šŸ˜€ talk correctly to me

a study in dialogue tags, part 2

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Where are my nuance fans at?

Last time, we got the correct answer to this question (and you can read the first part here).

This time, we’re talking specifics. The way you present dialogue—even the order of the words used—conveys different meanings. You can use different (correct) options to shape your reader’s experience, which is hecka fun.

Here are six ways to write the same basic idea, along with what each one tells the reader. For context, this guy’s name is Bob.

  1. ā€œI know,ā€ he said, smiling.

Bob is smiling while he talks, likely at the moment he starts speaking. Unlike the rest of these examples, this uses a dialogue tag.

  1. ā€œI know.ā€ He smiled.

Bob smiles after talking. He’s basically reacting to his own words. What a smug doofus.

  1. He smiled. ā€œI know.ā€

Bob smiles before talking. See how this implies a different feeling than the last one? It shows anticipation.

  1. ā€œI know . . .ā€ He smiled.

Bob trails off, then smiles. This implies a pause, which makes the reader’s brain slow down a bit. The extra white space above the ellipses is a handy visual trick for drawing your reader’s eye to this moment.

  1. He smiled. ā€œI knowā€”ā€

Bob smiles, then speaks—but his speech is abruptly cut off by some other dialogue or narration.

  1. ā€œI knowā€ā€”he smiledā€”ā€œand more dialogue goes here.ā€

The smile is an interruption of the dialogue. Note the em dashes, the lack of spaces, and the lowercase ā€œheā€; these rules are used across fiction in the United States. UK and Australian friends, we can tackle the en dash another time šŸ™‚

But do you have to follow these rules?

No.

Seriously. You don’t.

Let’s talk about that next time.

In the meantime—send this to your writer friends!

Want feedback on your dialogue? Reply to this email with an excerpt from one of your scenes and I may use it in a future Bite.

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