Writing Dialogue in Your Narratives

Writing Dialogue in Your Narratives

QUOTE IT!

What is Dialogue?

• Dialogue is a conversation between two or more characters in a story.

• Dialogue is separated from the narration by “quotation marks.”

Why use Dialogue?

Dialogue helps your writing in a number of ways:

•It adds variety

•It adds a realistic element to the story

•It helps enhance the mood

•It helps enhance the characters 

Rules to Remember

Remember these rules when writing dialogue:

• New speaker, new paragraph – whenever the conversation switches from one person to another, you need to start a new paragraph.

• Direct quotations always begin with a capital letter.

– EX: He said, “See you at the tournament.”

Rule: Never close dialogue with a period UNLESS if the entire sentence ends. 

• EX: “Let’s go to the hockey game,” said Sally.

  • Sally said, “Let’s go to the hockey game.”

• “Do you want some popcorn?” asked Lennie.

  • Lennie asked, “Do you want some popcorn?”

More Rules to Remember:

• Keep it simple – you want your audience to be able to easily follow the conversation and know which character is speaking.

• Write a realistic conversation – the conversation needs to be believable.

• Avoid saying “said” too many times. ”

Oral Practice - Other Ways to Say “Said”

• The character says something happily

• The character says something sadly.

Multiple Choice

The character says something angrily. Which word does not support saying something angrily?

• growled

• snarled

• roared

• murmured

Multiple Choice

If a character asks a question, which word would not work?

• puzzled

• teased

• wondered

• guessed

Punctuate it

• Dialogue followed by the tag line

Punctuate it

• Tag line followed by the dialogue

Punctuate it

•Tag line interrupting the dialogue

What do you do when dialogue needs to include a question mark or exclamation point?

Solution

• Place the exclamation point or question mark inside the quotation marks when they punctuate the quotation.

• Place them outside when they punctuate the main sentence. 

EXAMPLE:

•I was a little mad when she asked, “Hey! Can I borrow your new skirt?”

•Did she really just say, “Finish by tomorrow”?

Punctuate it

-When exclamations and questions are used in your dialogue, properly punctuate the tag line.

-If the sentence continues and the following words are not proper nouns, DO NOT capitalize the next word. 

EXAMPLE: “Did you want to get ice cream?” asked Isabel.

Multiple Choice

Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

• “Look out!” warned John.

• “Get down from there”! Mr. Jones exclaimed.

Multiple Choice

“Please go to the store and buy some eggs” , she said.

• CORRECT

• INCORRECT

Multiple Choice

“Would you like to go to the movies with me” he asked?

• CORRECT

• INCORRECT

Multiple Choice

The teacher said to his class, “do not be afraid to study at night.”

• CORRECT

• INCORRECT

Multiple Choice

The zookeeper announced, "The gorilla exhibit will open on Tuesday."

• CORRECT

• INCORRECT

Multiple Choice

She asked, “Will you help me with my homework”?

• CORRECT

• INCORRECT

Multiple Choice

“They will not be able to make it for supper,” Henry told his mother.

• CORRECT

• INCORRECT

Multiple Choice

“Don’t forget to stop by after practice,” reminded Mrs. McGhee.

• CORRECT

• INCORRECT

Meaningful Dialogue

• You want your dialogue to be meaningful and exciting.

  
  

• If you can easily paraphrase the conversation or write it as narration, it is best to do so.

This conversation is DULL!

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi,” he replied.

“How are you?” she asked.

“I’m okay,” he replied. “How are you?

It can be rewritten very simply.

The boy and girl said hello to each other and asked how the other one was doing.

Avoid simple and boring dialogue in your writing.