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Dialogue in writing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about dialogue in literature. For other uses, seeDialogue (disambiguation).

Dialogue,inliterature,is a verbal exchange between two or morecharacters(but can also involve strategic use of silence).[1]If there is onlyonecharacter talking aloud, it is amonologue.

Identifiers[edit]

"This breakfast is making me sick," George said.

George saidis the identifier.

The identifier has also been called anattributive,[2]aspeaker attribution,[3]aspeech attribution,[4]adialogue tag,[5]and atag line.[6]

Saidis theverbmost writers use because reader familiarity withsaidprevents it from drawing attention to itself. Although other verbs such asask,shout,orreplyare acceptable, some identifiers get in the reader's way. For example:

"Hello," he croaked nervously, "my name's Horace."
"What's yours?" he asked with as much aplomb as he could muster.[7]

Stephen King,in his bookOn Writing,expresses his belief thatsaidis the best identifier to use. King recommends reading a novel byLarry McMurtry,who he claims has mastered the art of well-written dialogue.[8]

Substitutes are known assaid-bookisms.For example, in the sentence"What do you mean?" he smiled,the wordsmiledis asaid-bookism.[citation needed]

Punctuation[edit]

The first line of each paragraph should be indented.[9]

Dialogue should be enclosed in quotation marks.[10][11][12][13]

If a single speaker speaks more than one paragraph, each paragraph should begin with an opening quotation mark, but only the final paragraph should end in a closing quotation mark.[14]

A dash should be used to mark the interruption of a sentence of dialogue.[15]

Ellipses should be used in dialogue to indicate incomplete or interrupted statements or thoughts.[16]

Ending punctuation should always be placed inside the closing quotation mark.[17][18]

A new paragraph should be used to introduce each new speaker; that is, only one speaker per paragraph.[19][20][21][22]

The identifier, if not at the beginning or end of a sentence, should be placed where the first natural break would come in speech; that is, where the speaker would pause for emphasis, or take a breath.[23][24]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^Bell, Terena (2021-01-28)."Fiction Writing Lessons from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice".Medium.Retrieved2021-02-02.
  2. ^Strunk & White (1979,pp. 75–6)
  3. ^Browne & King (1993,p. 53)
  4. ^Gerke (2010,p. 114)
  5. ^Kempton (2004,p. 180)
  6. ^Lamb (2008,p. 187)
  7. ^Turco (1989,p. 16)
  8. ^King (2000,p. 127)
  9. ^Shunn,p. 3)
  10. ^Chicago Manual of Style (1982,p. 290)
  11. ^Crews (1977,p. 349)
  12. ^Hacker (1991,p. 365)
  13. ^Shunn,p. 4)
  14. ^Hacker (1991,p. 366)
  15. ^Crews (1977,p. 344)
  16. ^Crews (1977,p. 348)
  17. ^Crews (1977,p. 352)
  18. ^Sebranek et al. (2006,p. 468)
  19. ^Steele (2003,p. 133)
  20. ^Chicago Manual of Style (1982,p. 290)
  21. ^Hacker (1991,p. 365)
  22. ^Shunn,p. 4)
  23. ^Strunk & White (1979,p. 76)
  24. ^Browne & King (1993,p. 54)

References[edit]

  • Steele, Alexander, ed. (2003).Writing Fiction: The Practical Guide From New York's Acclaimed Creative Writing School.New York:Bloomsbury.ISBN1-58234-330-6.

External links[edit]

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