Most Common Writing Errors ✔️

MOST COMMON: Dialogue + Dialogue Tags

Let's say 2 + 2 is a crack in a character's voice. So, 2 + 2 is "Her voice trembled as she spoke." 4 would be "She felt sad."

The tremble in her voice isn't very hard to understand. As the audience, we know whoever this "she" is is emotional.

If we look at the 4, it's blatantly telling the reader the woman feels sad. That's not very engaging, is it? There's nothing to piece together. Even though the tremble in her voice is not like solving the world's hardest puzzle, it's still making the audience think.

The 2 + 2 is the audience figuring out from the tremble in her voice that she's emotional. The 4 is blatantly telling the audience the woman is sad.

Guess where dialogue tags falls in this equation?

I'll give you a hint: they're not 2 + 2.

Dialogue tags exist to tell you who is speaking. If you're using fancier tags, it's even worse. Not only are you slowing the pace, but you're also telling your audience instead of showing them.

That's not to say you can't use fancier tags, but you should use them sparingly. Even I use them every once in a while (like whispered, shouted, whimpered, etc.), but I use them maybe 5 times in an entire novel. Maybe 5 times.

I'm a visual learner, so I suck at explaining things. How about we look at some examples?

I want you to look at these two examples and tell me which one is more engaging.

Do not judge this based on what the characters are talking about. Judge it based on how it is written. Everyone has preferred genres and storylines, so naturally, you're going to lean more toward one story over the other. But try to judge this objectively instead of subjectively.

Example 1:

[Context: Jeongmin is talking to an angel]

Jeongmin's mouth pulled up into a grin. He was sure the dimple on his right cheek was showing. "Welcome to Earth. Congratulations," he said as he spread his arms, "you've made it to the last standing bunker in New York."

"You're far from home, hellspawn. Busan, right?"

Jeongmin's smile almost faltered. "You know me."

"Angels oversee human life. In the shadows, but we're always there."

"I'm no human."

"Your mother was."

Jeongmin's lips tightened, his four-fingered hand falling to the handle of one of his two katanas. "I came to check on the people, but it seems you have that covered. They'll like you more than me. Do I get a name?"

Example 2:

"I don't know why you insist on talking to me," Alana hissed.

"Maybe because I'm your bodyguard, princess," Steven barked in response.

"And that means I don't get privacy?"

"Maybe you would if you were more responsible!" he screamed.

"How dare you raise your voice at me. Is this how you treat all your clients?!" Alana pressed.

Almost every line in example 2 had a dialogue tag that was used to carry the emotion. In example 1, only one dialogue tag was used.

Beyond that, I assume you can infer much more about the characters in example 1 than you can in example 2. In example 1, the text relies on actions and speech style to let you know who is speaking.