Dialogue Tags

Zipotes · Apr 20, 2009

OK, after quotation marks, is the he said/she said OR the action after the dialogue tags capitalized or not? Does it depend?

"Blah, blah, blah" he said or "Blah, blah, blah" He said

"Blah, blah, blah" he took a step back or capitalized 'He'?

Thanks everyone

scarletpeaches · Apr 20, 2009

"Blah, blah, blah," he said.
Remember the final comma before the quote marks. Because it's a comma, it doesn't close the sentence so the 'he' is not capitalised; it continues the sentence.

"Blah, blah, blah." He stepped back.
Here you use a full stop to end the dialogue and start a new sentence with a capitalised 'he' because the action is not a dialogue tag. It's separate from his speech.

TheIT · Apr 20, 2009

You're missing some punctuation in your examples which might make it easier to understand:

"Blah blah blah," he said. <When using a simple "said", the dialogue tag is separated from the dialogue with a comma, therefore the tag is part of the same sentence and the pronoun is not capitalized.>

"Blah blah blah." He took a step back. <When using an action tag, the dialogue and the tag are two separate sentences, therefore the dialogue ends with period (or question mark) and the pronoun is capitalized because it starts another sentence.>

ETA: Cross-posted with scarletpeaches.

dpaterso · Apr 20, 2009

"Include punctuation inside the quotes," he said, meaning the comma. "And lowercase what follows unless it's a capitalized character name," Derek added, "as with this example."

-Derek

Zipotes · Apr 20, 2009

Thanks, you guys are great! Makes sense.

TheIT · Apr 20, 2009

Glad to help. The other rule of thumb to remember is that except at the start of a sentence, pronouns are only capitalized when referring to a deity. So unless you're writing about God, "he" normally won't be capitalized.

The Lonely One · Apr 20, 2009

I saw the title "Dialog tags" and cried on the inside.

Glad to see it wasn't what I thought, and that some good responses have been provided.

Zipotes · Apr 20, 2009

TheIT said:
Glad to help. The other rule of thumb to remember is that except at the start of a sentence, pronouns are only capitalized when referring to a deity. So unless you're writing about God, "he" normally won't be capitalized.

So, if the sentence is "Blah, blah, blah." it would still be 'he said' and not 'He said' even though it ends in a period? Thanks

scarletpeaches · Apr 20, 2009

No. If you end the sentence, you begin the next with a capital.

TheIT · Apr 20, 2009

Zipotes said:
So, if the sentence is "Blah, blah, blah." it would still be 'he said' and not 'He said' even though it ends in a period? Thanks

This is not a complete example, so I'm not sure what you're asking. In dialogue, the "," replaces the "." at the end of a sentence when a tag is being used.

"Mary, throw me the ball."

"Mary, throw me the ball," he said.

"Mary, throw me the ball," said John.

All these are equivalent.

ETA: Or are you asking about adding another sentence after the tag?

"Throw me the ball," he said. "He's running to third."

"Throw me the ball," said John. "He's running to third."

"Throw me the ball," he said. He held out his hand. "Now, Mary." (Note that in this example, "He held out his hand" refers to the speaker, not the runner.)

Does this help?

Zipotes · Apr 20, 2009

Thanks again :Hug2:

I feel like such an idiot, I have a lot to learn.

unicornjam · Apr 21, 2009

Because you're still learning about dialogue tags, this is probably the best time to tell you the following are not good to write:

"I'm saying something," he smiled. You cannot smile words. You won't believe how many times I've seen this.

"I'm saying something," he laughed. You cannot laugh them either. Someone will probably fight me on this one, but I don't care. You may laugh in-between talking though!

The better alternatives are:

"I'm saying something." He laughed. (You could put the laughing before the dialogue, too.)

"I'm saying something," he said, laughing.

And another pet peeve:

"Really," he hissed. You cannot hiss words that aren't sibilant! Think /s/ and /sh/ sounds.

Maryn · Apr 21, 2009

unicornjam, I am officially in love with you.

Maryn, who'd take her hat off if she were wearing one

Zipotes · Apr 21, 2009

unicornjam said:
Because you're still learning about dialogue tags, this is probably the best time to tell you the following are not good to write:

"I'm saying something," he smiled. You cannot smile words. You won't believe how many times I've seen this.

"I'm saying something," he laughed. You cannot laugh them either. Someone will probably fight me on this one, but I don't care. You may laugh in-between talking though!

The better alternatives are:

"I'm saying something." He laughed. (You could put the laughing before the dialogue, too.)

"I'm saying something," he said, laughing.

And another pet peeve:

"Really," he hissed. You cannot hiss words that aren't sibilant! Think /s/ and /sh/ sounds.

More great advice, thanks!

drachin8 · Apr 21, 2009

A few more examples in case they are helpful:

"I like ham sandwiches, and I like them on toast. I also like tuna fish," she said.

She said, "I like ham sandwiches, and I like them on toast. I also like tuna fish."

"I like ham sandwiches, and I like them on toast," she said. "I also like tuna fish."

"I like ham sandwiches," she said, "and I like them on toast. I also like tuna fish."

"I like ham sandwiches," she said, "and I like them on toast." She bit into a sandwich that was definitely not ham. "I also like tuna fish."

"I like ham sandwiches, and I like them on toast." She bit into a sandwich that was definitely not ham. "I also like tuna fish."

Can you tell it is close to lunch time for me here? Heh.

-Michelle

Kathleen42 · Apr 21, 2009

Zipotes said:
OK, after quotation marks, is the he said/she said OR the action after the dialogue tags capitalized or not? Does it depend?

"Blah, blah, blah" he said or "Blah, blah, blah" He said

"Blah, blah, blah" he took a step back or capitalized 'He'?

Thanks everyone

In your second example you would end your dialogue with a period and capitalize "He".

When in doubt, walk over to your bookshelf and grab a novel at random. It won't solve every problem, but it will solve quite a few.

maestrowork · Apr 21, 2009

The best way to learn is to read. Read lots of commercial fiction. Read your genres. Read. And see how the authors do it.

Dialogue Tags

Zipotes

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TheIT

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dpaterso

Also in our Discord and IRC chat channels

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TheIT

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The Lonely One

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TheIT

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unicornjam

Maryn

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drachin8

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Kathleen42

crushing on fictional characters

maestrowork

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