A Few Questions about Dialog Tags

JohnLine

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Two things I've been pondering recently:

I don't think there is a hard and fast rule, but are there any guidelines for 'Chris said' vs. 'said Chris'?

"I don't know," said Chris.

"I don't know," Chris said.

Chris said, "I don't know."

Said Chris, "I don't know." (I think this one is an error.)

The guideline I've been using is to put the said as close to the comma as possible, except that pronouns always come before the verb: 'she said' vs 'said she.' And whenever the sentence is any more complicated then a simple noun-verb to always put the noun before the verb. Example:

"I don't know," Chris said, furrowing his brow. (preferred)
"I don't know," said Chris, furrowing her brow. (not preferred)

Anyone have any further insight? I'm just tired of trying to figure out how to arrange my dialog tags, and so I want a clear guideline to save time.

And the other thing I've been wondering is, is the following correct (or preferred) grammar?

Chris said, "I don't know," and furrowed his brow.
 

Ari Meermans

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This is a type of dialogue question that is a bit difficult to answer because there really isn't a clear-cut rule. The simple "said" tag is the least obtrusive because everyone is used to seeing it and it becomes almost invisible and, really, its main purpose is to identify the speaker for your reader's benefit. Too many saids become annoying, though, so its use every 3 to 4 lines of dialogue is sufficient for two characters speaking. That's especially important in fast-paced dialogue where you want your reader to be able to keep up but don't want to slow things down.

Changing-up your dialogue tags for stylistic reasons isn't a good idea. Sometimes, though, the tags need a little help, sometimes they don't—the words themselves get the point across. So you need to develop an ear for dialogue and to do that you need to keep in mind what is going on in and around your character.

What might be going on that would call for "said Chris"? An easy example could be a group getting together to plan an escapade:

"So we're all in agreement, right?" John said.
"I don't know," said Chris. (Shows hesitancy on Chris's part and that he has been thinking deeply about the matter.)
"No, I don't think we've covered everything," Frank said. (Frank now feels empowered to speak up.)

Like I said, it's a simple example and there are other reasons you might do it; it depends on what you want to convey to your reader without making them stop to notice the change-up.

Think about why you want to change-up your tags, then try to think of the most effective ways of doing it while keeping your pacing just right.
 
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JohnLine

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"So we're all in agreement, right?" John said.
"I don't know," said Chris. (Shows hesitancy on Chris's part and that he has been thinking deeply about the matter.)
"No, I don't think we've covered everything," Frank said. (Frank now feels empowered to speak up.)

That's interesting. I hadn't thought of 'said Chris' as showing hesitancy with the time spent parsing 'said' being the hesitation. It's neat idea to add to the repertoire. I'd been simply thinking of the speaker as the subject, the tag as the verb, and the quote as the object.

I've been trying to put the most important information up front and avoid restructuring arbitrarly [sic].
 

angeliz2k

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Two things I've been pondering recently:

I don't think there is a hard and fast rule, but are there any guidelines for 'Chris said' vs. 'said Chris'?

"I don't know," said Chris.

"I don't know," Chris said.

Chris said, "I don't know."

Said Chris, "I don't know." (I think this one is an error.)

All of these are grammatically correct, even, Said Chris, "I don't know." This isn't a usual construction, but it's not wrong and has it's obscure uses. I'm thinking of it in a sort of tongue-and-cheek context. You know: "There was a bear walking across the grass. Said Chris, 'That sure is a big dog.'" Wow, that's a dumb example, but I hope you get what I mean.

The guideline I've been using is to put the said as close to the comma as possible, except that pronouns always come before the verb: 'she said' vs 'said she.' And whenever the sentence is any more complicated then a simple noun-verb to always put the noun before the verb. Example:

"I don't know," Chris said, furrowing his brow. (preferred)
"I don't know," said Chris, furrowing her brow. (not preferred)

Again, both are equally fine. You can switch them up as you wish for flow and variety. The first is a little more common, but there's nothing wrong with "said X" (though you're right as far as not using pronouns in this construction). Switching where "said" is placed is a non-issue, frankly. Don't overthink it.

Anyone have any further insight? I'm just tired of trying to figure out how to arrange my dialog tags, and so I want a clear guideline to save time.

And the other thing I've been wondering is, is the following correct (or preferred) grammar?

Chris said, "I don't know," and furrowed his brow.

Yes, it's correct. And as such, it's preferred where it's useful.

Again, don't overthink it. The guideline is to be grammatically correct, which all of the above are. :)
 

Chase

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Your commas are all correct, Burbank John, as is your Noah Webster US spelling of dialog. Please excuse our foreign speakers who insist on the old, outdated, and unpronounceable form adding "ue," as if to say DIE-A-LOG-OOO-EEE. :greenie

Joke. Settle down, Ari. You can't ban me for a little international humor . . . can you? :flag:
 

JohnLine

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I'm thinkingue about this because when I'm writingue I always feel unsure the tague-noun order, and it's become distractingue. I'd like a few simple guidelines to fall back on, so I don't have to think about it unless I want to.

I'm not saying one is absolutely correct or incorrect. I'm tryingue to look at current writers and not only copy what they're doingue, but figure out the reason behind it.
 

angeliz2k

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Personally, I switch up dialogue-tag order based on rhythm and structure. It's more an instinctual thing--as I write, "said Bob" might just sound better than "Bob said". Or I might find it useful to have a sentence like, "Bob said, 'It sure is hot today,' and wiped his brow." This is where the art comes into it, IMO. How you arrange your dialogue tags is part of your voice. I'm assuming that it's all done grammatically; once you have the mechanics correct, you can play around. That's how I see it, at least.
 

litdawg

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Nothing gets old when action beats replace dialogue tagues frequently and when conversation back-and-forths can be managed without any tagues at all.
 

Bufty

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Aim for flow and clarity. Simplicity. You don't want your reader tripping up on something you have overthought.