Not every line of dialogue needs playing with hair or other gestures. Use dialogue tags to signal who speaks unobtrusively So how do you choose to use a dialogue tag or an action tag? 1. They read as more than just talking heads in space. It makes the characters read more embodied, present in the scene. Here, Emelina’s gesture adds a visual element to the conversation. Doc Homer had the same coloring, didn’t he? Sort of reddish before he went gray?” She fingered her own shoulder-length hair. “I always forget you have so much auburn. For example, when Emelina continues and plays with her hair: 30Īn action tag, by contrast, shows actions or gestures that attribute and convey the tone or emotions of the speaker. You’ll stand out in a crowd here till you get your first cut down at Beth’s Butcher Shop.” Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams (1991), p. “You really do look great,” Emelina said. How do you show who’s speaking in dialogue? When do you use ‘she said’? When do you not? How else can you show a person’s emotions or state of mind in conversation? Read definitions clarifying the uses of dialogue tags vs action tags, and examples that illustrate effective dialogue attribution: Dialogue and action tags: Basic DefinitionsĪ dialogue tag is the narration we add to dialogue (either before, interrupting, or ending the dialogue) to show who’s speaking as well as (in some cases) their manner of speaking.Ī dialogue tag is the ‘he/she/they/it said’ (or grumbled, whined, moaned – more on alternative dialogue tags below).
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