Writing Tip 180: Dialogue Tags – 3 Tips

We talk to people all the time. We listen and interact, because that’s what people do. Then why is it that writing dialogue can be so tricky?

And then, he said, “I’ll show you whose head is in the clouds.”

I’ve discussed the power of using dialogue to differentiate characters and , but today, let’s just focus on dialogue tags, the “he said,” “she said,” or similar phrases surrounding a character’s spoken words.

3 Tips for Stronger Dialogue Tags

Dialogue tags are only necessary when the reader is unsure who is speaking. Through dialogue that rings true to specific characters and your other narration, it’s often stronger and tighter to skip unnecessary tags.
Keeping simple is often the best way to go. Using “said,” “asked,” and comparable words isn’t necessarily dull. Dialogue tags are there to serve a purpose. When you get too colorful with your tags—“bellowing,” “wailing,” or “thundering,” for example—it distracts from the story. (Meanwhile, adverbs surrounding dialogue tags are another conversation entirely).
Allow the dialogue to remain the focus by inserting dialogue tags (if needed) after a character’s words. Starting with “he said, ‘the sky is falling,’” puts the focus on “he” rather than what’s being said. Reversing it and writing, “‘The sky is falling,’ he said,” keeps the focus on the story. Of course, the format of inserting dialogue tags within a character’s words—such as “‘The sky is falling,’ he said. ‘Watch out.’”—is also a strong option.

Dialogue can run off of our fingers onto the keyboard like we’re transcribing the voices in our heads, and sometimes it feels pulled out of our characters with difficulty; however, in the midst of a story, don’t let the dialogue tags be what holds back the greater narration.

Happy writing, everyone!

Oh, and Writing Tip 180.1 – “Dialogue” is the more commonly accepted spelling of words spoken in a literary form; “dialog” is most commonly used in computing (e.g., dialog boxes).

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