Mini-lesson: Dialogue Read along as I go over each rule

How do I indicate dialogue? Example: Lea had always been my best friend. We had been through everything. But in that moment, everything we had been through didn’t matter. Meghan was my sister. Even if she did cause Lea to lose Cupcake Wars, I couldn’t believe she would insult my sister like that! Annoyed, I said, “Hey! Cut it out!” “No way!” She replied, still glaring at Meghan. “Stop, or I’ll tell them everything!” She turned to stare at me. “You wouldn’t,” she whispered. “Try me.” How do I indicate dialogue? Italics or quotation marks Whenever a new person talks, you must begin a new paragraph and indent it.

What do I do about punctuation and capitalization? Example: Lea had always been my best friend. We had been through everything. But in that moment, everything we had been through didn’t matter. Meghan was my sister. Even if she did cause Lea to lose Cupcake Wars, I couldn’t believe she would insult my sister like that! Annoyed, I said, “Hey! Cut it out!” “No way!” she replied, still glaring at Meghan. “Stop, or I’ll tell them everything!” She turned to stare at me. “You wouldn’t,” she whispered. “Try me.” What do I do about punctuation and capitalization? If you use a leading word like “said” or “shouted”, that word should be followed by a comma before starting your dialogue The letter after a quotation mark is ALWAYS capitalized. If you use a comma to transition out of a quote, you don’t have to capitalize the next letter. If you use a question mark or exclamation mark, you do not need to capitalize the next letter.

Do I always need to introduce who’s speaking? Example: Lea had always been my best friend. We had been through everything. But in that moment, everything we had been through didn’t matter. Meghan was my sister. Even if she did cause Lea to lose Cupcake Wars, I couldn’t believe she would insult my sister like that! Annoyed, I said, “Hey! Cut it out!” “No way!” She replied, still glaring at Meghan. “Stop, or I’ll tell them everything!” She turned to stare at me. “You wouldn’t,” she whispered. “Try me.” Do I always need to introduce who’s speaking? You don’t always need to introduce who’s talking if it is made obvious before hand.

I feel like I’m saying “said” too much! Example: Lea had always been my best friend. We had been through everything. But in that moment, everything we had been through didn’t matter. Meghan was my sister. Even if she did cause Lea to lose Cupcake Wars, I couldn’t believe she would insult my sister like that! Annoyed, I said, “Hey! Cut it out!” “No way!” She replied, still glaring at Meghan. “Stop, or I’ll tell them everything!” She turned to stare at me. “You wouldn’t,” she whispered. “Try me.” I feel like I’m saying “said” too much! Using the word “said” should definitely be part of dialogue, but using other words to make your dialogue more dynamic is encouraged.

Questions about Dialogue? If it’s a general question, please ask now! If it’s a question that’s really just specific to your writing, please ask me as everyone is writing.