Dialogue

Indent for each new speaker. (New speaker = New paragraph)

The Wrong Way “I wish I could fly,” John said longingly. “Why don’t you grow wings, then?” Sarah snapped back. This is wrong because we don’t know if it is Sarah speaking until we get to the end of the dialogue.

The Right Way “I wish I could fly,” John said longingly. “Why don’t you grow wings, then?” Sarah snapped back. With the line break, it keeps the reader on track, knowing that someone else is speaking.

Only the exact words of the speaker go inside quotation marks.

The words used to identify the speaker are called the speaker tag (e.g., Mary said or Jane replied). Words like said, replied, screamed, etc. are never capitalized in a speaker tag.

Before the Quote Jon asked, “Where did everyone go?” After the Quote “Where did everyone go?” asked Jon.

Middle of the Quote “I have a dog,” said Jane. “Do you have any pets?” “I have two dogs,” said Jane, “that fight all the time.”

Always capitalize the first letter of dialogue inside quotation marks.

Before the Quote Jon asked, “Where did everyone go?” After the Quote “Where did everyone go?” asked Jon.

Middle of the Quote “I have a dog,” said Jane. “Do you have any pets?” “I have two dogs,” said Jane, “that fight all the time.”

Tags after dialogue always start with a lowercase letter.

Before the Quote Jon asked, “Where did everyone go?” After the Quote “Where did everyone go?” asked Jon.

Middle of the Quote “I have a dog,” said Jane. “Do you have any pets?” “I have two dogs,” said Jane, “that fight all the time.”

Make it Meaningful Listen to how people talk. Make it sound like real speech. Dialogue is not just speech. Use proper punctuation.

Select a scene from your story, develop meaningful dialogue, and write it using correct punctuation. Use your notes.