“Uh, hey man… That’s my wife you’re flirting with!” Dialogue in Writing “So, how about you give me your number and we can do this again sometime.” “Uh, hey man… That’s my wife you’re flirting with!” “Seriously! Are you so thick that you didn’t notice the rock on my hand?”

What is Dialogue? Dialogue is a conversation between characters in a literary work. It shows the exact words spoken by characters. “I love flowers,” said Jessie. “Me too,” said Hannah, “but tulips are my favorite.” It is important because it helps bring characters to life.

How to Write Dialogue Properly! Opening quatation marks (ex: “ ) are used to mark the beginning of the speaker’s words, and closing quotation marks are used to mark the end of the speaker’s words (ex: ” ). Start a new paragraph when moving from one speaker to another! Use a comma to introduce a quotation after a dialogue tag. (ex: Tyler replied, “Blue is my favorite color.”) Commas and periods are always placed inside the quotation marks. (ex: “I like chips,” said Milly)

How to Write Dialogue Properly! Example: Jake and Josh sat at the library table looking over the rubric for their English project. “Alright, so we know we are going to do the report on Mark Twain, but what about the technology part?” Jake asked. “I don’t know.” Replied Josh as he turned the rubric over searching for the technology section. “Oh! It says here that we can get technology credit if we e-mail the report to the teacher. We can do that!” “Ok! Cool! Wait!” Jake groaned and hit himself in the forehead. “How will we remember to send the e-mail?” Grabbing a piece of paper and a pencil, Josh replied, “I’ll write a note to remind us. Don’t worry! We’ll get an A for sure!” Indent! Speaker Tags! Start a new paragraph!

Now You Try! Rewrite the sentences in your journal correcting the missing quotation marks and punctuation. John said That’s my coat. Jack said I have a coat like yours I love extra cheese on my pizza said Jaime No, I only bought pepperoni answered Ashley Help! Shouted the scoutmaster We’re lost!

Now You Try! Assignment: (In your Journal!) Write a conversation between two characters where one character is trying to warn the other character that Zombies are coming. Be sure to use proper formatting!!! Proper spelling and capitalization!!! The conversation should make sense based on the main conflict/issue your two characters have with one another. Don’t forget to include speaker tags!!!

Zombie Attack! “I don’t want to be Zombie breakfast!” Chris yelled. “We have to get out of here!” “I know, I know!” Sarah yelled back, pressing her back more firmly against the door. “But, incase you haven’t noticed we are kind of stuck.” Chris’s eyes grew wide as he watched the door shutter. The creatures were going to break it down. “I’m to handsome to die.” He said as he frantically scanned the room. “Shut up.” Sarah grunted as the Zombies slammed against the door again. Chris ignored her and rushed to the window. “Maybe we could jump out the window,” he said. “It’s a three story drop!” Sarah yelled back, still trying to hold the door in place. “Stop acting stupid and find something to barricade the door.” “Ok! Jeesh!” Rushing to the other side of the room he began pushing a desk towards the door; it was heavy and if they could tip it up it would hold the door for a little while.