Whether you're writing fiction or non-fiction, satire or drama, writing dialogue can be challenging. The parts of a story in which the characters speak, stand out from the rest of the story, usually begin with quotation marks. Here are some of the most common and appropriate ways to ensure that your story is on point if you want to know how to format the dialogue just right.
Step
Part 1 of 2: Placing the Right Punctuation
Step 1. Decide and enter paragraphs for different speakers
Since dialogue involves two or more speakers, readers need something that lets them know when one character finishes speaking and when another begins. Inserting a new paragraph each time a new character begins to speak will serve as a visual cue to help the reader follow the dialogue.
- Even if a speaker only utters half a syllable before being interrupted by another person, the half syllable is still in the paragraph that is inserted in the line.
- In Indonesian (and English), dialogue is read from left to right, so the first thing the reader notices when looking at the text is the white blank space on the left edge.
Step 2. Use quotes appropriately
American writers usually use double quotation marks (““) between words spoken by a character, as can be seen in this example: Beth was walking when she saw her friend, Shao. "Hey!" he said waving his hand.
- A set of quotation marks can cover multiple sentences, as long as they are spoken in the same portion of the dialogue. For example: Evgeny said, "But Laura doesn't have to finish her dinner! You always give her special treatment!"
- When a character quotes another person, use double quotation marks for what the character said, then quote one quotation mark. For example: Evgeny said, "Never yell 'Finish your dinner' to Laura!"
- Reversal of the roles of quotation marks one and two is common in writing activities outside America. Many European and Asian languages use brackets (<>) to mark dialogue.
Step 3. Place the tag dialog properly
Dialogue tags (also called introductory phrases) are the part of the narrative that explains which character is speaking. For example, in the following sentence, Evgeny argues is a dialogue tag: Evgeny argues, "But Laura doesn't have to finish her dinner!"
- Use a comma to separate the tag dialog from the dialog.
- If the dialogue tag precedes the dialogue, a comma comes before the opening quotation mark: Evgeny argues, "But Laura doesn't have to finish her dinner!"
- If the dialogue tag comes after the dialogue, a comma appears before (inside) the closing quotation mark: “But Laura doesn't have to finish her dinner,” argued Evgeny.
- If the dialogue tag interrupts the flow of dialogue, use two commas according to the previous rule: "But Laura," argued Evgeny, "don't have to finish her dinner!"
Step 4. Put question marks and exclamation marks correctly
Put question marks and exclamation marks inside quotes like: "What happened?" asked Tareva. "I'm so confused right now!"
If a question mark or exclamation mark ends the dialog, do not use a comma to separate the dialog from the tag dialog. For example: "Why did you choose a pizza with macaroni and cheese for dinner?" Fatima asked in disbelief
Step 5. Use dashes and brackets correctly
The dash (--) is used to indicate sudden endings and breaks in dialogue. They are not the same as hyphens, which are generally only used to make compound words. Parentheses (…) are used when the dialog starts to disappear but is not interrupted suddenly.
- For example, use a dash to indicate an abrupt halt: "What are you--" Joe snapped.
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You can also use dashes to indicate when someone's dialogue is interrupted by another: "I just wanted to tell you--"
"Do not say!"
"-that I prefer Walls ice cream."
- Use parentheses when a character is at a loss for ideas or doesn't know what to say: "Mmm, I guess…"
Step 6. Write capital letters in direct sentences
If grammatically the dialogue starts with the character's sentence (different if it is in the middle of a sentence), write capital letters on the first word as if it were the first word of the sentence, even though there may have been a previous narration.
- For example: Evgeny said, "But Laura doesn't have to finish her dinner!" The "t" of the word "But" doesn't technically start a sentence, but it does start a sentence in a dialogue so it's capitalized.
- However, if the first word in a quote is not the first word of a sentence, don't capitalize it: Evgeny argues that Laura "shouldn't finish her night!"
Step 7. Break a long speech into many paragraphs
If one of your characters is telling a very long story, then as you would an essay or non-dialogue parts of your story, you have to break it down in many paragraphs.
- Use opening quotation marks as usual, do not place it at the end of the first paragraph of your character's speech. The utterance isn't finished yet, so that's not how you put the punctuation!
- Even so, put an opening quotation mark at the beginning of the next paragraph of the speech. This shows that this is a continuation of the speech of the previous paragraph.
- Put closing quotation marks where the character ends the story as usual.
Step 8. Avoid using quotes in indirect dialogue
Live dialogue is when someone is actually talking, and quotes are used to indicate that. Indirect dialogue is an indirect sentence, not someone who is speaking directly, and quotation marks are not used. For example: Beth saw her friend Shao on the street and stopped to say hello.
Part 2 of 2: Make Your Dialogue Flow Naturally
Step 1. Make sure the reader knows who is speaking
There are two ways to do this, but the most obvious way is to use dialog tags accurately. Readers won't be confused if your sentences make it clear that Evgeny is speaking, not Laura.
- When you have a long dialogue that only two people have, you can choose to leave the tag dialog altogether. In this case, you rely on paragraph cuts and indents to let the reader know who is speaking.
- It's a good idea to leave tagged dialogue when more than two characters are speaking only if you're aiming for a reader who may be confused about who is speaking. For example, if four characters are arguing with each other, you may want to impress upon your readers that they are listening to opinions without knowing who is speaking. The confusion of leaving the tag dialog can help achieve this.
Step 2. Avoid using too many tag dialogs
You may have the instinct to add as much spice to your story as possible with as many variations of “he” and “he said” as possible, but tagged dialogue such as “he grumbles” or “he reproaches” actually distracts from what the characters are saying. You." He said "is so commonplace that it becomes almost invisible to the reader.
Step 3. Vary the placement of your tag dialog
Instead of starting each line of dialogue with "Evgeny said," "Laura said," or "Sujata said," try placing a portion of the dialogue tag at the end of the sentence.
Put a dialogue tag in the middle of a sentence, interrupting a sentence, to change the tempo of the sentence. Since you must use two commas to separate the dialogue tags (see Step 3 in the previous section), your sentences will have two pauses in the middle of the spoken sentence: “And how exactly,” Laura mumbled, “your plans to achieve that?”
Step 4. Replace yourself with pronouns
If the proper name mentions specific places, things, and people and is always written in capital letters at the beginning, pronouns are words that are not written in capital letters instead of nouns, including personal names. To avoid repeating character names, replace them with appropriate pronouns from time to time.
- Some examples of pronouns include I, he, himself, you, it, they, every, some, many, whoever, whoever, someone, everyone, and so on.
- The pronoun must always match the number and gender of the noun it refers to.
- For example, the correct pronoun for “Laura” is third person singular: she, his, himself.
- The proper pronouns for “Laura and Evgeny” are third person plural: they, theirs, themselves.
Step 5. Use dialogue rhythm to mix with the formatting
The rhythm of the dialogue is the moments of action that interrupt a sentence of dialogue. The rhythm of dialogue is a great way to show what is being done as well as what the characters are saying, and can add action to the piece. For example: "Give me the screwdriver," Sujata grimaced and ran her oil-soaked hand over her jeans, "I'm sure I can fix this thing."
Step 6. Use trustworthy language
The biggest problem with writing dialogue is that it often sounds unbelievable. You can speak naturally every day, so trust your own voice! Imagine how the characters feel and how they want to say. Say it out loud in your own words. That's your starting point. Don't try to use fancy words that no one else uses in normal conversation. Use the sounds you hear in everyday life. Re-read the dialogue for yourself and see if it seems reasonable.
Step 7. Don't over-create the dialogue
Dialogue is used to provide exposure, not just boring dialogue. Often it also falls into a speech that is so long that it may lose the reader's attention. If you need to convey details about the plot or setting of the story, try to show it through narration, not dialogue.
Tips
- Remember that less is often more. One common mistake writers often make when creating dialogue is writing things out in sentences that are longer than they should be. For example, most people use abbreviations and omit unimportant words in everyday conversation.
- Be careful if you want to insert accents in the dialogue. Often it takes extra punctuation to show an accent and can be very distracting to your readers.
