Dialogue Tags

Dialogue can be the hardest or easiest thing to write, depending on how moody your characters are. For some of us, we can hardly get the characters to shut up long enough for us to write the pertinent story line. Other characters need liquoring up and (occasionally) the administration of illegal substances *cough*truthserums*cough* before they will even tell us their name. Regardless, dialogue, like many things has rules. Yes, rules.

As an editor, I can tell you that one of the biggest and common mistakes I see are dialogue "tags". Dialogue tags are used, along with the speech itself, to enhance what a character has said. However, actions do not qualify as dialogue tags.

"I love you," she murmured against my throat. <--That is correct. We know her voice was soft and slightly muffled by the intimate placement of her mouth.

"I love you," she kissed his throat. <--Red Flag! Here is where I would be inking my authors. Kissing a throat is an action. It is NOT a dialogue tag. So the appropriate form is: "I love you." She kissed his throat.

Does this make sense? Okay, good, moving on to mistake number two.

Snarled, hissed, growled, laughed, giggled, grinned, smirked, etc.

No, no. *Whack* Bad! I know your shapeshifter is sexy and alpha and all kinds of grrr protective when he's around your heroine, but I don't care how close to his beast he is-- he cannot literally growl words. Go ahead, try it...

So unless you are super-talented, that didn't work out so well, did it? You can try the others now, if you like. No? Well, let me make one admission. You can hiss words...sorta.

"S-s-so, sh-h-he wants-s-s to write?" he hissed. <--Words with an "s", "sh", "th" and sometimes "ch". Though this is still under debate, I'd strongly suggest using common sense in the situation.

"Not now," she hissed. <-- Sharp syllables and clipped sounding words do not allow for hissing. Even Smeagol couldn't hiss all his words, precious.

And that concludes today's lesson. Any questions? ~ D. F. Krieger

Have I told you recently just as to how much I adore you? <3

Snarled, hissed, growled, laughed, giggled, grinned, smirked, etc.

No, no. *Whack* Bad! I know your shapeshifter is sexy and alpha and all kinds of grrr protective when he's around your heroine, but I don't care how close to his beast he is-- he cannot literally growl words. Go ahead, try it...

So unless you are super-talented, that didn't work out so well, did it? You can try the others now, if you like. No? Well, let me make one admission. You can hiss words...sorta.

"S-s-so, sh-h-he wants-s-s to write?" he hissed. <--Words with an "s", "sh", "th" and sometimes "ch". Though this is still under debate, I'd strongly suggest using common sense in the situation.

"Not now," she hissed. <-- Sharp syllables and clipped sounding words do not allow for hissing. Even Smeagol couldn't hiss all his words, precious.

And that concludes today's lesson. Any questions? ~ D. F. Krieger



It is right in one way, but wrong in another. Hissing, snarling, growling, etc. out words doesn't necessarily mean they use a snakes hiss or something while they're speaking. It can also just mean a way of saying it. growling, for instance, is more just a word for when you speak in a somewhat aggressive way, and mostly with lowering your tone.

I've seen a shit ton of authors using "growled," "hissed," and other such things to describe how their character is speaking and explain it with aggression or anger so it makes sense.

It's more of a mood-descriptor than a literal description of how the line is being delivered, I think. There's a place for being accurate, and there's a place for being artistic, and it's a matter of finding the appropriate balance.

I agree with this.

Regardless of whether one can make an argument for the meaning behind using "growled" or "hissed", one's writing should do the job of getting the tone across, and not the dialogue tag. I think the dialogue tag is better utilized to dictate volume, and not mood. I can have a character shout, and that character may be happy, sad, or angry. The character can feel any way I want them to feel, and I can make the reader understand that with the writing around it. If a character is a grizzly sort, who would "growl" as he spoke, I'm going to use context clues in my writing to express that. I'm not going to mention he growled, but instead that he said something. I will then use the scene I've been building to reinforce that he was curt, annoyed and even angry. This kind of ties into another topic WriteMood addressed, and that's the "show" and not "tell" thing. One shouldn't have to tell the reader that the character "growled". One should show the reader that he or she spoke in that sort of tone.

Now, I'm not saying fantastic authors don't do it, but they're fantastic authors. They can tell a great story, and they can do it in whichever way they want. If one thinks they can write their dialogue tags as if everyone is an animal, or completely berserk with emotions, then you're one interesting writer. I will suggest the smart use of adverbs to get your point across, but only if it's smartly used. Take a look:

"I just love it when that happens," He said bitterly.

See, there's some sarcasm there that really strikes the point home. No hissing, growling, screeching, or throat gargling. However, abusing it isn't a great idea! If you abuse fancy dialogue tags, they lose their weight. If one constantly feels the need to veer away from "said", the words one is trying to use to spice up his or her work are now the norm that "said" was before. You certainly don't want "said" to be your real big zinger, do you? I know I don't.

darkangel76 said:

Have I told you recently just as to how much I adore you? <3

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<3 You make me blush!

cevl said:

Snarled, hissed, growled, laughed, giggled, grinned, smirked, etc.

No, no. *Whack* Bad! I know your shapeshifter is sexy and alpha and all kinds of grrr protective when he's around your heroine, but I don't care how close to his beast he is-- he cannot literally growl words. Go ahead, try it...

So unless you are super-talented, that didn't work out so well, did it? You can try the others now, if you like. No? Well, let me make one admission. You can hiss words...sorta.

"S-s-so, sh-h-he wants-s-s to write?" he hissed. <--Words with an "s", "sh", "th" and sometimes "ch". Though this is still under debate, I'd strongly suggest using common sense in the situation.

"Not now," she hissed. <-- Sharp syllables and clipped sounding words do not allow for hissing. Even Smeagol couldn't hiss all his words, precious.

And that concludes today's lesson. Any questions? ~ D. F. Krieger



It is right in one way, but wrong in another. Hissing, snarling, growling, etc. out words doesn't necessarily mean they use a snakes hiss or something while they're speaking. It can also just mean a way of saying it. growling, for instance, is more just a word for when you speak in a somewhat aggressive way, and mostly with lowering your tone.

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Why describe it as hissing if you aren't literally hissing? As for your definition of growling, in that situation it would be best to use a descriptive such as: "You will always be mine." His voice bordered on a growl as he uttered the statement. See, that's how you should implement things like growling and the other mentioned "no-no's"

--+Hahvoc Requiem+-- said:

I've seen a shit ton of authors using "growled," "hissed," and other such things to describe how their character is speaking and explain it with aggression or anger so it makes sense.

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Yes, and so have I. But pubs are cracking down recently and I'm trying to give anyone here who wants to get published a jump ahead by letting them in on the secrets. If you are speaking of authors who are big names, they can write whatever they bloody want and it'll sell on brand name alone. But if you are a newbie trying to slip in the door, it'd be best to learn the finer rules so you are less likely to get a rejection letter.

@Mr. Master - I think I agree with you.

@Mitsu - In a situation where the author is fed up with dialogue tags of "he said," it is best to leave a dialogue tag off completely and simply add an action to accent the statement. Example:

"Wow, this is fun," she said sarcastically.

"Wow, this is fun." Mina crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes.

And yes, you are quite right; dialogue tags are often a sign of telling versus showing. But that's a post for next Wednesday. ^.^

Oh, wow, I never knew about that. Thank you for the information! ^^