Tips and Rules for Writing Dialogue Name: ___________________________ Tips and Rules for Writing Dialogue Rules for Punctuating Dialogue: The Basics Important rule: Always put a character's words and speech inside quotation marks. Important rule: The punctuation that goes with the character's words always goes inside the quotation marks. Example: "I am writing a fairy tale about a fairy godmother gone evil.“ Typing Dialogue When typing dialogue, you should start a new line and indent every time another person speaks. When starting new dialogue or changing to a different speaker, just press "Enter" and "Tab" Punctuating Tag Lines When your tag line… 1. Is at the beginning of the sentence: Put a comma after the tag line and before the quotation marks. Example: Maria said, “Cinderella is my favorite fairy tale character.” 2. Is at the end of the sentence: For sentences that would end in a period, put a comma after the sentence, inside the quotation marks. For sentences that end in exclamation or question marks, put that punctuation inside the quotation marks. Examples: “I love to read fairy tales,” said Ali. “Do you like fairy tales?” she asked. 3. Comes between parts of the dialogue: Put a comma after the first piece of dialogue (inside the quotation marks) and a comma after the tag line. Example: “I don’t know,” said Jake, “I like comic books.”