Currently, I’m reading this really awesome book and I noticed something. What, you may ask? Well, not only is it a fantastic read with sharp wit and a kick-ass story, but the author rarely uses dialogue tags.
I know. I was shocked, too!
The pages are not littered with “he said” and “she said.” Instead, there is action interspersed with dialogue. And not just any action (“he turned toward her”) but action that moves the story along and keeps the reader engaged.
I started thinking about this with my own writing and I wondered if I could do it. I went back to my current WIP and started looking at all the dialogue tags and noticing lots and lots of them. I was instantly annoyed with my own work. So I got the virtual red pen out and started slashing up those dialogue tags.
What I have now, I think, it something much tighter. Something that moves along the story and shows who the characters really are and what they’re thinking/feeling/doing.
I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with “he said”. I think they’re necessary every now and again. But when you have them en masse, it gets, well, boring. It doesn’t keep the reader engaged in the story. It doesn’t show who your characters are.
Do you have lots of he saids? What can you do to change it and make the writing more active? And no, “he shouted” doesn’t count. 😉
Good observation! So what book are you reading? I liked Devon’s posts too 🙂
DAMN YOU, MICHELLE!!!!!! 😉
Sometimes I think in this writing business, ignorance IS bliss…
😛
Okay I laughed out loud at this, Lara! I’m the world’s WORST at the dialogue tags, especially with “said” and in the first draft of something. Man I love that. It’s so hard to come up with something creative when all you want to do is get the story down.
Sandy, I just finished reading Highway To Hell by Rosemary Clement-Moore. It’s a great, great book!
People talk WHILE they’re doing things. When you integrate the dialogue with what they’re doing, you don’t need as many tags, you move the story along and it doesn’t come across as: They did something. They stopped and talked. They did something else. They stopped and talked.
It not only tightens a piece to meld action and dialogue, it flows better.
That’s how this book was, Devon. And I thought – WOW! I should do that!
It only makes sense but it’s the first time I actually noticed it in a book. It was a real eye-opener for my own writing. 😀
I try to use tags as sparingly as possible. I think mostly from an old old crit (not yr) group where this one gal used tags on EVERY piece of dialogue and had EXtremely talky people it turned me off tags. 😕
I try and mix tags. I was told once that in a well written piece these tage aren’t even be noticed and are unconsciously absorbed by the reader, but even so, I don’t like too many of them. Descriptive action seems better for me.