Dialogue Tags: Yes, or No?

I hate them.

If it's clear who is speaking, you don't need a dialogue tag.

As to how they are speaking? The dialogue itself should make that clear.

,she said

It depends. I don't feel there is a hard and fast rule. If it's clear who is talking I don't use anything. If there is an action that needs to be pointed out anyway, I put it next to the speech and it serves well. If I need a tag, said works. If there is another word that works better, like shouted, I will use it. I'm not going to go looking for one.

I don't go overboard and I try to mix things up. I read very carefully in my edits to make sure the dialogue is smooth and not distracting. Things should be clear and the tags, if there are any, should say less than the speech. Action is a separate thing, as is narrative. I try to weave everything together, and usually find it is a good approach.

I don't hate them, but I do lean more towards scarlet's sentiments. Rely on the dialogue to get tone across. Use unique tags sparingly if at all. If a book's littered with adverb tags and words other than "said" it's irritating.

I think the "he said" or "character name said" becomes more important when you have a group of characters in a conversation.

Nightmirror said:

I've noticed that a lot of people consider dialogue tags to be annoying--the trademark of an amateur.

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In parallel with this thread, you might also want to do a straw poll among your friends who like to read but who don't write (let's call them plain 'readers' for simplicity). Among fellow writers there's a lot of sensitivity about the use of tags (other than said). Among readers I don't generally find the same sensitivity.

As to how they are speaking? The dialogue itself should make that clear.

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I would say usually this is true, but not always.

As long as you use them sparingly, and only when they count, they're fine. I've seen many books that use them like a crutch--that's annoying. They're definitely not something you NEED. It's more of a stylistic choice.

Dialogue tags are fine, but writers need to possess a sense of rhythm and ear for dialogue to use them successfully. A variety of approaches is usually good. Sometimes I'll use "he said," sometimes no dialogue tags, sometimes a beat. There's no cut and dry rule, but if you read a lot (that's very important) and practice, you should be able to get a feel for what looks natural on the page. It might also depend on your genre, too. I will rarely use anything other than a simple "she said." Maybe an occasional whisper, etc., and very rarely I'll modify with an adverb if I feel it adds something more than detracts.

I know people love to debate about Twilight, and I'm not interested in that -- I just want to say that that is one source where you shouldn't be taking notes on things like dialogue tags. I think Ms. Meyer has even admitted herself that her writing got better after Twilight with more practice.

On a related note, anyone familiar with the Tumblr blog Reasoning with Vampires?

Excessive use of alternative tags such as snorted, responded, etc. makes me cringe. Some tags, such as whispered or yelled, are useful because the dialogue itself rarely indicates whispering or shouting. Many are simply unnecessary or lazy. If your dialogue doesn't make me think "snorted" or "retorted," then you're not doing your job well.

maestrowork said:

Excessive use of alternative tags such as snorted, responded, etc. makes me cringe. Some tags, such as whispered or yelled, are useful because the dialogue itself rarely indicate whispering or shouting. Many are simply unnecessary or lazy. If your dialogue doesn't make me think "snorted" or "retorted," then you're not doing your job well.

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Thus spake Ray.

And he spake so well I've decided to embed him in my siggie. Check it out.



In a more serious note, indeed what he says is true. Dialogue tags are tools and serve a purpose. They are not to serve as a substitute for your character's unique voice. They can be used to cleverly insert narrative interventions through an otherwise eternally ongoing dialogue by conveying movement (ex. "I just don't care," she said drawing shapeless lines on the blank paper.) They can also remind the reader of who's talking every once in a while, because no matter how unique the voice, if the dialogue is long you're probably get confused at one point or the other.

Also, 'said' is a nice, invisible word. Like Ray said, tags such as 'expostulated' and 'exclaimed' draw the attention from the dialogue. And always keep in mind we don't 'grin' or 'wince' words, so such verbs cannot be used as dialogue tags.

Just my two-cents worth.

scarletpeaches said:

I hate them.

If it's clear who is speaking, you don't need a dialogue tag.

As to how they are speaking? The dialogue itself should make that clear.

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I agree completely.

I only use tags to avoid confusion -- but usually when more than 3 are involved in the conversation. For dialogue, I might rarely throw one in to help keep the readers on track, but I much prefer to try and revise the dialogue so that confusion disappears.

Truth and Fiction said:

Dialogue tags are fine, but writers need to possess a sense of rhythm and ear for dialogue to use them successfully.

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This is it exactly. If you never use them, that's one kind of style, but it can make a book feel sterile and unnatural.

If you use too many of them, the book can feel amateurish and distracting.

The secret is to find the proper mix, and that means you need a good ear for the rhythm of language. Some have it naturally, but by writing, and particularly by reading a lot and paying attention, that ear can be developed. I, and most of the writers on this site, do seem to prefer a sparing use of tags.

And btw, YA and MG books tend to have a lot more tags than adult works. I don't know if that's because younger readers have an affinity for that kind of writing or whether it's just become the default mode for no particular reason, but either way it's out there.

rugcat said:

The secret is to find the proper mix, and that means you need a good ear for the rhythm of language.

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"But how do I get that?" he inquired interrogatively.

blacbird said:

"But how do I get that?" he inquired interrogatively.

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"That is indeed a sticky question," ejaculated he.

As to how they are speaking? The dialogue itself should make that clear.

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I agree in general, but sometimes I find this impossible.
The same words can have a very different meaning, depending on how they are said.

maggi90w1 said:

I agree in general, but sometimes I find this impossible.
The same words can have a very different meaning, depending on how they are said.

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Find another way for the character to say it.

That's why I said adverbs make the writer lazy. It's easy to write:

"Come with me," she said seductively.

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So the writer defaults to that without a second thought. And over time, that becomes lazy writing. The dialogue itself is flat. Instead, the writer should think of ways to make the dialogue POP without relying on "tell" (which adverbs do).

"My roommate is gone, and the apartment is empty. Do you like wine?" she whispered, smiling.

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maestrowork said:

Find another way for the character to say it.

That's why I said adverbs make the writer lazy. It's easy to write:

"Come with me," she said seductively.

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So the writer defaults to that without a second thought. And over time, that becomes lazy writing. The dialogue itself is flat. Instead, the writer should think of ways to make the dialogue POP without relying on "tell" (which adverbs do).

"My roommate is gone, and the apartment is empty. Do you like wine?" she whispered, smiling.

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Or you can take it a step further and REALLY show instead of tell.

The collar of her shirt slid off a bare, copper shoulder. Only the tip of her pink tongue darted out to wet her smile. She arched her brow in question, raised her hand, and beckoned with one long perfect finger.

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Tags can't help bad dialogue, and good dialogue never needs them. Some writers such as Meyer, do use them, but it isn't because they help, it's from not knowing any better.

The one place where this doesn't hold true is children's fiction. Children like, and often need, dialogue tags. Adults should not.

I cut and pasted this from my article, but here is my two cents (possibly two and a half). I may well be regurgitating what other posters have said already, but thought I'd post incase the examples etc helped anybody:


There are four very common mistakes that are made regarding dialogue tags:

1) "Said" is such a boring dialogue tag. I ought to whack out the old thesaurus, and I should weld on a zillion adverbs too!

As we say in England: I don't bloody think so.

Dialogue tags are not about winning the Nobel prize for literature. They are fuctional: they are there to tell us who said what and how they said it. I want you to think about this very closely: how much of that work has my dialogue already done for me? Has my exclamation mark implied a shout? Has the ranty slang implied my character's distaste? Your tags and adverbs should not distract from your dialogue.

Sometimes, said doesn't cut it. Sometimes your character really does need to gasp, rant, cry, sigh, whisper, mutter or grumble. Sometimes they might need to say the line quickly, softly or scathingly. Use tags and adverbs sparingly, though -- rare use lends a line far more impact and adverbs often disturb the rhythm of a sentence.

Be wary of tags and adverbs combined -- you don't need both 90% of the time. Be especially wary of combinations that mean the same thing: shouted loudly, whispered quietly.

2) Dialogue tags always go at the end of the line of speech.

If you follow the same pattern every time then your prose gets flat and lifeless. If every line ends in "she said," or "he sighed," then you've got that problem -- it's hard to inject any energy when it is read aloud because you're always adding on that low little "he said/she said/Tom cried."

Furthermore, not every chunk of dialogue is said in the same fashion: the character might smile half way through for impact, or break to sob. For example:

"I remember Grace, yeah. The girl with all that bouncy blond hair?" Emilia smiled. "She was so funny when she had to do that phone interview with Simon Cowell...

3) Every line of dialogue needs a tag, right?

No! And thrice no. I don't care if they're debating the Russian economy or masturbating to the dulcet tones of Celine Dion; do not tag every line of speech! Here's an example:

Annie thrust a menu on to Luke's lap.

"What do you want for dinner, hon?"

"Ooh. Let's have a looksy." He pushed his glasses back into place with a nail bitten finger. "Something with hot sauce, I think."

"Oh yeah. Anything for the sauce," she giggled.

"Are you able to say anything without innuendo?"

We already know that Annie is speaking because we described her action first. For the remainder of the conversation, we also know that the only two people speaking are Annie and Luke. That means that we don't need to be reminded every time that we speak. Did you even notice the lack of tagging there?

4) It's not enough to use a tag -- I need to say what my character is doing, too.

"Did you see the big game last night?" Rex called, striding towards my desk. "It was awesome!

Now look at:

"Did you see the big game last night?" Rex strode towards my desk. "It was awesome!"

Did we need to know that Rex was calling as well as striding? No: he was striding towards the desk and was therefore some distance away to begin with. His voice would have been loud enough to carry.

We don't always consciously think about these things when we write but we do often see mistakes like this in a story. When you re-read your work, ask yourself: do I need the tag and the action? Would the action act sufficiently as a tag too?

maestrowork said:

Find another way for the character to say it.

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This is a counsel of perfection, though. Once in a while, (as, I see, maestrowork pointed out in another post) you do need, "he whispered," "she howled," or "he sobbed." Or even, "she said coldly."But only once in a while. Once in a pretty long while.

The ones you almost never need are "responded," "replied," "retorted," "returned," "answered," because those almost always follow another person's speech, and are obviously in reply to it.

And I've seen adverbs (which,yes, can be a terrible habit) used well--as in a book where the character says something in French that the reader may not know. "XX!" she said crudely. Saves having to find the French dictionary and look it up.

Nightmirror said:

I used to rarely use dialogue tags (words used in place of said) because I thought they sounded awkward. Then I noticed in certain books (Twilight, for example) that writers use dialogue tags like free money, almost replacing the need to use the word "said." Sometimes the tags seemed to add more to the emotional aspect of the conversation, making it "flow" better; however, I've noticed that a lot of people consider dialogue tags to be annoying--the trademark of an amateur. Tell me then, do dialogue tags jump off the page like annoying nuisances, or do they, in fact, add to your reading experience? If you could provide a few examples with your answer I'd very much appreciate it.

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Everything in moderation and when necessary to make it clear who is speaking. I absolutely hate dialogue tags with adverbs: he said annoyingly, she said sadly, etc. I also don't like tags such as: "I want to go now," George hissed or "Let's stop this," Jane snorted.

I like he said, she said, as they are invisible. I also like beats, which is action, to show who is speaking. I also think interior dialogue is appropriate at time.

bonitakale said:

This is a counsel of perfection, though. Once in a while, (as, I see, maestrowork pointed out in another post) you do need, "he whispered," "she howled," or "he sobbed." Or even, "she said coldly."But only once in a while. Once in a pretty long while.


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Even with these, there are better ways of saying exactly the same thing with using the words as dialogue tags.