Dialogue tags punctuation1/14/2024 “Katie,” he whispered, moving toward her.Īs you probably already guessed, “moving towards her” is the gesture or action tag. In this sentence, “the demon pointed one lanky finger” is the action tag. “Over there in that tent.” The demon pointed one lanky finger. Let’s jump over into a whole different scene in the story where the main character is interacting with a demon. In the above sentence, the action tag is “stood up.” “I’m leaving you,” she said and stood up. I wanted to show you real-life examples from a published novel because I always learn best by seeing actual examples. These examples come from my novel Wicker Hollow (goes to Amazon). Let’s look at some more action tag examples. You can also show greetings and other cultural customs through action tags. You can say, “She levitated the table” instead of telling readers that she has powers. If there’s magic or superpowers in your story, you can have a character perform magic in action tags. You can also leverage action tags for a bit of world-building. “Some things were meant to burn.” Worldbuilding You can foreshadow all kinds of future story events, threats, and promises. You can have a character pick up a weapon, such as a nailgun or a sharp pair of scissors. ForeshadowĪlso, you can foreshadow with action tags. You can play around with action tags in different scenes to feel the impact of simple changes. The key here is to use action beats strategically to create the pace you intend for each fictional conversation in your story. Other times, you want a slower, paced conversation. Sometimes you want a rapid, ping-pong chat. The fewer action tags, the faster the dialogue. The more action tags in dialogue, typically the slower the dialogue will seem to readers. I think it’s more interesting, immersive, and interconnected. I love making the characters in my story interact with the setting of the scene. You can have characters open doors, lift something off a shelf, turn on lights, kick a ball, gag on a bad smell, blink into changing light, and more. Establish SettingĪ character can interact with the setting via action tags. These subtle reminders can have an outsized impact on how much a scene absorbs readers into the world of the story. Gestures and behaviors help ground the reader in the scene.Īction tags remind readers of the flesh and blood characters saying the words. She literally told me to submit that proposal, that it was done.” “She’s despicable. One of the challenges with character dialogue is that it can easily seem like two disembodied, floating heads chatting with each other. Establish a SceneĪction tags can help establish a scene. In writing, I’ve learned that the more you can accomplish in the fewest words, the better. Action tags can layer the narrative with deeper meaning beyond the surface words and behaviors. You can also use action tags to reveal story subtext. “Damn you!” She launched the TV remote across the room. This is a brilliant way to “show, not tell” in your story. You can also establish character relationships or show changes in the status of relationships over the course of the story. You can show the emotion, the tone, and the intention behind the words that the character is speaking. You can also use action tags to reveal character subtext. Instead of saying, “he said,” say something like “he fiddled with the top button” or “She tilted the salt shaker.” Reveal Character Subtext They can distract and irritate the reader, which is probably the last thing you want. Too many dialogue tags in a row are repetitive. You can also use action tags to replace dialogue tags, which are like “he said” or “she said.” You can replace those dialogue tags with action tags, with behaviors and actions. A simple behavior dropped in here and there can really make a scene more digestible and enjoyable. Too much dialogue without gestures can get boring fast. Varietyįirst of all, action tags can add variety to spice up dialogue. Now let’s talk about how to use action tags. Image by Author via Canva for How to Use Actions Tags in Dialogue
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