![]() ![]() If you SHOW me his anger, I’m interested. Reason being, it’s fine to tell me he’s angry, but it will mean more to me if I’m so immersed in the scene, I can infer his anger through actions and cues, through information you give me rather than things you tell me. So, I’ll generally always edit dialogue tags that say something like, “he said angrily”. I’m not a fan of emotion words, as I call them, unless they are carefully and purposefully used for maximum impact.I’d argue that even if you’re in the “always use said” camp, “he shouted” is a much stronger alternative than “he said loudly.” So, “he said loudly” can move to “he shouted”. If you fall into the trap of using a lot of adverbs in your dialogue tags, stop and ask yourself how you can strengthen the verb, which might ultimately make the adverb unnecessary. “He smiled sadly” is one I’d argue is a strong adverb choice, because it changes the meaning of the sentence, whereas “He smiled happily” is a weak one, because “happily” is implied in the act of “he smiled”. A lot of people poo-poo adverbs*, and I am not a huge fan, but I think it’s really the verb-adverb relationship that can be a bit of a bear in tags (all the time, really, but let’s focus on tags).This will help you “hear” how they sound, so you’ll know if you’re laying it on too thick (which can feel campy or unbelievable) or if you need to push into that a bit harder. I always suggest reading out loud for everyone, always, but if you aren’t an author who does that, I highly advocate you start to do so at least in scenes where you have a character with a specific speaking mannerism.can be just as powerful informational tags as “s/he said”. Similarly, in a scene with more than two people, give your readers enough information to allow them to know who is speaking, and who they are speaking to, but don’t bog it down with a dialogue tag on every line. Be careful in scenes with only two people speaking.For example, if it’s clear that Maurice is crying, you don’t need to add “he cried” in the dialogue tag. If it’s already clear how someone is delivering their lines, you don’t need to restate that in the dialogue tag. One thing I run across a lot is repetitive information.If, for the meaning to get across fully, you need to tell your readers how the line is delivered as well as what the line says, you’ll probably need something a bit more informative than “s/he said.” This will show your characters in different situations, which makes them and your conversation both a bit more interesting. Consider layering in a conversation while your characters are doing other things. You don’t always just sit there and talk, right? I have long, evolved conversations with my kids when I’m cooking, for example. You can “show” that someone is speaking without using a dialogue tag by inserting an action beat. Action beats can be hugely important in dialogue scenes. Remember there are other ways to indicate who is speaking.You’ll “hear” the conversation, and it will also allow you to hear where the tags could be best used. Usually, if you read out loud, things tend to shift, though. Or maybe if there isn’t a tag, you’ll realize you need one there. A lot of the time, you’ll realize what you thought needed a tag, might not after all. Read the dialogue you’re writing out loud.I think both have strengths and weaknesses, but the author needs to make a CHOICE and I won’t generally interfere with that choice aside from editing stuff), dialogue tags can be a bit hard to manage and they can get out of control pretty fast. No matter which camp you fall into (I really don’t care. ![]() It will keep things from feeling monotonous and engage the reader. He said/she said can feel dull and repetitive if that’s all the author uses, so shake it up with words like whispered, shouted, etc. Only use “said” and never anything else, because it distracts from what the person is saying/the narrative otherwise.Ģ. I realized… dialogue tags are a bit of a bear, aren’t they?ġ. “(name) said (adverb here).” So, for example, “Susan said angrily.” I’ve recently had a few edits that were bogged down by an overuse of dialogue tags and they were all the same: ![]() ![]() She gave me the idea on just how to break it down and do the thing.) (Huge hat tip to Joanne Harris on twitter for starting a thread on this, which happened to be something I was planning on addressing anyway. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |