Refreshers are necessary at times, and based on my recent editing projects, how to properly format dialogue has got lots of writers confused. Are you in a tizzy over this too? Read on and see if you’ve got the bases covered.
Start a New Line
First, whenever a speaker changes, what are you going to do? That’s right—start a new line.
Editor Nancy says, “That’s true. You always need a new line when the speaker changes.”
Her readers respond, “You mean like this? We started our speech on a new line.”
“Bravo!” Editor Nancy replies. “That is exactly what I mean. Notice how I’m still talking in this example, so I am not hitting the return key.” She continues, “Even with my different dialogue tags (replies, continues), since the speaker hasn’t changed (me), I’m keeping my words in the same paragraph. When a new speaker starts talking, or when the current speaker (me) stops talking, I will start a new line.”
Safely Tuck It In
Next, let’s talk about punctuation. I’m not much of a risk taker, and feeling safe is important to me, so I always think about keeping punctuation safely tucked inside the quotation mark.
Editor Nancy said, “This end punctuation looks like it can be plucked off the page”.
To fix the above sentence, do this instead: Editor Nancy said, “Tuck that period safely inside.”
(Do you notice the placement difference? Make sure the period is tucked safely inside the quotation mark.)
A Style Suggestion
There is much to say about dialogue, and about writing it properly, but I will end here with a style suggestion. A dialogue tag is the part of the sentence that tells you who is speaking. For example, “Editor Nancy said,” “the girl replied,” “the doctor responded.” These are necessary so the reader knows who is speaking; you never want the reader to have to guess or be pulled out of your story, feverishly flipping back through pages and trying to figure out who is talking. But (and here comes the style suggestion) if it is obvious, save some text real estate by leaving the dialogue tag off.
Below is an example. Notice how, at the end, it is obvious that Editor Nancy is the one speaking; when this happens, feel free to leave the dialogue tag off.
Editor Nancy asked Dialogue Debbie, “Did you remember to tuck your end punctuation mark inside the quotation mark?”
Dialogue Debbie replied, “I did! Aren’t you proud of me?”
“I sure am!”