Taglines, or better known as dialogue tags, have been used in writing clear back to the Bible. They help the reader to know exactly who is talking during a scene.
However, today, many publishers are moving away from dialogue tags as this is more telling than showing. Adding an action beat for whoever is talking is a way to show that person is the one talking instead of saying so-in-such said.
As a reader, to be honest, I never really noticed that kind of stuff and it never bothered me. But now as a writer as I sit reading a book, if I see a whole bunch of unnecessary dialogue tags it almost makes me want to stop reading the book. I get through it, especially if I’ve paid for it, but I know that it could have been written a whole lot better without them. For me this shows that I’ve grown as a writer and know that I’m improving over time.
Then here recently I won in an auction some time with an author who has many books published. Guess what she told me to add to my story in many places instead of how I had it? If you guessed ‘so-in-such said’ you’d be right. I was kind of dumbfounded by this, but I figure if she has well over 50 books published she might know what she’s talking about. I guess you could call it just more food for thought. It just goes to show you there are never any 100% rules in writing. In the end, go with your gut and what you feel is best for your story.
Ahh, the inner editor. 🙂 I’m pretty 50/50 about dialogue tags. I don’t think they’re evil, but they’re definitely overused at times. Good luck with your writing, and the rest of A-Z! 🙂
Where Legends Begin
Thank you Bonnie. As for over use, there was a book I’d read recently that had a lot of praise about it and the back of the book blurb sounded good, so I checked it out. The dialogue tags were used way over the top I almost stopped reading book. However, I got through it and it was a good story, but it could have been so much better with a tad more editing to get rid of most of them.
Dialogue Tags must be on a lot of writers minds during this #Challenge. Not sure if it has helped me or hurt. But, I will be paying closer attention when the #Challenge is over and I get back to my second novel. Thanks for this contribution to the subject.
Thank you Stepheny. I think it’s one of those things we don’t really think about until people start pointing them out. And I noticed the spelling of your name. It’s good to meet someone else with a unique spelling of their name like mine: Kristena. My mom told me she spelled it that way because it look pretty on paper. 🙂
ok I am being really dumb here I have no idea what a dialogue tag is, do you mean on a web the tags we put on the search item or do you mean in an actual paperback where sometimes at the bottom of the page they seem to put an explanation? If the latter as a reader I find that irritating and don’t read them x PS hello from another a-z blogger 😉
Actually, dialogue tags are in a book as you read them when the author has ‘he said’, ‘she said’, or whoever said to let the reader know who talking. However, in most cases this is not necessary if you add what’s called an action beat. That basically the character in the book does some kind of action to help the reader know who’s doing what and then if there is dialogue to go along with it then you know who’s talking. I hope that clears it up. I probably should have been a little more clear as to what they are. 🙂
Oh i get it now totally, makes sense. That sounds technical to me, I just write, and probably get all the technical stuff utterly wrong, but at least I am more educated now 🙂 x
When I was a reader I had no clue what truly went into writing a book. Now that I’ve been writing my first fiction book as well as my daughter’s memoir, it’s amazing how much goes into a book. From action beats, to dialogue tags, to deep POV to so many other things that all make a fiction book what it is and enjoyable to read.
Gawds that almost puts me off writing sounds so complicated. How did you learn the techy stuff? X
Honestly, you don’t learn it all at once, and in the end it is all so worth it. The technical things are all things we can learn. However, it’s whether we can truly write a story that counts. That’s not something we can all do no matter how hard we might try or want to. My hope is that somehow my stories will somehow resonate with others. For me the learning process has been interesting and I’d do it all over again as I’ve truly come to love writing. So don’t give up if you truly love to write. It’s a great thing to do when you love to do it.
I do love writing or should I say I love the reactions to writing 🙂 x
I’m with ya 100%.
Is this improper dialogue punctuation and tag. “Don’t ever put your hands on me again,” he got up and stalked out.
The wording is fine. However, the punctuation isn’t quite correct. You’d want to put it like this or something similar:
“Don’t ever put your hands on me again.” He got up and stalked out.
Or instead of having ‘He’ you could also put the characters name. Other than that it looks good. I hope this helped.