The Parchment and Quill Collective

Sometimes, it’s a struggle to find dialogue tags that flow with the narrative you’re creating. Writers are constantly toeing the line between using ‘said’ constantly and using the most complex dialogue tags they can think of, and it’s hard to find a healthy balance.

Ultimately, it’s up to the writer’s preference. There are a few tricks I use to keep my dialogue tags varied.

• I like to have a go-to tag for the 3 main volumes of dialogue: ‘yelled’, ‘said’ and ‘murmured’. The three ol’ Reliables. I like to sprinkle these throughout the more complex tags to break them up depending on the volume of the dialogue.
• Don’t be afraid to repeat tags. Keep them spaced out, obviously, but just because you used ‘exclaimed’ for one character’s dialogue at the beginning of the story doesn’t mean you can’t use it again.
• Tags are descriptors first and foremost. They are used to describe how dialogue is said to your readers. But that doesn’t mean every line of dialogue needs a tag either. Sometimes, the tone will be clear enough for your readers based on context.

Sometimes, it’s a struggle to think of dialogue tags that fit the scene you’re writing. Not every tag is gonna be a perfect fit for the idea you have in your head. That’s okay too. But, in the meantime, have a list of tags that may be helpful in the future.