Simulan natin sa pinakamadalas na pagkakamali ng mga manunulat. Kahit yung mga medyo kilalang writers ay nagkakamali din dito. This one is really tricky kasi hindi naman siya tinuturo sa paaralan (I think).

↝ These are the phrases that are attached on the dialogues.

↝ Nilalagay ito para malaman ng isang mambabasa kung sino yung nagsalita.

↝ Ito yung mga 'he said' / 'sabi niya' phrases.

i. Dialogue tags should be invisible.

The reason is that it is 'just' a guide and it must never get into the story. It is just there to tell the speaker.

A lot are saying that it is fine to use the word 'said' repeatedly. Any word related to it na may subtle effect lamang tulad ng 'whispered' at 'shouted.' By using those kind of words, parang nagiging natural nalang ang labas nito at nagiging invisible na lang.

ii. Avoid using adverbs.

Yung mga advebs na 'to yung mga nagtatapos sa -ly. Iwas-iwasan natin o hindi naman kaya'y bawas-bawasan ang paggamit.

As what I have said, we want to keep them invisible as much as possible. Huwag gamitin ang dialogue tag pampaganda ng linya.

Why? Maaring maapektuhan ng isang exaggerated na dialogue tag ang tinatawag na "show, not tell" na teknik sa pagsusulat.

Instead of:
"Go away, Anna," Elsa replied firmly.

Try making it:
"Go away, Anna," Elsa said through her gritted teeth. Her eyes are form into slits as she gazes on her sister who looks at her helplessly.

Malaki ang pagkakaiba between the two. Yung una, simple lang at iisang word lang ang ginamit para madescribe yung character while sa pangalawa, mas malawak. You could imagine the character's face vividly. That's the technique 'show and not tell.'

General rule
The dialogue and its tag can not be separated.

I have in here eight (8) rules that you could apply when making the dialogue tag. Please pay attention sa mga punctuation at sa capitalization.

i. A dialogue with a tag following it.

"Dialogue," tag.

ー "Go away, Anna," she said.

* instead of period, use comma to attach the tag

ii. Question or exclamation in a dialogue with a tag.

"Dialogue!" tag.

ー "Go away, Anna!" she shouted.

"Dialogue?" tag.

ー "Go away?" she asked.

* notice na small letter lang ang simula ng tag despite of the end mark of the dialogue

iii. A dialogue that starts with a tag.

Tag, "Dialogue."

ー She said, "Go away, Anna."

* i-reverse lang yung unang rule but this time, secured na ang end marks ni dialogue at capitalize pa rin ang umpisa niya

iv. A dialogue with a tag and an action.

"Dialogue," tag, action.

ー "Go away, Anna," she said, pushing her.

* same lang sa first rule pero this time, may kasamang action which we separated with comma

v. A dialogue that starts with a tag and an action.

Action, tag, "Dialogue."

ー Pushing her, she said, "Go away, Anna."

* reverse lang natin ang rule number four

vi. A dialogue interrupted by a tag.

"Dialogue," tag, "dialogue."

ー "I want to build," she said, "a snowman."

* take note the placement of the commas and also, yung katuloy ng dialogue ay automatic na nasa small letters

vii. A dialogue interrupted by a tag and an action.

"Dialogue," tag, action, "dialogue"

ー "I want to build," she said, knocking the door, "a snowman."

* same lang ng previous rule pero may kasamang action ngayon

viii. Dialogue interrupted by an action without a tag.

"Dialogue" —action— "dialogue."

ー "I want to build" — she knocks on the door — "a snowman."

* either use an em dash or a comma

• The subtle the effect of the tag, the better. Remember na 'show and not tell.'

• Hindi pwedeng mahiwalay si tag kay dialogue. With this, palaging nakasmall letters lang ang tag at hindi ito new sentence.

• When it comes sa end mark ng isang dialogue, period lang ang nagcha-change into comma para mai-connect ang tag nito.

• Pwedeng madagdagan ng action ang dialogue tag basta maglagay ng comma to separate them.

. . .

So that's all that I could give to you about the dialogue tag. Marami pang kailangang malaman patungkol dito. There might be some information up there that might be new or that contradict your believes pero iyan po ang nakita ko.

Let me know your thoughts about it. Kung may mga katanungan kayo, huwag mahihiyang i-comment ang mga ito. I'll try my best to answer them.

. . .

References

¹ Novel Writing Helo by Harvey Chapman
https://www.novel-writing-help.com/dialogue-tags.html

² XterraWeb
www.xterraweb.com

SR♡