Who Said?
Dialogue is a key part of making a story feel fleshed out and complete.
Well-developed, natural-sounding dialogue will keep a reader immersed in the story world that you’ve created for them. Dialogue tags are the indicators that let readers know who is speaking. They also provide readers with information regarding how a reader is speaking and sometimes provide insight into the speaker's emotions.
Like many things in writing, there are no hard rules when it comes to dialogue tags.
Your dialogue tags can come before, after, or even in the middle of your dialogue. You don’t even technically need a dialogue tag at all. However, there are some pros and cons to consider when placing your dialogue tag and deciding what dialogue tag to use.
SAID
I’ve had many authors tell me that they don’t like using the word said as a dialogue tag because it’s ‘so boring.’
And while, yes, it is the most basic of the dialogue tags, its basic-ness does have a benefit. Said is often referred to as the best dialogue tag, especially for new writers, because its simplicity makes it essentially invisible to readers. We’re so used to seeing it in what we read that we gloss right over it, and it’s less intrusive than other words become when we go to lengths to spice up our dialogue tags.
However, there will always be someone who argues the opposite and says that the repetitiveness of the use of said is what grates on their nerves in a story. To this, I say, you can’t please everyone. While I don’t discourage the occasional use of another word when it’s really the best word for the job, I think going out of your way to avoid using said becomes very distracting and takes away from your actual dialogue. My personal advice? Just use said.
TAGS AT THE END
Placing your dialogue tags at the end of your dialogue is where most readers expect to see them, which is another tactic that helps make them appear invisible to the reader and keep the reader immersed in the story. Your reader’s focus will be on the dialogue, and not the tags.
This tactic also helps set up any supporting narrative or action beats, letting everything flow nicely together.
“That’s quite enough of that,” John said. He threw down his apron.
In this example, the dialogue tag flows right into the action beat. There’s no question regarding who is doing the action or speaking. Everything is very clear.
The problem with placing the tag at the end of the dialogue is that, especially for long chunks of dialogue, the reader might be waiting to find out who is speaking for several lines. This is especially problematic in scenes with more than two speakers.
TAGS IN THE MIDDLE
To break up long chunks of dialogue, we can place the dialogue tag in the middle. This helps eliminate the issue of having to wait to see who is speaking.
This tactic is also utilized to put an emphasis on characters’ witty remarks and one-liners that may get swept up in additional dialogue or flattened by having the dialogue tag at the end.
TAGS AT THE FRONT
Placing the tags before the dialogue isn’t quite as common and will be more notifiable for the reader. Putting the dialogue tag ahead of the dialogue is basically like saying to the reader, “Pay attention now, Tom is going to speak next.” It’s much less subtle than either of the other two tagging options.
In this way, announcing the speaker before the dialogue can actually be an effective tactic to utilize when you’ve got a specific point to make. However, on the flip side, it’s probably not the tactic you want to adopt for all your dialogue tagging needs.
NO TAGS AT ALL
Not every piece of dialogue needs a dialogue tag.
In certain scenes and situations, the speakers, voice, and tone can be inferred from the dialogue itself, and therefore, adding dialogue tags just clutters up the page. In these situations, don’t feel like you have to add tags.
Remember, there are no rules.
