The importance of dialogue in storytelling cannot be understated. Dialogue can help to inform character development, provide conflict, emphasize themes, and generally keep a story moving. Whether you’re writing a novel, screenplay, or a play, understanding and mastering the rules of dialogue can take your writing from mundane to masterful. This blog post will provide an introduction to some of the main rules of dialogue and explain how they can be used to create powerful stories.
Dialogue is about more than just writing words for characters to say. It’s an opportunity to shape a character’s personality and create an environment of conflict and tension. It can be used to control pacing, highlight relationships between characters, and create an overall atmosphere of excitement and drama. With the right dialogue, a story can move from a slow start to a dramatic climax. But it takes skill and a keen understanding of the rules of dialogue to craft a story that will keep readers engaged.
- Use Quotation Marks to Indicate Spoken Word. …
- Dialogue Tags Stay Outside the Quotation Marks. …
- Use a Separate Sentence for Actions That Happen Before or After the Dialogue. …
- Use Single Quotes When Quoting Something Within the Dialogue. …
- Use a New Paragraph to Indicate a New Speaker.
What are dialogue rules?
Writers can use dialogue rules as guidelines and advice to create interesting sentences in which subjects or characters speak. Some of these guidelines deal with how to punctuate a sentence correctly, while others deal with how to make the reader’s dialogue more entertaining. By adhering to these guidelines when writing dialogue, you can create more believable characters and make your stories easier for readers to follow.
11 rules of dialogue
You can use the guidelines listed below to enhance your dialogue-writing skills:
1. Use dialogue tags
The portion of a sentence that indicates who is speaking is called a dialogue tag. Common examples of dialogue tags include:
To identify who is speaking at various points in the dialogue, use dialogue tags. Although you don’t have to include a dialogue tag each time a new speaker enters the scene, it can be useful to do so whenever there is a change in tone or an interruption of a regular pattern.
Example: John, the interviewer, asked, “Do you have any special skills?”
“I can speak fluent French,” I replied.
“Where did you learn that?”
“I lived in France for two years during college.”
“So did I!” interjected the other interviewer, Mary.
2. Use a variety of dialogue tags
Try to use a variety of tags when using dialogue tags. Use a variety of tags to give the scene more context rather than just reusing the same one. There are many dialogue tags you can use, such as:
3. Separate new speakers
Put the quote from each new speaker you bring into the conversation on a different line. This rule is applicable in all instances in which a new speaker enters a conversation, not just when one does so. It is simpler to read and follow written dialogue when each speaker is placed on a separate line.
Incorrect usage: “How are you?” John asked. “I am fine. How are you?” Mary replied. “I am doing well. Thank you for asking,” John said.
Correct usage: “How are you?” John asked.
“I am fine. How are you?” Mary replied.
“I am doing well. Thank you for asking,” John said.
4. Punctuate inside quotation marks
Most of the time, punctuation is placed within the closing quotation marks rather than after them. Included in this is punctuation, such as commas, question marks, and exclamation points.
Incorrect usage: Mary replied, “Thank you for coming.”
Correct usage: Mary asked, “How can I help you today?”
There are, however, exceptions to this rule. With few exceptions, it all comes down to how you use quotation marks. To ask a question about a quote, for instance, place the question mark at the end of the sentence rather than with the words themselves.
Which Shakespearean work, for instance, contains the line “Now is the winter of our discontent”?
5. Remove quotation marks for multiple paragraphs
If your dialogue is lengthy, you can break it up into different paragraphs. Only use close quotation marks at the conclusion of the last paragraph in this case. Only use open quotation marks at the beginning of each of the preceding paragraphs.
Example: John then described his interview, saying, “I got to the office about 30 minutes early. I waited in the lobby with another candidate. I was a little anxious, but I knew I had done my homework in the days before. The first candidate to go had a 20-minute interview, and he was in the waiting room with me.
After his interview was over, I had mine. The hiring manager was very cordial and made me feel comfortable. We discussed my previous employment history and my academic background. I thought I did well on most of the interview questions and left the interviewer with a favorable impression. The interview was over, and before I knew it, I was returning home. ”.
7. Capitalize only at the start of sentences
Even when dialogue is punctuated, only capitalize the subsequent word when a new sentence is being started. When deciding where to capitalize a word, treat the dialogue as if it were a sentence. For instance, if the dialogue were removed, would it be appropriate to capitalize the following word normally?
Incorrect usage: “I cant wait to see you!” He yelled.
Correct usage: “I cant wait to see you!” he yelled.
8. Use single quotes within the dialogue
Use single quotation marks to indicate any quotations contained within a dialogue block. This may happen if the speaker is quoting someone else. When compared to this alternative, using double quotation marks for both pieces of dialogue may make it more difficult to read.
Do your best at everything you do, as your father always advised you to do, is a good example that I’ve tried to live by, John said.
9. Remove unnecessary parts
Eliminating superfluous words from your dialogue is a great way to make it better. These are the conversations we might have in person, but they don’t add anything to the one you’re writing. You can keep readers interested in your written dialogue by cutting out these parts.
Example: Mark saw Jane enter the room. “Hello,” Mark said.
“Hi, how are you?” Jane asked.
“Im fine, thank you. Are you here for the meeting?”
“Yes I am,” she answered.
You can improve on this example by starting with:
Mark saw Jane enter the room. “Here for the meeting?” he asked.
“Yes, I am,” Jane responded.
10. Remember who the person is speaking to
In order to make the dialogue in your text seem more realistic to the reader, try to keep track of who the person in it is speaking to. Most people alter their speech depending on the other participants in the conversation. A character might converse differently with a friend than they would with their boss at work, for instance.
Example: “Yes, sir. I’ll take care of that right away,” David told his boss.
David said to his friend, “I can help you with that, yeah, sure.”
11. Break up long monologues
It’s unusual for a speaker to go on for a long time without being interrupted. Finding ways to break up a lengthy piece of dialogue can be very helpful. Simple ways to accomplish this include having a different character pose a query or briefly describing the scene. This rule may be disregarded when a character delivers a speech or makes a presentation.
Rules for Punctuating Dialogue
FAQ
What are the 3 Rules of dialogue?
- “Dialogue should stay on topic.” …
- “Use dialogue as you would actual speech.” …
- “Opt for the speaker attribution said over all others.” …
- “Avoid long speeches.” …
- “Be grammatically correct. …
- “Show what the characters are doing while they’re talking.” …
- “Keep characters’ speech consistent.”
What are the 5 elements of dialogue?
- Only spoken words go within quotation marks. …
- A new line or paragraph is added whenever a different character speaks or responds by taking an action.
- Punctuation marks belong inside quotation marks.
What is the first rule of dialogue?
- Objective. …
- Resource. …
- Setting the Stage. …
- The Characters. …
- A Quick Side Note. …
- Back to the Scene – After the meals are delivered.
- Five Elements of Strong Dialogue. …
- 1) It is essential to the story.
