![]() ![]() Action tags are considered an individual sentence and should be formatted with a period. Alternate between dialogue tags, action tags, and no tags.Īction tags show the reader who’s talking as well as what the character is doing. Here’s the alternative option (verb + subject): “I need to stop by the bank first,” said Mike.Ģ. Personally, I prefer the subject + verb construction (above), and this is seems to be more common. Because of the basic structure of conversations (one person speaks, the other responds), it becomes necessary only to include a dialogue tag once every few lines to keep readers oriented to who’s speaking.ĮDITOR’S TIP: If you’re using a character’s name, you can also switch the order of the subject and the verb. When only two characters are speaking, there’s no need to mark each line with a dialogue tag. The constant back-and-forth of Janice said and Mike said gets repetitive and redundant. “The bank is across the street from that new Italian restaurant,” Janice said. ![]() “I need to stop by the bank first,” Mike said. For example, look at how the following excerpt can get repetitive and redundant with the overuse of dialogue tags: “Let’s go out to eat instead,” Janice said. ![]() This is especially true when there are only two characters speaking. Don’t use dialogue tags every time someone speaks. ![]()
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