Even if the action beat doesn’t add a great deal of meaning, it may be a useful way to create a pause in dialogue - changing the rhythm of it subtly.An action beat can often convey the way in which a line of dialogue is spoken: For instance, if a character slams his fists on a desk before saying, “Get out of my office,” you won’t need to tell the reader he’s angry!.They don’t necessarily have to involve actions! An “action beat” might be a thought or description instead.“Did you hear what they were saying on the news?” Guidelines for using action beatsĭialogue tags are handy and quick, but action beats can add much more detail and meaning to a conversation. “It’s been like that all day,” Sarah said. However if the first part of the dialogue was a full sentence, you should use a full stop after the tag and start the next piece of dialogue with a capital: “It’s been like that all day,” Sarah said, “and the sky’s such a weird color, too.” Then, if you’ve broken the dialogue during a sentence, rather than at the end of a sentence, use a comma after the tag and start the next piece of dialogue with a lowercase letter: If the tag comes during the dialogue, end the first part of the dialogue with a comma then have the tag as normal. The first letter of the tag should be lowercase (unless it’s a name). If the tag comes after the dialogue, end the dialogue with a comma, even if it’s a full sentence. Start the dialogue with a capital letter: If the tag comes before the dialogue, use a comma straight after the tag. Here’s a quick guide on punctuating dialogue. They can go before, during or after dialogue: Changing them around can create a more varied and interesting rhythm for your writing. Vary where you position your dialogue tags “he said darkly” rather than “he muttered”)… but don’t overdo it. Sometimes, an adverb might suit your meaning better than changing the verb (e.g. Avoid using adverbs too frequently in dialogue tags Avoid dialogue that goes back and forth without any tags - it can be confusing and tiring for the reader to follow. While you don’t have to attribute every single line of dialogue, do err on the side of caution. Use a tag whenever it’s unclear who’s speaking For obvious reasons, avoid having character “ejaculate” a line of dialogue.

Sometimes, “whispered” or “shouted” might be appropriate. This is one case where repetition really doesn’t matter. In most cases, the word “said” will do just fine - don’t try to come up with lots of fancy synonyms. The dialogue itself is what’s important: The tag is just functional. An action beat can be almost any sentence! It might be an action (“John closed the curtains”) or a thought or description.

It “tags” the dialogue to a particular character.

A dialogue tag looks like “Sarah said” or “he whispered”.

You’re almost certainly familiar with these, and using them, even if you’ve not heard these terms before. “It’s been like that all day,” Sarah said, “and the sky’s such a weird color, too.” What are dialogue tags and action beats? Here’s an example of how to format dialogue, laid out on the page:

You can use single or double quotation marks (double are standard in the US, single are standard in the UK) - just be consistent!.

Punctuation at the end of dialogue should go before the closing quotation mark.

if they shake their head, even if they don’t actually speak.) (It’s also often helpful to start a new line if they act or react - e.g.

When a different character speaks, start a new line.

When a character speaks, their dialogue should be on the same line as their dialogue tag or action beat.In case you need a quick refresher, though, here are the basics for using dialogue tags: You’re probably getting most or all of this right already you’ll have read plenty of dialogue, after all! The basics of using dialogue tags correctly

Dialogue tags in a sentence