The Journey to Writing a Successful Story: a tip book

Dialogue

There are two major things you should know how to do: the first is how the punctuation works in dialogue, and the second is how to make dialogue look nice and natural (dialogue tags, the characters...)

Let's first start with the punctuation and grammar.

When you are using dialogue tags (said, commented, yelled, screeched, and so on) and aren't using a question mark or exclamation point, you will then use a comma. After the comma, the dialogue tag will take place. You do not capitalize anything unless it's a name of a person. Genders and so on aren't capitalized. If you're using a question mark or exclamation point, a comma is not needed and the dialogue tag will not be capitalized unless it's a name.

Wrong way: "So how are you?" The person asked.

Right way: "So how are you?" the person asked.

Wrong way: "I'm good," She said.

Right way: "I'm good," she said.

Wrong way: "Don't." She announced.

Right way: "Don't," she announced.

When you're describing things (scenery, thoughts, emotions, actions, and reactions) and aren't using a question mark or exclamation point, you will then use a period. After the period, the details will take place. You capitalize anything that is after it, that is needed. Genders and so on are capitalized. If you're using a question mark or exclamation point, a period or comma is not needed.

Wrong way: "It's this way." she pointed to the mountain ahead.

Right way: "It's this way." She pointed to the mountain ahead.

Wrong way: "Don't come closer," she put her hands up to block the light so it didn't go into her eyes.

Right way: "Don't come closer." She put her hands up to block the light so it didn't go into her eyes.

Wrong way: "Because why?" right when he said it, something fell from the shelf.

Right way: "Because why?" Right when he said it, something fell from the shelf.

When using dialogue, you will always use quotation marks ("). When you're quoting someone or something in dialogue, you will use apostrophes ('). In narration, when you're quoting someone or something, you will use quotation marks, not apostrophes. I see these mixed sometimes, which is why I'm bringing it up.

You've seen the dialogue usage (quotation marks) in the examples above. But here are the other two types:

"She said to 'not worry' about it," Mary said.

"I'm just confused about the whole thing, you know? The whole thing about me 'destroying you'?"

"It said, and I quote: 'Love is something we don't see, it's something that we feel.'"

Jessica left into the room, only realizing what it meant. "Loving the soul" meant to love yourself. "Loving the soul" meant to be true and pure and believe in oneself.

Apparently, he knew me too well to know that saying "I'm fine" was when I was lying to him and to myself.

Every dialogue that is said by a new person will make a new paragraph.

Wrong way: "Did you listen to their conversation?" Jason asked, putting his knuckles under his chin. "No, I didn't," I said honestly.

Right way: "Did you listen to their conversation?" Jason asked, putting his knuckles under his chin.

"No, I didn't," I said honestly.

If you're going to use a dialogue tag before the dialogue, the dialogue will be capitalized and there will be a comma needed. It will look like: Sarah cleared her throat and said, "Your brother got shot."

Also, one more thing with the usage of quotation marks: they are always with the appropriate words; they aren't spaced out or with its previous (or future) words like so: " Did you hear them? " - The rock from the mountain continued to fall."Dang."

Now onto the second part of this...

Each character has their own type of personality. They may cuss in almost every sentence, they may use sarcasm a lot, they may use a lot of slang, they may be a little too formal, they may not know English very well (meaning that they are bad with grammar), they may have an accent, and so on. Because of this, they will speak differently. It is up to you to make them feel more human.

If they use slang, their dialogues will look similar to: "Yo dog! How is it? Where you been?" They may not have the greatest grammar.

If they speak another language and don't know English very well, this is what it may look similar to: "He not there, right?" or "You incredibly right." They may not use the best grammar.

If they are completely formal, maybe because they hate slang or something, they will most likely be grammatically correct a lot when using dialogue.

If they are mostly formal, but may use some slang of some form, they may be like: "It ain't about the money, 'K? It's somethin' more."

Look at how your friends talk and how your family talks and just random people - see how it's like and then go back to your character and picture them talking to you. How would they talk?

If they have an accent, like they're British or Irish or maybe Australian, or whatever, try to see how people from their country talk (using words that someone else from your book may not know or whatnot), and try to see about how their accent sounds when writing it. For instance, if your character is British and has a British accent, and has recently moved to America, they may say biscuits instead of cookies or crisps instead of chips or maybe chips instead of fries, you know?

That's how you get it to look natural on character terms.

I see a lot of people wondering what synonyms to use when writing, maybe because they've heard that "said" is not a good word to use.

If you've heard about that, it's wrong. Look at published books. Most of the time, their dialogue tag will be said. Why? You won't always use every other dialogue and it doesn't look right (it doesn't seem to flow right and it seems a bit choppy) when you're using multiple types of tags.

Now, when you get to a point where the character is whispering or yelling, then yes, you will use different tags. When it's a question mark that is being used, you can say "asked," or "questioned," or another type. But don't change it all the time. You want it to flow, correct? That's how it works.

And even then, you can actually avoid using dialogue tags every so often. You can describe something or leave it alone and just leave it as just dialogue. So here's an example from My Invisible Wound:

"And you're here because . . ." began Elyes in self-defense. In my  self-defense.

"She didn't tell you? We're friends now."

Elyes stared at me, puzzled. "No . . . she didn't. Why?"

I shrugged. Talking wouldn't really do well in that situation; staying as quiet as I could was best.

"But why would you be friends with someone who made fun of you? People don't necessarily change that easily."

Jake raised his hand. "Uh, hello? I'm still here. I haven't disappeared to somewhere else where I can't hear you."