentence does not contain any tags.


Hyphens to indicate action during dialogue:

"I am planning to go to the store whether you like it or not,"--she flailed her arms about to let him know she was emphatic in her decision--"and there is nothing you an do to change my opinion or keep me from going!"


In the case where you are having a discussion among characters without dialogue tags, it should read like this.

Example:

     "I need you to go the store."
     She turned her face away from him, disgusted at the fact that he once again did not pay attention to her needs.

Note: There is a period at the end of the dialogue because it is an imperative sentence as opposed to part of a conversation. The "S" in "She" is capital as it is not part of a dialogue tag, but rather it begins a separate sentence. **Remember: In dialogue, a comma is only needed as the end of the sentence provided there is a dialogue tag indicating who had spoken the words.


Correct:

"Would you go to the store?" she asked politely.

Notice how "she" is lower case here. It is a dialogue tag so in essence, "she" belongs to the dialogue.

Incorrect:

"Would you go to the store?" She asked politely.

The "S" in "She" in the incorrect version has been wrongly capitalized. Again, only capitalize the words that close the dialogue.

To cap: Don't use capitals for dialogue tags. Only use capital letters for words that begin a new sentence that have nothing to do with the dialogue that had been spoken.


For more help:  Punctuation In Dialogue