Dialogue can be tricky, and I'm sure a lot of writers are not aware that there are actual rules with dialogue.

In the next few issues, we will speak about dialogue. First an overview on how to write and format dialogue, and then we will start working in depth with dialogue.

So first off, let's tackle the rules of dialogue. It's very important to stick to these below. Straying away from them, confusion is definitely going to happen. Readers will not know who says what, and it might even lead to readers putting a story down.

Dialogue plays a very important part of the story and therefore has to be written as crisp as can be and also formatted correctly.

RULES OF DIALOGUE:

- Give characters their own dialogue paragraph: I'm reading many books that are in their beta stages, and this one is one I'm seeing in stories a lot. It's one of the easiest rules to remember when you slip into dialogue mode. Give your characters their own space, give them part of the light to shine, by giving them their own dialogue paragraph or line.

- All your characters are equally important, so give them that spot, keep their dialogue apart from their friends' dialogue and keep their friend's dialogue, thoughts and action beats out of their dialogue. Especially the Main character's thoughts and action beat.

- Think of characters as divas. Divas fight for the spotlight. Story characters are fighting for the spotlight in the book, too. So with dialogue, give each of the character's their own paragraph.

What does that look like:

"It's cold today," I said, and pulled my coat closer.

"You are always cold. It's a hundred and thirty degrees out there." Melanie lifted her arms, gesturing to the sun.

"I don't care! I'm cold, this house is like a block of ice."

What it doesn't look like:

"It's cold today," I said, and pulled my coat closer. Melanie humph. "You are always cold. It's a hundred and thirty degrees out there." She lifted her arms, gesturing to the sun. "I don't care! I'm cold, this house is like a block of ice."

Sure, you make it clear who is speaking, but you can feel that this is not right. It's cramped up, and you do not know who is saying that last line. Readers might even think it's Melanie.

Indent dialogue: Okay, I know on Wattpad they don't really have indents as only a few authors use them, but if you write a book to get published, you will need to indent every single paragraph, the dialogue included.

What does indent look like:

"It's cold today," I said, and pulled my coat closer.

"You are always cold. It's a hundred and thirty degrees out there." She lifted her arms, gesturing to the sun.

"I don't care! I'm cold, this house is like a block of ice."

The first sentence is not indented, as that is where my chapter starts. Whether dialogue or a normal paragraph, your first paragraph never gets indented. The same rule applies to a scene break. The first paragraph doesn't get indented. Some authors also like to write two points of views in a chapter, the same applies. When you switch point of view, the first paragraph doesn't get indented.

Everything goes inside the dialogue bracket: Your dialogue, meaning what your character speaks, goes inside the dialogue brackets or quotation marks. ("...") This is how we know someone is speaking. It's why they invented these marks. Please do not come up with new ways to be different with dialogue. Be different with content and characters, there are plenty of ways to show that a book is different. Do not show it with dialogue. These are the only quotation marks to use with dialogue. Everything the character says, go into these brackets.

What it looks like:

"It's cold today," I said, and pulled my coat closer.

"You are always cold. It's a hundred and thirty degrees out there." Melanie lifted her arms, gesturing to the sun.

"I don't care! I'm cold, this house is like a block of ice."

Everything that your characters say are inside the quotation marks.

What it doesn't look like:

It's cold outside, I said.

You are always cold. It's a hundred and thirty degrees out there. Melanie lifted her arms, gesturing to the sun.

I don't care! This house is a block of ice.

OR,

<It's cold outside> I said.

<You are always cold. It's a hundred and thirty degrees out there> Melanie lifted her arms, gesturing to the sun.

<I don't care! This house is a block of ice.>

PUNCTUATION ? !

Punctuation also goes inside. Add question marks and exclamation marks inside the brackets.

What it looks like:

"Can we please have ice cream?"

"I want ice cream now!"

What it doesn't look like:

"Can we please have ice cream"?

"I want ice cream now"!

Long speeches dialogue: We all have those characters that love their own voice, and can ramble on about a story. There is one way to write this and not add it all in one lump of a paragraph. Long paragraphs are hard to read, and readers skip most of the information. It tires readers' eyes. So stay away from rambling on and on in dialogue, but when you have a character that absolutely must ramble on, this is how to write it.

What it looks like:

"Here's the thing about sharks. They're vicious, vicious creatures. They only know how to do one thing: kill. Have you ever seen a shark in the open water? Probably not. Because if you had, you'd already be dead. (here is no closing bracket)

"I saw a shark once. I was scuba diving off the marina, looking for starfish to give to my sick wife. She believes starfish are good luck. Well, one man's fortune is another man's folly. Suddenly I found myself face to face with a great white. My heart stopped. I froze up. I knew that was the end. If it hadn't been for that pontoon boat, we wouldn't be having this conversation. (here is no closing bracket)

"My wife was so happy when I gave her the starfish. I swear she became healthy after that. She was up the next day, cooking up a storm and if I didn't stop her, she would've probably cooked the dog too." (the dialogue finishes here, here is the closing bracket)

What it doesn't look like:

"Here's the thing about sharks. They're vicious, vicious creatures. They only know how to do one thing: kill. Have you ever seen a shark in the open water? Probably not. Because if you had, you'd already be dead. I saw a shark once. I was scuba diving off the marina, looking for starfish to give to my sick wife. She believes starfish are good luck. Well, one man's fortune is another man's folly. Suddenly I found myself face to face with a great white. My heart stopped. I froze up. I knew that was the end. If it hadn't been for that pontoon boat, we wouldn't be having this conversation. My wife was so happy when I gave her the starfish. I swear she became healthy after that. She was up the next day, cooking up a storm and if I didn't stop her, she would've probably cooked the dog too."

Quoting someone inside dialogue: Sometimes our characters like to quote another character, and here is what to do.

Use single quotes ('......')

Here is what it looks like:

"Man, don't you love it when a girl says 'I'm fine' but actually is mad as hell?"

Here is what it doesn't look like:
"Man, don't you love it when a girl says, "I'm fine" but actually is mad as hell?"

Dialogue tags and action beats: This is the hardest part and will need a lot of concentration at first until it becomes easy. First, know what is the difference between a dialogue tag and an action beat.

Dialogue tags: Everything that the mouth says.
e.g. He says, he answers, he whispers, he yells, he bellows, he asks, he hisses... I'm sure you get my meaning. The list is very long, as there are so many ways to say something, right?

Action/body Beats: Everything your body does.
e.g. He kicks, he shrugs, he laughs, he smiles, he lowers his head, he scratches his leg, he sits, he walks.... The list is twice as long as the dialogue tags. But those are just to get you on the right track.

With dialogue tags, (he says) you will end the dialogue with a comma.

e.g. "It's cold today," he says.

"Is it cold today?" he asks.

Yes, it's correct. It's not a mistake. In dialogue, the question mark doesn't become a period. It doesn't have the rule of the question mark that we learn in school. That you have to start a new sentence because that question mark is also a period. In dialogue, with a dialogue tag (he says) the role of the question marks takes on the role of the comma.

With action beats (he laughs) you will end the dialogue with a period.

e.g. "It's cold today." I pulled my coat tighter. Even if you use a question mark or an exclamation, nothing changes when using action beats. You will start the next sentence with a capital letter.

Next month we will delve deeper into dialogue and how to break dialogue up and learn more tricks. So don't miss out on next month's issue.

Content Created by kdpeters