She said. He said. They said.

Who said? There’s nothing more frustrating to a reader than pages of dialogue, presumably between two people, with no identifying tags/labels to explain who’s saying what and to whom. Some of the biggest names in the writing industry do this. Regularly. And, I’m convinced that even these authors get confused with the who’s who in their lengthy dialogue passage because, more often than not, it becomes obvious (as confusion sets in) that the person who should be speaking isn’t the one speaking. Or, someone else has, unannounced, joined the dialogue.

So, what do you do? This is where dialogue tags or labels come in. However, readers don’t want to read a steady stream of She said. He said. They said. There are more descriptive ways to identify the speakers. Here comes the quandary: some publishers don’t approve of dialogue tags/labels. Now what? You may ask.

There are some rules, as always. The bottom line is, you’re the writer. It’s your story. Write it your way, but be mindful of these rules, be open to criticism and correction (but stick to your guns when you strongly believe it should be one way or the other) and remember the poor reader who doesn’t appreciate getting lost in a story. That’s a sure way to have the reader put the book aside and, perhaps, never pick up one of your books again.

She said. He said. They said. are called clichéd tags/labels. There are other clichéd tags/labels: He asked. She answered. He told them. Like anything else, too much repetition, or uncreative tags/labels, makes the story dry and unappealing to the reader. Use these tags/labels sparingly and not all close together.

It might be an idea to spruce up your use of tags/labels. How about making the speakers do something while they talk? Are they merely sitting around talking? Or, are they eating a cookie? Pacing the room? Making funny faces? Using their hands as they talk? Are they looking at each other while they talk? Important details to consider because, even in dialogue passages, you are setting the stage and inviting the reader into the story. Make the reader feel actively involved as much as possible.

Example of a clichéd tag/label:

“I refuse to go,” she said.

Let’s spruce it up, make it more exciting:

“I refuse to go.” She stomped her foot emphatically to accentuate her resolve.

Here’s another example:

“What do you think I should do?” Susie asked.

How about sprucing up this clichéd tags/label:

“What do you think I should do?” Susie asked with insistence in her voice.

As for rules? Some of these rules are common sense. Some of these rules relate to where in the dialogue the tag/label is positioned, in other words, whether it’s at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of the dialogue. For example, if the dialogue sentence begins with the tag/label, remember to punctuate the end of the tag/label with a comma; the first word of the dialogue sentence must be capitalized, and end the dialogue with the appropriate punctuation (which must be inside the quotation marks). As always, the dialogue itself must be in quotation marks. For example:

Donna asked, “Where did you leave my books?”

Now, if the dialogue tag/label follows the dialogue, the punctuation marks still must be inside the quotation marks. If the dialogue tag/label begins with a proper noun, it must be capitalized, otherwise, the first word of the dialogue tag/label is not capitalized. The dialogue tag/label ends with a period. For example:

“Where did you leave my books?” Donna asked.

Or:

“Where did you leave my books?” asked Donna.

Placing the dialogue tag/label in the middle of the dialogue adds a bit of variety to the dialogue passage. However, this can make things more complicated and there are specific rules for punctuation. A comma must be placed at the end of the first part of the dialogue before the end quotation marks that precede the dialogue tag/label (inside the quotation marks, of course). Once again, if the dialogue tag/label begins a proper noun, it must be capitalized, otherwise, the first word of the dialogue tag/label is not capitalized. Another comma is placed after the dialogue tag/label, but not inside the next set of quotation marks. This introduces the next part of the dialogue. Once again, end the dialogue with the appropriate punctuation (all inside the quotation marks).

The frequency of using dialogue tags/labels in a long dialogue passage depends on how repetitive you want to be. If each dialogue insertion is short, like a mere yes, no comment, then perhaps a dialogue tag/label isn’t required. Just be sure to begin each new person’s dialogue with a new paragraph and wrap each new dialogue with quotation marks. And don’t use too many dialogue insertions without dialogue tags/labels to identify the speaker. Also, if there are more than two people in the dialogue, tags/labels are essential to maintain clarity.

Another important thing to remember: if one person in the dialogue goes on and on, the dialogue passage should be broken into two or more paragraphs. However, in so doing, it’s easy for the reader to get lost as to who’s speaking. By inserting another dialogue tag/label or a note about some action the speaker is doing will help ease this confusion. Also, again, there are issues regarding punctuation. If the person speaking goes on into a second paragraph, the dialogue at the end of the first paragraph does not end with quotation marks, while the dialogue beginning the new paragraph does begin with quotation marks. Unless the new paragraph starts with a dialogue tag/label.

And then there’s the said debate. Use it? Or lose it? That’s up to you, just don’t overuse. Is said dead? Or can it be used as much as the writer wants to use it because readers won’t really notice it (because it’s dead) and it’ll help them identify the speaker more easily? Just be mindful of the fact that variety, in anything, is the spice of life (or something like that).

Like anything else, there are rules and then there are ways to break or ignore the rules. The bottom line? Be consistent and make sure the reader is able to follow the who said the progression of a dialogue passage. The last thing you want to do is lose readers.