Writing Dialogue: Tags, Action Beats, and Punctuation Conventions
In one of my first posts, I shared some tips for writing effective dialogue. Today, I’m expanding on one aspect of that post by focusing on dialogue tags and action beats. Dialogue tags and action beats both cue the reader about who is saying a line of dialogue, but they serve different functions and are punctuated differently.
Dialogue tags
Dialogue tags (or speech tags) indicate who is speaking and how the dialogue is being said. These tags should be actions that a character can perform with the speech they’re producing. Some of the most common dialogue tags are as follows:
Said
Asked
Exclaimed
Shouted
Muttered
Whispered
Yelled
Mumbled
Hissed
Said is by far the most common dialogue tag. Some might see its frequent use as repetitive, but most readers treat it almost as if it’s invisible. Many people have been taught to avoid using said too often, instead encouraged to get creative with dialogue tags. Too many variations in dialogue tags can be distracting, though. The purpose of a dialogue tag is to tell the reader who’s speaking, but the focus should be on what’s being said, not on the tag itself. Therefore, said can be a great neutral choice. Some writers feel the need to add an adverb to describe how the saying is being done (like excitedly or quickly). Again, less can be more, or a stronger dialogue tag can be used instead.
A note about hissed: The word hissed can be a controversial dialogue tag. Writers often use it for any type of angry whisper, but some readers will insist that you can only hiss words with sibilant sounds, such as s or sh. For example, they might say you can hiss “Shush!” but can’t hiss “What?” The reality is, there aren’t many good alternatives that convey the same sentiment in one word, so you do you.
A note about spoke: The word spoke (the past tense of speak) is generally not considered a dialogue tag. Where said refers to what’s communicated, spoke refers to the act of communicating itself (“She spoke in German” or “They spoke loudly”).
Action beats
Action beats show what a character is doing before, during, or after their dialogue. These can be gestures, movements, or facial expressions. In a strict sense, these acts cannot be done to the speech itself. People have different opinions on what can be used as a dialogue tag and what should only ever be an action beat. Here are some common action beats:
Gasped*
Breathed*
Laughed*
Smiled
Sighed
Shrugged
Gestured
Nodded
The words denoted by asterisks are actions done with the mouth, so some writers use them as dialogue tags. Many editors say you can’t breathe or gasp dialogue, but they’re commonly used as dialogue tags in published fiction.
Punctuating dialogue
The punctuation of dialogue is standardized, except in rare cases. Below are the punctuation conventions that all fiction writers need to know when writing in US English. You might choose to go against some or all of these conventions, but if you do, just know that there might be unintended consequences such as throwing off readers or making it hard to follow the conversation.
Quotation marks: Double quotation marks are used around all lines of dialogue. Quotation marks always go outside the punctuation, regardless of whether it’s a period, comma, exclamation point, or question mark.
Paragraphs: Each speaker gets their own paragraph for their dialogue, whether it’s one line or multiple. This is so that readers can follow the conversation because the new paragraph helps distinguish a new speaker.
Dialogue tags: Dialogue tags are punctuated with commas and double quotation marks. Notice the difference between the placement of quotation marks and commas when the dialogue tag comes before or after the dialogue. When the tag follows the dialogue, the first word of the tag is lowercase, unless it’s a proper noun.
“I’d like that piece of chocolate cake,” she said.
She said, “I’d like that piece of chocolate cake.”
“I’d like,” she said, “that piece of chocolate cake.”
Action beats: Action beats are punctuated with periods or other terminal punctuations like exclamation points or question marks. Again, the punctuation goes inside the quotation marks. The action beat is its own sentence, so it should be capitalized accordingly.
She smiled. “I’d like that piece of chocolate cake.”
“I’d like that piece of chocolate cake.” She smiled.
Combining dialogue tags and actions: Sometimes writers will want to combine a dialogue tag with an action a character is doing. There are several ways to do this. Note that whatever comes closest to the dialogue (a dialogue tag or an action beat) determines how it’s punctuated (with a comma or a period).
“I’d like that piece of chocolate cake,” she said, smiling.
“I’d like that piece of chocolate cake,” she said with a smile.
She smiled and said, “I’d like that piece of chocolate cake.”
“I’d like that piece of chocolate cake.” She smiled as she said it.
Quotes within dialogue: If something is being quoted within a line of dialogue, use single quotation marks around the quoted part.
“What did you mean by ‘that piece of chocolate cake’?”
Interrupted speech: Speech that is cut off or self-interrupted is indicated with an em dash (—). When speech is self-interrupted abruptly and restarted, a space can be used after the em dash but doesn’t have to be.
“I—I’d like that piece of—”
“I don’t— Actually, I would like that piece of chocolate cake.” (Note that the em dash is followed by a space here, which is optional.)
Trailing speech: Speech that is faltering or trailing off is indicated with an ellipsis (… or . . .). There is no space between the ellipsis and the closing quotation mark.
“I’d like . . . that piece of chocolate cake.” or “I’d like that piece of chocolate cake . . .”
Speech interrupted by an action: A line of dialogue can be interrupted by an action. This can be punctuated in several ways, depending on whether it’s interrupted by a dialogue tag or action beat.
“I’d like that piece,” she said, pointing toward the table, “of chocolate cake.” If the speech is interrupted by a dialogue tag, commas are used to set off the dialogue before and after the tag.
“I’d like that piece”—she pointed toward the table—“of chocolate cake.” If the speech is interrupted by an action beat, em dashes go outside the quotation marks, and there are no other punctuation marks next to the interrupting action.
Uninterrupted dialogue over multiple paragraphs: When a character has a long speech, a writer may choose to break the speech into multiple paragraphs. In these instances, an opening quotation mark is used on every paragraph of dialogue, but a closing quotation mark is used only on the final paragraph of dialogue, as long as there are no intervening non-dialogue bits at the beginning of each paragraph.
Final thoughts
Dialogue moves the story forward and provides insight into characters’ thoughts and feelings. Not only is the dialogue itself important, but dialogue tags and action beats ground the dialogue in the scene, and they show readers what’s being done and how things are being said. For fiction writers, being able to punctuate dialogue is an essential skill—or one an editor can help with.
Click to access a free downloadable tip sheet based on this post
