Speech tags -- how to use them in your writing
Little girl having a discussion with the Virgin Mary
Photo credit: Andrew Cusack www.andrewcusack.com
The most common mistake I see with beginning writers, is trying to pack too much into a speech tag.
You should always use “he said/she said” for speech tags. Anything else will distract the reader.
For example, in the following exchange;
“I will write in any style I want,” he warned.
“I hope you do,” she urged.
It’s true; the writer seems to get a bit more mileage out of these speech tags, but what happens in the reader’s mind? He or she stops to think about “warned” and “urged”.
If we change to the standard format;
“I will write in any style I want,” he said.
“I hope you do,” she said.
Then the speech tags disappear and the reader goes smoothly on through the conversation. By “disappear” I mean that the reader sees them, and without stopping to think about it, assigns the line of dialogue to the proper character.
There are a couple of exceptions to the “he said/she said” rule. If the line of dialogue is a question, then use “he asked/she asked”. The second exception is when there are more than two people engaged in the conversation. Then you must use the format “Bill said/Mary said/Jack said” unless it’s obvious who the speaker is. This becomes boring and repetitious for the writer, but the reader will quickly lose track of the speakers if you don’t make it clear.
Your dialogue will be much more lively if you replace the speech tags with bits of action. For example;
“I will write in any style I want.” Bill folded his arms across his chest.
“I hope you do.” Mary crushed her cigarette out in the ashtray.
Don’t use action on every line of dialogue; that will annoy the reader after a while. Write in some action or movement on approximately every sixth or seventh line of dialogue.
Leave off the speech tag or action completely anytime it’s obvious who is speaking.
“I will write in any style I want.” Bill folded his arms across his chest.
“I hope you do.” Mary crushed her cigarette out in the ashtray.
“Okay, now that we settled that, what’s for dinner?”
“It’s your turn to cook.”
“Then I guess it will be sandwiches and chips,” he said.
“Hmm, how about if I take you out to Bistro Louie?”
“Only if it counts as my cooking night.” He stood and held his hand out to her.
If plot is the lifeblood of a story, then dialogue is the pulse. Make it crisp and lively.
If you've written a story or a novel, click
Self Publishing to see a list of self publishing websites and companies
Two girls wearing ice skates having an animated conversation
Photo credit: The Washington Post loudounextra.washingtonpost.com
Return to Ten Things I Hate About Your Writing
Written by Ariion Kathleen Brindley
You can email Ariion at
All material © Copyright ariionkathleenbrindley.com 2009
Click on the book to see Hannibal's Elephant Girl, a new novel by Ariion Kathleen Brindley
If you've written a story or a novel, click
Literary Agents email addresses to see a list of literary agents' e-mail addresses
Click on the photo to visit the website
Are you looking for a kitten? Click
Himalayan kittens for sale
to see Himalayan kittens
If you would like to see some Persian kittens, click
Persian kittens for sale
to go to Kittybabies.com
If you have written a novel or short story and would a professional edit and analysis, please click
Novel Editing to see additional information
Writers' Free Reference is a list of free websites providing information useful to writers and others. Please click
List of free reference websites
to see the free list
A girl of twelve was thrown into a river by two men. Obolus, one of Hannibal's elephants, pulled her from the water. Click
Hannibal's Elephant Girl, a novel by Ariion Kathleen Brindley to see more about the book
Do you need a good laugh? click
Over 200 jokes and funny stories to see a wide variety of fun
