Wattpad 101: Your guide to the world of Wattpad

Writing Dialogue 102

Dialogue isn't always easy, and for someone just starting out, dialogue can be a giant drag. Every time I've mentioned dialogue in Wattpad 101, I usually mention things like "don't overuse tags" and "don't create a smorgasbord of text". However, I realize I've never written a chapter explaining how you do that. If you want to learn how to write dialogue "grammatically correct", you can check out my chapter on writing Dialogue (although it's dated and suffers from a few pieces of information I ought to fix, it was one of the first chapters I ever wrote for Wattpad 101). However, if you want to write dialogue good (I meant to do that, shut up word, you're not the boss of me), then you're in the right place. Here are 5 pieces of advice on how to improve your dialogue.

Said is okay

There is some strange aversion to the word "said". Now, you can argue that quotation marks already do the equivalent of "saying" something, so adding "he said" or "she said" becomes redundant in all but the sense that you're distinguishing a subject. However, I don't think said is bad. To most people who read, the word said is quickly forgotten. That is... assuming the content of the story is interesting.

That's the trick, I think. It doesn't really matter how much you use said... as long as it's sandwiched between a lot of action and you find yourself more engaged with the story. We want to ignore said since we see it all the time, so if our brains are occupied, then we won't start to get annoyed by it's overuse. However, if the story is boring, then the word said will become a repetitive thing you just can't stand.

It's the difference between listening to a professor who constantly keeps clearing his throat or listening to a hot celebrity actor giving an interview while constantly clearing their throat. One is going to drive you crazy, the other is only going to be noticed by that one guy who then makes an internet video about all the times the guy cleared his throat, and you'll go, oh yeah, I guess he does, while not really caring because you love it so much.

Sorry... I got a bit sidetracked there. The point is, said is okay to use, and your writing does NOT need to become a smorgasbord of words to otherwise be accessible to your audience.

However, here is the important thing about said. It doesn't fit in every situation.

Here are the cases in which said should NOT be used:

1) If your dialogue has clearly indicated who is talking, you should not be using said.

2) If your dialogue has an exclamation point, you should not use said.

3) If your dialogue has a question mark, you should not use said.

4) If your person is not speaking in a normal indoor voice as you would normally talk to someone, you should not use said.

5) If your dialogue involves 2 people, said can only be used 2 times in a row.

6) If your dialogue involves 3 or more people, said should only me used 3 times in a row.

In a row means consecutive paragraphs of dialogue. But that doesn't give you a lot of room, so what else do you do?

Nothing Is Okay

Just because you can differentiate who spoke, doesn't mean you need to. It's actually quite easy to add no modifier to your dialogue. It really isn't needed. If the speaker is self-evident, there is no point to it.

That's the kicker though. The only point of a tag is to tag who is speaking. There might be some bonus points for adding some emotion into the dialogue. After all, "What do you want?" She screamed, and "What do you want?" She asked, can give some incredibly different visuals.

But, during a standard conversation in normal circumstances, you don't need to put anything. If you're describing a situation where someone is alone, and they're talking to themselves, you don't need to signal it's them. It should be obvious. If a mysterious man in a hat shows up and says something, then sure, that would be the place a tag should be placed.