Helping Writers Go from Unpublished to Published
Crafting great dialog takes work. And today I’d like to discuss 3 mistakes I see more often than any other.
Let’s look at definitions first.
A dialog tag (also known as attribution) tells the reader who is speaking, but also [Read more…] about 3 Common Dialog Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
Oh those pesky dialogue tags.
Said.
Asked.
Replied.
Responded.
There’s a lot of conflicting information out there on what to use.
What’s a writer to do?
In the multitude of manuscripts I read, I see writers employ such things as “Sally smiled” or “Gerald laughed.” In and of itself, there is nothing wrong with that. The problem arises when the writer uses it as a substitute for “she said” and suddenly the character is constantly smiling or laughing.
Generally, a reader needs to have an identifier every 4-5 lines of dialogue in order to stay on track with who is speaking. So a tag isn’t required every time someone speaks (but I’ve seen writers do just that).
Let’s look at an alternative to the dialogue tag. [Read more…] about Those Pesky Dialogue Tags