Punctuating Dialog: Everything You Never Knew You Wanted To Know

Now that we’ve covered creating realistic characters and how to make them converse with each other, it’s time to bring up a rather exciting topic. Seriously, what could be sexier than the comma?

No? Not feeling it?

Maybe you’re more of an exclamation point kind of person. In any event, poorly punctuated dialog can paint a big red “Newbie” sign on your back faster than just about anything. There aren’t a ton of rules but there is one very annoying bit of information you must know before we go any further. It’s so important that I’ll put it in a nice little disclaimer all its own.

Obnoxious Disclaimer: Warning! Warning! The following punctuation rules are for AMERICAN ENGLISH – the UK and other parts of the world have similar but slightly different rules and I do not know what the heck they are. Why? Because I’m an American and they didn’t make me take a European Semicolon Usage class in high school. Go figure.  If you are one of my utterly fabulous non-American friends, most of these rules still apply but if you see something that doesn’t seem right to you it’s probably because you have your very own rule on the matter that I am not aware of. [ End/Obnoxious_Disclaimer]

A very typical line of dialog starts with the character talking and ends with a tag. A tag is usually a verb (said, asked) and a name or pronoun (She, he, Ted) that tells you who is talking. In this example (which is just a simple statement) you would use a comma at the end of the speech and a period at the end of the whole sentence.

“Sometimes I turn into a big hairy wolf,” he said.

But wait! What if your character is shouting or asking a question? In that case you are going to use more than one punctuation – the rule is, if the question mark or exclamation point directly relates to what your character is saying then feel free to use it, still finishing off the sentence with a period if you choose to use a tag.

“Did you just turn into big hairy wolf?” she asked.

“He just turned into a big hairy wolf!” she shouted.

Sometimes we are tempted to throw in some attributes along with our tags. Attributes describe the speech a bit better – however people tend to over use them making their writing sound trite or cliché if they aren’t careful.

“He just turned into a big hairy wolf!” she screamed loudly.

It’s perfectly ok to add descriptors to your dialog but do not over use them and do not use them when they are not necessary. For instance, do you notice anything wrong with the example above? The character is screaming loudly – is there some other way to scream? The reader is probably able to figure out the volume all on their own and you telling them is just unnecessary.

Don’t be afraid of a little “he said/she said” it’s a classic for a reason. Both flowery dialog tags and plain ones could be disastrous for different reasons if over used so be creative but use your best judgment.

While we are on the subject of things I feel are unnecessary – a major pet peeve of mine is the blatant abuse of exclamation points and question marks.

Use your words to paint a picture and set the scene, including the tone. You should never have to resort to adding fourteen exclamation points to the end of your sentence to let the reader know your character is scared or upset. Also using both a question mark and exclamation point is also incorrect, but often subject to horrible abuse. I feel like we should make armbands or have George Clooney organize a telethon for the punctuation cruelty beginning writers partake in. (Ok just kidding, don’t get upset and click out of here, if you are addicted and can’t live without doing it feel free, who am I to say you can’t? However you will not get an editor to read your story if they see 104 exclamation points in your first chapter alone.)

Helping the Flow of Your Story

For a really good time, try putting narration right in the middle of your dialog. This can help you set the tone and describe events much better than the over use of exclamation points.

“Please,” she pleaded, slowly backing away from the large hairy wolf, “don’t eat me!”

Who is Speaking?

Way back yonder in history, writers used to use just one paragraph for a whole block of dialog no matter how many people were speaking. However, the modern and expected format is for you to have only one speaker per paragraph or one per line if the lines are short.

Also, if only two people are speaking the reader is perfectly capable of keeping track of who is speaking without a tag at the end of every single sentence.

This concludes today’s lesson on punctuating dialog. I hope it wasn’t too stimulating. I know it’s hard enough for those of us with ADD to follow alo . . . ohh, a toaster!

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WRITERS BLOCK:

So, a reader of Watt’s Happening asked me what I do about writer’s block and how I go about getting rid of it and finding inspiration. Everyone will have a different experience and different tactics to share and this probably won’t even be the last you hear from me on the topic, but here goes!

There are two main times Writer’s Block can strike and they are pretty different so let’s start at the beginning. The first time during a story you might come across writer’s block is here:

You’re sitting in front of your laptop in your favorite comfy penguin pajamas with your evening free and clear for you to spend loads of time writing. What joy! You are about to spend time doing what you love and what comes naturally and easy for you! Except that it’s been two hours and so far all you have managed to do is open a new word file and stare at its blankness with nothing to say. There may or may not be a few ideas floating around your brain but they can’t seem to combine themselves into a coherent plotline.

To bust down the walls of creative writing blockage, you need to let you words flow freely. Just start taking down all kinds of crazy notes on anything that comes into your head. I highly suggest pen and paper for this because it flows so much more nicely on real life used-to-be-a-tree paper. It doesn’t matter if the writing makes no sense at all – make little mind maps where you circle ideas and draw crazy squiggly lines to other ideas and possibilities. If you do this long enough you are bound to find a character or story line in there somewhere. If not, then at least you spent your time writing something, even if it ends up tucked in a notebook never to see the light of day again.

During the monotonous moments of real life inspiration can strike at any time and you don’t want to miss it. Invest in a small notebook and pen you can carry with you (or if you’re so inclined you can use a snazzy smart phone to take notes). Sometimes listening in on other people’s conversation in public and observing people can make you come up with some fascinating characters of your own. Become an expert eavesdropper; I’m not kidding.

The second main time you can find yourself in a fit of writer’s block rage is right in the middle or even the end of your story. Maybe you’ve rambled on for 78 chapters and you just aren’t sure how to end it. Maybe you’ve written a fantastic prologue or first chapter and now just can’t seem to write the next part.

Overcoming this can be a lot like the examples above with free flowing text and mind maps however you will have more structure because characters and situations already exist.

This time take out a blank sheet of paper and write WHAT IF at the top and just start filling it up with things that could possibly happen in your story. It’s ok to go a little crazy with it, if you don’t think outside the box a little bit then you might miss some potentially mind blowing twists. Just make sure in the end that your finished story remains believable within the realm of reality it exists in!

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STORY PROMOTION:

User: SeanPowell

Title: Do You Know Eva?

Link: http://www.wattpad.com/942089-do-you-know-eva-chapter-one

From the author: "Eva Lynch is an outcast, not only at school but at home to, where she is physically and mentally abused by her alcoholic mother. Eva struggles with the daily life of a teenager, but also with her sexuality."

My thoughts: This story will make you think for sure. I couldn’t help but feel for the main characters as they navigate the pains and pressures of becoming who they knew they are at the same time as surviving bullies, bad parents, bigots and high school itself. The author does a great job at building emotion, crafting a believable and memorable story and using correct punctuation in dialog which is the point of today’s edition. So read this story for a great example of brilliant writing as well as proper dialog.

Happy Reading!

PS – we are dangerously close to a writing contest here dear fans, I will start writing up the rules and details now!