The Mechanics of Dialog

This is just some handy reference material for you, in case you need a refresher.  There are no assignments in this post!  It's just here for you to refer to if you need it.

The Mechanics of Dialog

1.     Use quotation marks to enclose the exact words of someone who is speaking. This is a direct quotation.

“Your friend Mandi is on the phone,” Emily’s mom said.

 

2.     Do not use quotation marks if you are not writing out the exact words someone spoke.

Emily’s mom said her friend Mandi called.

 

3.     Capitalize the first word of a line of dialog. 

Mandi asked, “How are you today, Emily?”

If the dialog is interrupted by other words, the second part should not begin with a capital letter unless the second part is the beginning of a new sentence or is a word that would be capitalized anyway.

“Oh,” said Emily, “not so great.”

“That’s too bad,” Mandi said.  “What’s going on?”

“Well, the truth is,” Emily answered, “I ate too much Halloween candy.”

 

4.     The exact words of the person speaking should be set off from the rest of the sentence by using a comma, a question mark, or an exclamation point between the dialog and the rest of the sentence.

“How much candy did you eat?” Mandi asked.

“Only seventeen pieces,” Emily answered.

“Oh my goodness!” Mandi exclaimed.

 

5.     Punctuation at the end of a line of dialog ALWAYS goes INSIDE the closing quotation marks.

“I think you will feel better if you go for a walk,” Mandi suggested.

Emily asked, “Will you come on a walk with me, then?”

“Sure!” Mandi agreed.  “That sounds fun.”

 

6.     When you write a conversation, begin a new paragraph EVERY TIME the speaker changes

      “I really like taking walks in the fall,” Emily said.  She and Mandi walked side-by-side down the sidewalk. 
      “Me too.”  Mandi shuffled through an especially crunchy patch of leaves.  “It’s the best time to go on a walk.   
      Emily said, “We should do this more often!”

 

7.     A dialog tag is the part of the sentence that tells you who is speaking, and how they are speaking.  The tag can go before the dialog, after the dialog, or in the middle of the dialog.

          “I have an idea,” Peter said.
          James asked, “What kind of an idea?”
          “Well,” Peter explained, “what if we built a huge pile of leaves, hid inside it, and jumped out and scared people walking down the sidewalk?”

  

8.     You don’t always have to use dialog tags!  If you’re writing a conversation between two people, just use dialog tags often enough so people know who is saying what.

“I think that’s a great idea!” James agreed.
            “Cool! Let’s do it,” Peter said.  “I’ll go get a rake.”
            “I’ll get one too!”
            “Meet you back here in five minutes?”
            “Sounds good!”

 

9.     If the sentences around your dialog are NOT dialog tags (they don’t inform the reader of who is speaking and how they are speaking), then you use a period, question mark, or exclamation point at the end of the sentences, not a comma.

          “This is hard work!” Peter dropped his rake.
         James dropped his too.  “But it was worth it! Look at our huge mountain of leaves!”
          “Quick, let’s burrow into it.  I think I see some girls coming.”  Peter dropped to his knees behind the leaf pile.