How to Properly Format Your Dialogue Tags

[@nicoleb1105]

When you are halfway through your book and you realize that you've done dialogue tags all wrong.

[@samwallaceart288]

Nicole B - don’t worry there’ll be plenty of drafts to fix it (sobs internal)

[@crimsonchoucho5258]

Don't worry, you aren't alone.

[@NannaGal1231]

Same 😳

[@juliettegallen8010]

@@NannaGal1231 you should see mine, I didn't even use the right format. Mine is like Killua: Hi Gon how are you doing? Gon: Good, wanna go to the park? *Sits down on bed* Killua: Sure *grabs Killuas hand in his right hand and his bag in the other then starts walking to the park* I hope we see some geese. Obviously that convo is completely random but I barley know how to use dialogue in general I'm worried ill do it wrong and scare away readers if I try... :( *I'm 14 btw*

[@8-bitavatar696]

@@juliettegallen8010 You'll get better! My advice: Read a lot. You'll pick up on the cadence of how a book should look and sound. Listen to people talk. Try to incorporate slang (even your own) into your dialogue. Write to please yourself first. Then worry about your reader. Good luck!

[@AllegroFitnessLondon]

''This video was super helpful,'' Lauren said, pressing the notification bell. (I pray to God that was correct)

[@MoodyWeatherASD]

nailed it!

[@OmerMD]

Damn good

[@toddel321]

Hahaha, I did the same thing.

[@heirofslytherin17]

Perfect🥰

[@creamofthecrop6743]

@@heirofslytherin17 “mud blood or not I’m better than you are.” Macho man Randy savage said, flexing his already immodest muscles

[@SebastianSeanCrow]

3:40 it’s funny cuz in school we were taught to stray away from said cuz “it’s boring and doesn’t convey tone/meaning” (and for me seeing said all the time is really annoying) but here we have publishers being like “yeah no fuck that use said”

[@helios9445]

Thank you! I'm legally blind so all my life I've mostly listened to audiobooks when it comes to fiction and hardly ever read print books. When I started writing a lot, I realized that I really had no idea how dialogue or paragraphs were supposed to look on the page. It was a very strange revelation for me.

[@coin2039]

Thank you Alexa. Now I'm off to edit a 50k words document. Yay 😑😑

[@emiliaross2244]

coisas lol, have fuuuunnn

[@LexieReilly]

I had someone recently say for dialogue that you shouldn't use "said/asked" almost at all, basically the whole "said is dead." Which is so twenty years ago. Instead she said to use action tags instead, which I understand can be a useful tool to mix it up. But again it's good to *mix* it up. Sprinkle in said here and there. Throw a dash of action tags. Mix it all together and you have a beautiful balance to portray a scene. (And no confusion to who is speaking.) Also the biggest thing is to know your genre. I have a friend writing a children's book. Children are clued in with "said" or "asked" to who is saying what. But this person (who wrote adult fiction) argued that she must change to an action tag it because "said is dead." She also said I could never use the following: "Yes," I hissed. (Which I see used in YA all the time.) To summarize: Know your genre. Know what's acceptable in your genre. Know what your audience needs. Use said/asked. Throw in action tags to mix it up. Throw in "purple prose" for emphasis (like Alexa said so nicely in her video.)

[@toddel321]

“It’s not a boring subject,” he said. “I find it very useful.”

[@KaiInMotion]

Self-published one of my first books full of improper dialogue tags a few years ago and had to go back, do a bunch more editing, and upload new versions of them lol. Lesson learned, but I still cringe looking back. 😂😩

[@LindsayPuckett]

Wanna trudge into colons, semi colons, and how/when to use different dashes? Everyone's favorite grammar subject! Lol Also- I would love to see you touch on hiring freelance editors once you are almost ready to start querying your novel. Thanks Alexa!

[@femsff7090]

Yes! This can be especially handy for those who don't have English as a native language, as the use of those specific punctuation marks can differ wildly between languages.

[@samwallaceart288]

I speak nigh exclusively in semicolon.

[@kagimonji]

Love the confidence, and how she isn't afraid to share her journeys and mistakes. She's great

[@sarcomeresarecool]

One thing you didn't mention, which I see all over the place in fanfiction: if you're using a dialogue tag, you never end the character's spoken words with a period, for the same reason you don't capitalize the dialogue tag itself--it isn't the end of the sentence. Wrong: "Here's a sentence." Said the man. Right: "Here's a sentence," said the man.

[@marymintz9147]

Never say never. If the dialogue tag is at the beginning of the sentence, then you would put a period at the end of the character's spoken words. So: "The man said, "Here's a sentence."

[@imford18]

^^^^^^ Just commenting to reinforce the commenter above me

[@Ambition4]

@@marymintz9147 isn't it supposed to be The man said, "Here's a sentence. "

[@AC8X]

@@Ambition4 it totally can be. For example, I said earlier today, “I forgot my wallet.”

[@th_0ru]

question: what if I have a deaf character, would it be okay to place his dialogue inside the quotations and then use he signed? You know because he signed the dialogue with his hands.

[@megsmileyface6202]

Makes sense to me :)

[@RocketeerRaccoon]

This is really helpful, I've been confused about Dialogue Tags for a long time now.

[@Red_Proton]

Thanks for the video. Lately, I've been practicing 0 tags. It's been liberating and painful. I have had to rephrase dialogue to maintain clarity and readability. It's really forced me to grow and, dare I say, get better in my process. Time will tell, if that's true. Thanks, again.

[@WickedSapphira]

Personally, I think it's all about moderation. Leaning too heavily on using "said" is just as bad as having an excessive number of other dialogue tags. When used in excess, the former can be too bland and the latter distracting. For example, I took a look at the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (first book within reach) and the dialogue tags were split evenly between "said" and other dialogue tags. I would be hard pressed to call J.K. Rowling an amateur writer. But this is still a great video and I've been binge watching your videos for a couple of days now. Your advice has been really insightful and I can't want to implement some of your tips when I write next! Thank you for this video! :)

[@TB-zx3qc]

The part where you talk about dialogue tags and action tags and the capitalisation involved there has just saved my writing. It's so simple yet, all this time, I struggled to realise why authors use , a lot at the end of dialogue and I just never made sense of it. This advice is going to have a huge impact on my writing, thank you so much for this and for all of your videos! I've only just found you but I'm in love with every video you put out there. Thanks again!

[@elisabethkinsey4168]

I cannot share this enough. Thank you. May the writing Goddess bless you.

[@veronicarogers5635]

I have two requests for videos! 1. Can you do one discussing the different prose and what they mean/refer to? 2. I'd love to see one where you talk about your experience with your editor. What things did they take out? What should a new author expect from an editor? What feedback did they give?

[@fernandodelapenajr6369]

I’m only on chapter 9 in my book. Thank God I saw this video before getting too deep into my book. Looks like I’m going be rewriting a lot more than I originally thought.

[@luciddreamer616]

I loved the advice about action beats -- I'm not sure if a line of action is properly called a beat, but I've heard this term bandied around -- and I wish someone had pointed this out earlier, because it seems so obvious in hindsight but isn't so easy to intuit. One thing you brought up that I'm seeing a lot though is this idea that said ought to be the dialogue tag you rely on most, and it throws me off, because that's very much not the norm in the vast majority of YA publications I've read. The books that jump immediately to mind are the Legacy of Apollo and the Shadow and Bone series. These books drown their dialogue tags with adverbs, and I expect a lot of avid readers pick up this practice by emulating books they grew up reading.

[@dobanator4501]

I am so very guilty of adding actions as dialogue tags. "Blah blah blah," he shrugged. But now i am making such an effort to change it "blah,blah,blah," he said with a shrug. 😂 thank you for this!

[@epeolatrycorner6809]

I have not seen anyone else talk about tagging at a "craft" level. I've got a few such, but mostly I see people talking about the habits of a writer, etc. So, thanks for putting this vid up. It is similar to my thoughts on tags.

[@austenfan4734]

I wrote a novel and am currently going through my final edits. Your videos are so insightful.

[@DebiRose062]

Thank you Alexa. I’ve just added dialogue and action tags to my style guide. Looking forward to my next self edit pass because of this video.

[@christopherhele2071]

This was a very helpful. Thank you! If I had only paid attention 30 years ago in high school. You are an excellent teacher. Keep up the great work. Thanks for the video.

[@ACyrrock004]

"Thank you for this refresher!" I said.

[@ssjbears]

I had literally never had this explained to me before. Thank you so much, Alexa!!

[@haileyirene4713]

We learnt this in my writing class in highschool, probably the best class EVER

[@greatatwatido]

Great video! I was really interested to know if you always have to inform the reader of who is talking. Every writer seems to apply their own volume of tags and now it makes sense. I am so happy to have watched this great video and Alexa you come across very well. Thank you

[@Scottyrock1000]

I really enjoy your information! I often describe an emotion that a character is feeling just before their dialogue begins. I try not to use tags in two way conversations if at all possible. You are very good at teaching. Thank you.

[@TheChristophertheone]

Hi, my name is Christopher, I am english living in Bulgaria. This video was very helpful for me. So now I will have to go back on all of my 300 pages and correct it, hahaha. My I ask, concerning speech still, the spacing in between lines and separating different people when they speak. I have been putting down a new line when someone else speak. I also I have putting a blank space before the speech starts. I am a very creative person but words are at the bottom of my list when it comes to creativity, up until now that is. I am writing a romantic science fiction which has turned out to be quite funny in a country where a good expreso costs about 15 cents. Have a lovely day in these crazy times, Christopher.

[@emilysnape6147]

I have only recently started writing and I new mostly the basics to it so I found this video the most helpful compared to others I have watched. I am now going to watch the rest of your videos so thank you so much for helping me! 🙏

[@michelleosas-thegospel1cor54]

Love the craft videos, they help me see where I bug thing up and helps take the intimidation out of the writing process.

[@sarahpaige161]

I realize this video is a couple years old by the time I'm watching this (binge-watching/listening lately), so you might have a video about this already that I've not come upon yet, but I struggle with passive/active voice so much! I swear, it is my Achilles' heel. If you have done one about this already, I will be getting to it eventually, and if not, oh please, for the love of all that is grammar-holy, HELP ME!

[@devonlucero2113]

Been binge watching your videos. Super helpful. I suck at writing.

[@NerdGirlASMR]

Oh my gosh, thank you so much for this! I know this is a few years old, but this is the kind of information needed so badly to be a good writer. I am always looking for tips for writing, but it's always the same old general stuff.

[@G-ForceJoJo]

"I learned it on the streets, writing fanfiction" -Everybody ALSO It's just hard to learn the right way when you read a lot of fanfiction where they make these mistakes :/ Thank you so much for your video's, I'm seeing so many things I do wrong in which I can improve

[@tweegerm]

this is saving me cumulative weeks of anxiousness! Now all that's left is to figure out how to write action in the middle of a sentence of dialogue..

[@topik801]

I wrote my BA thesis about dialogue tags in English and Polish (my native language). Found out these two languages have a whole different style of writing dialogues, in Poland we use dashes instead of quotation marks, and we cannot use "said" all the time, because the reader would be like "geez, how many times can you use the same word on the same page, it's so annoying", and it would be considered excessive repetition, so it doesn't apply to all languages and I was quite surprised when I realised it.

[@sanityone649]

Please demonstrate the way Polish writers create dialog.

[@onewaytosavetheday]

What SanityOne said! I'm so curious!

[@topik801]

​@@onewaytosavetheday I'll give you an example then. In Egnlish we would write a dialogue like this: "Hi, honey, " asked Johnny, "how was your day?" "Oh, nothing interesting, really." While in Polish we indicate dialogue with dashes, which helps us differentiate between the speech and the narrative: Let's say there's some narrative here. It has no quotation marks, or dashes, or anything. - Cześć, kochanie - zapytał Jan - Jak ci minął dzień? - Ah, normalnie, nic ciekawego. And here we go on with another portion of narration...

[@onewaytosavetheday]

@@topik801 That is truly fascinating! Thank you for sharing that piece of information :)

[@annalevai5512]

@@topik801 And yet again I have to face it, Hungarian and Polish are dangerously similar. (Yet way too different when I try to form a sentence. XD)

[@nerdydragon7534]

I have a terrible problem with overuse (and probably improper use) of hyphens. I would love a video about hyphens and dashes!

[@gamewriteeye769]

Thank you! Very simple explanation and perfectly summed.

[@justanotherrandomdisneyfan3717]

wow the said thing hits home. I always learned to use strong verbs and that said was a 'banned' verb.

[@bunhead8158]

For actions with dialogue tags, is it okay if the act DOES directly relate to what’s being said? Like, a pickup line and a playful gesture or something similar to that? I know you probably won’t see this considering it’s a relatively old video, but I’d appreciate any advice on this topic

[@thewritersscene2072]

can we talk about our buddy the semicolon ;

[@ThisIsGonnaBeaLongStory]

Yes, please, Alexa

[@mikesmith-hc4ci]

We can talk about your colon . . .

[@CrossoverGameReviews]

He's no friend of mine!

[@charlesfabara7254]

Excellent. You expressed everything exemplarily! Thank you, Alexa.

[@xX_Moonluster_Xx]

I heard the advice in my major (Creative Writing) about the use of said just yesterday and I'm seriously torn up about it. On one hand, I get it, but I also had that beaten out of me going through school, so I settled for showing expression in my dialogue through actions/action-based things, but apparently that's *also* wrong... Makes me want to give up tbh

[@amandawilmot6780]

"Grammars not that sexy," she said enthusiatically 😂😂 Great video though, I see so many writers make these same mistakes!

[@sonalsanjanwala7211]

Grammar's **

[@jimkaragkounis4750]

THANK YOU for this video! Gotta correct my action tags now

[@NightOwlReader2790]

This is sooooooooooo helpful, I always wondered about this. I actually vocally asked other aspiring writers about this too. I remember saying something like, "...but 'he said, ,she said, we said, they said...' sounds so repetitive, is it really okay to ALWAYS use said?" The friend said something similar to you. Well, she didn't explained it in full length detail, she just said simply using "said" is totally fine. She didn't go into detail, and I was a bit skeptical because she didn't give me a reason. :-P Now I know she was right~ Sorry, friend! I also wondered about the other stuff about dialogue in creative writing, so you'r video was sooooooo incredibly helpful, like I thought about this every time I try to write dialogue in projects. I've honestly asked myself what to do on like most of the things you covered on this video, like was really incredibly helpful. Thank you, Alexa.

[@danielkelley7548]

Very helpful, Alexa. Thanks so much!

[@jeremywright9511]

You are such a great resource!

[@mymessynotebook2207]

I would like to thank u for making these videos! I always want to try to better my writing and I find these words very helpful and will remember these things when writing :)

[@therights6794]

You’re excellent! Thank you. 💖

[@dirtyicecream2031]

Best explanation I've watched so far. How about a video on placement versus the storyline. I almost couldn't finish your video. The audio was extremely scratchy in several parts. Probably just your microphone causing the static.

[@SysterYster]

When I started writing, I just wrote and later I checked in the book I was currently writing, and how they had done the dialogue and dialogue tags. I did the same. :) What I did and still sometimes do "wrong" is that I overuse tags. I have a tendency to say who said what all the time, even if it's not needed. Then I have to remove it in editing. XD

[@jimcrandell7763]

Thank you for making this video Alexa. I think I'm finally starting to get this.

[@Vita-a-stelle-e-strisce]

Thank you for these lessons. I would need to learn more on how and when to indent a paragraph. Is it connected to what is told in the paragraph, for example if the paragraph considered complete in his telling objective? If so it is not easy to determine if another sentence should be the end of a paragraph or should be considered the beginning of a new indented paragraph.

[@rory_russell]

Thank you so much for this video. It's been a huge help :) I'll be saying "said" in my sleep, lol.

[@JV-yv7pi]

One of my biggest reasons why i use other verbs besides said was that my English teachers would berate and penalize us if we used said too often in a piece of fiction. I remember the handouts of 100 different ways to say said

[@Fuliginosus]

I'd like advice on dialogue tags and other challenges that come when there are potentially more than two people who could be speaking.

[@geebee1514]

Love this....I'm good with the commas but Im struggling with those pesky dialogue tags. Right at this moment, I'm editing out as many as I can. But I don't know what to do with the words that comes after....he said/she said. Thanks Alexa

[@merlindezoet]

Hi! Nice explanation of the proper use of dialogue tags. It was good to hear that my gut feeling was already telling me the right things :) I do have two questions. First, do dialogue tags work the same way when you’re not writing in the past tense? I use the present tense to give my reader a stronger feeling of ‘being in the moment’ and action, but when use ‘he says’ a lot, it kind of feels like I’m slowing down the pace a bit. Or is that just my over awareness as writer getting in the way? Second, do you have any advice on how to correctly use the description of facial expressions as action sentences? To me, natural dialogue should include quite some non-verbal communication because in real life, 80% or more of our communication is non-verbal as well. However, I can get trapped in this place where I use frowns, squinted eyes and wrinkled noses every other sentence and it becomes predictable and distracting from what is being said or done in the scene.

[@realaltportal]

Answered so many questions. Thank you!

[@themedip]

"You are the best!" I said, emphatically.

[@csikigenes]

Loved this video! Super helpful. Thank you!

[@ryangordon5986]

Thanks for this video. What's your advice on formatting dialog in text messages? I use italics instead of quotes. If there's a tag, it's placed before the message to introduce it. The dialog is also placed on it's own paragraph. I sometimes break up the dialog with "thought tags" and "action tags". I'm still debating on the use of emojis 🤔 I feel there's no consensus on what the best practices should be. How would you format a text message in a novel?

[@corkandi]

Great video Alexa. Do these rules apply to writing children's books?

[@rachel-h4k3k]

Thank you so much! finally! this is clarified for me!!!

[@becca1971]

This is something I need help with dialogue tags that I can't get anywhere, I do and understand everything else. Anyones reply would be helpful. Say I have a dialougle tag that ends on a period/question, is the next word outside the dialogue tag capitalised or does the dialogue tag remain with the sentence? For example is it: She plucks an apple from the bowl, "apples make fine snacks." She said. Or is it: She plucks an apple from the bowl, "apples make fine snacks." she said.

[@samstokes3693]

Hi, friend! That is a tricky sentence. Your best edit would probably be to split the entire sentence into two separate sentences. She plucks an apple from the bowl. "Apples make fine snacks," she says. Also, be careful with your tense switching. You go from present to past in that sentence, as well. Good luck!

[@becca1971]

@@samstokes3693Thank you! I've been doing this anyway, avoiding the issue completely. It's nice to know my issue was just as tricky as I thought. Thanks anyway!

[@saffirechanning7286]

In my stories, I try to AVOID having too MANY characters speaking in a conversation at once! Hey, that even CONFUSES me! At MOST, I'll only have THREE characters carrying on a conversation at once. For ME, TOO MANY speakers in the same conversation just gets CONFUSING!

[@stevemerrifield5580]

Thanks for sharing! I now need to revisit 4 novels and 20 short stories and novellas because of action tags. F***. lol Seriously, really helpful to know. Thanks 😁

[@bunbacheso]

@3:31 Hahahahaha! For the first option, I certainly hope not! That would not work well for dialogue. :)

[@TheRbruce55060]

Thank you so much, this has been extremely helpful!

[@marvamason]

You may have already covered this in another video but my question is about dialogue and who says what. Specifically, when you have two people exchanging dialogue in writing, do you always identify who is talking?

[@Unknown-ge9gm]

You're amazing thank you. I probably would have made way more mistakes if it wasn't for any of your videos

[@manlybun9491]

Lmao when she said "you did it" it hit hard man

[@Chris_Cross]

So the sentence *"Come on, guys." He called out.* should instead be *"Come on, guys," he called out.* Yes? Is *"I can prove it. Deal?" He held out his hand.* wrong? Should it be *"I can prove it. Deal?" he said holding out his hand.* instead? (P.S. Did I use the punctuation correctly in that last example?)

[@AlexaDonne]

You nailed it! These two are correct: "Come on, guys," he called out. "I can prove it. Deal?" He held out his hand. The last one is correct, if you want to do it that way, as well.

[@Chris_Cross]

Oh, thanks. I wasn't expecting you to answer on an old video, and I frankly thought that other people might not answer. But thanks for that. Big help.

[@melysacook6244]

@@AlexaDonne So is it commas before dialogue tags and full stops before action tags?

[@samwallaceart288]

What do about a question mark followed by regular dialogue tag?

[@SysterYster]

Yes. Both are correct. :)

[@raggedyanarchist]

Someone send this video to James Patterson. He tells fun stories, but dang... why can't Alex Cross just SAY something once in a while. It's a bit hard to take him seriously as this low-key gritty detective when he's always exclaiming, growling, etc.

[@Ambition4]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I'm trying to get a job as a novel editor but since I don't particularly read novels I'm pretty blind at this. And after studying stuff through Google I find the pattern but still found it confusing, you helped so much!!

[@undueyyy]

Hello, loved the video. My one question is if I am writing a dialogue in the present tense, is it acceptable to use ‘says’ instead of ‘said’ as a dialogue tag?Thank you very much.

[@hexesandheroes]

If its present say says.

[@milomazli]

super cool! thank you!!

[@hayleyhistorynerd2211]

Thank-you for this video Alexa! I feel a lot better than I did about my dialogue tags. I had the feeling I was doing them wrong, but it seems I'm doing alright. I think I'm still doing something not quite right but I'm not sure how to explain it. ^_^;; Hayley :)

[@spencer2571]

Thank you so much for this video.

[@Ruthie888]

Thank you! Very helpful!

[@hildarehn7262]

This video was really good. Thank you!

[@alwaysapirateroninace443]

This was very helpful.

[@j.reesebradley4771]

Thank you SO much for this video!

[@robertbarbieri8450]

I'd like to know your take on using colons before dialogue in place of commas. When it's okay, if it's okay, etc. For example: He said: "This sucks."

[@OmerMD]

Thanks, I was today damn worried about *"said"*

[@irohautala8293]

This is confusing because apparently literature has different rules in different languages... In Finnish every book I read the comma is outside the quotation marks, the ""words", she said" thing. I've been taught to write fiction that way throughout my school years :''D it's like: "Words?" she said "Words!" she said "Words", she said I think a teacher once said that while exclamation and question marks are parts of the actual dialogue that affect the way it's said they're inside quotations, but a comma is not a proper way to end a sentence and doesn't affect what the character says it's outside only for the reader. Or something like that. But I guess it's just different.

[@macronencer]

I've always thought that was more logical, too. Sadly, it's not the convention and everyone's now used to seeing the comma inside the quotation marks. I'm doubly confused because most writing tips videos are from the USA, and I'm British - so I often find it hard to decide whether my sense that something isn't correct stems from my British education, or from straightforward ignorance! I've just ordered a British style guide (New Hart's Rules) so that I can consult it in future and find out what's recommended in my own culture.

[@swanaysha9933]

Thank you!!🌞

[@porkmaster4312]

I'm having trouble with characters reading and how to format it. I put reading in italics but I also have character thoughts in italics. So should I put writing in quotes and italics? Idk.

[@mikeolivero293]

I know this might be amateur, but when do you indent paragraphs and stuff like that in your books. I don’t think I really learned how to do that in creative writing in my school.

[@MsGibbs-xv6kd]

this video was from 4 years ago, so I hope you still see this and respond to it. Can you please do a video with speakers speaking in complex sentences with punctuations, quotations, and dialogue tags?

[@jennifer2620]

THANK YOU!!!!

[@MilitaryDog.]

I’m curious about how to correctly write internal thoughts. Said doesn’t feel right because it can be mistaken for out loud but thought doesn’t feel right either. It feels like telling but how do you show a thought without saying something like, hand to chin, scratching head or some action depicting the thought is happening rather than a verbal conversation with an empty room? I stood up, “time for work.” I thought, heading out the door. I stood up, “time for work.” I said, heading out the door.

[@Storyideas81]

I have a an idea for a novel however I suck when it comes to grammar. What is the best way to get over this stumbling block?

[@midnightsg]

I love you so much for these videos!

[@metalhead6662]

I don't know if this will be seen but I have a question. I have a character that has suffered trauma and has resorted to only whispering. He was conditioned to be this way. Do I still use said when he speaks, even if he is whispering? What if readers forget that he constantly whispers?

[@megsmileyface6202]

I would probably introduce him whispering in the beginning and then sprinkle it throughout as a reminder

[@femsff7090]

I would introduce his whispering in the beginning and try to avoid using dialogue tags throughout. You can then 'remind readers' by maybe having the pov character comment or think about his whispering every now and then or, if he's the pov character, have him think on it or have others ask him to repeat himself because they can't hear him or something.

[@emilyconner9576]

Three minutes in and there's still chit-chat. I'm moving on.